‘Welcome Black BBQ’ now called ‘Welcome Black and Gold BBQ’
A University of Missouri black student group’s new-school-year “Welcome Black BBQ” will now be known as “Welcome Black and Gold BBQ” in order to be “welcoming to all.”
The Legion of Black Collegians, which according its website is “the only Black Student Government in the Nation,” noted on Instagram that it was “heartbroken” by the university’s name-change decision, and that it spent “several months” fighting it.
Mizzou’s school colors are black and gold.
“When presented with [name change], we originally wanted to keep the original name or not have the event at all,” the LBC Instagram post reads. “[But] We did not want to override the hard work our government and other black student leaders out into this nor face consequences …”
Mizzou spokesman Christopher Ave defended the university’s decision, saying “In striving for an inclusive university, we must not exclude (or give impressions that we are excluding) individuals with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives,” the Associated Press reports.
But the LBC’s post said it was “looking into all avenues to NEVER allow this to happen again,” and “if it does, rest assured the Legion will have nothing to do with it.”
“The erasure of the names and visibility of our events will continue to erode our presence on this campus, and we plan to do everything we can to divest from that,” the post continued.
The Legion of Black Collegians was started in 1968 after the song “Dixie” was sung at a Mizzou football game while students waved a Confederate flag, according to the LBC university page. It became an officially recognized student group the following spring.
The AP noted the “massive protests” that took place at Mizzou nine years ago over the university’s “handling of racial slurs and other racist acts.” These included “more than 30 Black football team members” who refused to play unless the school president was ousted, and one student’s hunger strike. Members of the LBC were involved in another.
Perhaps the most (in)famous incident during the protests was Professor Melissa Click calling for “some muscle” to remove a student journalist from a demonstrator encampment.
MORE: ‘We are not crybabies’: Mizzou leaders whitewash race protests in skit for freshmen
IMAGES: U. Missouri, Legion of Black Collegians/Instagram
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