The University of Missouri (MU) has been struggling in the aftermath of its Black Lives Matter protests, including the reported plunge in students and applications. It appears that even a vigil for the dead in Orlando at Mizzou inevitably leads to a confrontation over race. The conflict arose in a vigil held in front of Boone County Courthouse in Columbia, Missouri. MU graduate Tiffany Melecio appeared and expressed discomfort over speaking before a group with so many white people. When a gay couple objected to introducing divisive race issues, MU Multicultural Center Coordinator Stephanie Hernandez Rivera defended the comments and denounced the gay couple objecting to the introduction of race into the vigil.
Melecio told the mostly-white audience that “I was really nervous to get up here, because there’s a lot of white people in the crowd.” When a couple people laughed, Melecio insisted “That wasn’t a joke.” She then added that “I wish this many people came out to our racial demonstrations and our Black Lives Matter movement, . . . As much as it is awesome that there’s so many people here today, but it’s, like, who are you really here for?”
Melecio proceeded read off facts about prejudice against non-white LGBT people, which she said white people probably wouldn’t know, “because you’re white.”
The result brought a rebuke from Carl Brizendine, a gay man who was attending the vigil with his husband: “We are here to be uniting, not dividing, which is what you are doing now.” Brizendine’s husband is a history student at MU.
The objections to the comments led to the intervention of MU Multicultural Center Coordinator Rivera “I love you so much right now, for getting up here, when so often your voice is unshared and it doesn’t matter. [Then addressing Brizendine] If you feel uncomfortable with the fact the people who are murdered are Latino people, that is a personal problem. You cannot be an ally to a single person, or a part of a person.”
The video has gone viral and triggered a debate about the importance of race rather than sexual orientation in the massacre.
What do you think?
How did Tiffany Melecio not understand that most of the students would be gone and this would have been a representation of Columbia and not MU????
Let MU enrollment continue to fall of the proverbial cliff. Were it not for public funding, the future of MU is very clouded. But it MU wants to be the bastion of mindless zealots with unsupported facts, let it. Oops, sorry if I had a different opinion than you sanctimonious airheads who will end up in the public welfare rolls because you didn’t learn anything in college that could provide you a living. Oh, you could become a community activist? Sure, isn’t that tax payer funded as well? Of course it is.
Unbelievably rude and insensitive, narrow mindlessly guided, use of bait and switch of the purpose of the Orlando Vigil that is over the top. Good grief!
How do some of these minds think up this stuff? I give her 7 ponoko’s for her set of “facts”.
This type of behavior does nothing but demonstrate the level of contempt Melecio and Hernandez have for the aggregate public. To be so low as to try and take a national tragedy and contort it into a personal issue, demonstrated a total lack of consideration for all of those who lost loved ones or are suffering as a result of theses events and trying to make it all about their issue.
I am disgusted that this woman was given the microphone in this forum and subsequently allowed to chastise those that gathered for no other reason other than they were white.
Obvious to even the most casual observer, it was a gathering for those who wished to demonstrate their sorrow and support for those who lost their lives and all family and friends effected by the tragic events.
BLM and Tiffany Melecio have demonstrated nothing but a total lack of concern for anyone but themselves and this selfishness and self serving behavior will do nothing but portray them for exactly what they are, a group of whining, self centered miscreants that have nothing better to do than to complain incessantly about the world is unfair, why they have not gained a better position in life, don’t want to work for it and are looking for someone else to blame, anyone but themselves.
Each and every life matters, black lives are included in that statement! Each and every life matters!!!!
Steve,
Lol! My family is split between the teams, so I end up cheering the Cyclones if we are playing each other and either if they are playing other teams (Go whoever is from the state of Iowa!).
‘Course, we had Cael Sanderson… 😉
Yes, some people were killed at a night club. It’s sad. Nobody said it wasn’t sad. But it is also sad to see the turn out, all the support, for this tragedy when compared to support when horrible stuff was happening on THAT campus. People are forgetting ALL the Events that happened at Mizzou that gave rise to the BLM on campus. I suggest you go back and refresh your memory, it’s easy to forget w/ constant flow of media. http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/09/us/missouri-protest-timeline/
Janet DePalmer – read your article from CNN. I had forgotten how hypersensitive the black students at Mizzou were. Thanks for reminding me.
What do you expect to come out of a safe space? Also, when you completely absolve black people (& people of color) from feeling shame you’re gonna hear some crazy stuff. It’s NEVER you’re fault and everything you do can be justified due to the color of your skin. Given that, why would you feel shame for hijacking the event for the worst terrorist attack since 9/11 to make a point that didn’t need to be made. BLM will continue to annoy people w/ poorly timed, imbecillic messages because liberal whites have made it impossible to criticize or question people of color. They’d rather keep them as slaves lacking logic and reason.
Wow strawman argument ” If you feel uncomfortable with the fact the people who are murdered are Latino people, that is a personal problem. You cannot be an ally to a single person, or a part of a person” when all the guy said was you are dividing us instead of bringing us together.