Michigan State’s homecoming parade was interrupted on Friday night as Black Lives Matter protesters demanded school officials “take a stance on a push to improve the lives of African-Americans.”
The Detroit News reports that last Tuesday students had sent a letter to MSU President Lou Anna Simon, as well as to Tom Izzo and Mark Dantonio, the school’s basketball and football coaches respectively, asking for a statement in support of the Movement for Black Lives.
To their chagrin, Simon, on behalf of herself and the coaches, offered a rather ambiguous response in which she encouraged student engagement, expressed a desire for a more “humane and just society” … but then added “even when we may disagree on the methods and means for achieving the goal.”
This led to the group “Which Side Are You On” to write on its Facebook page “… From here on, we must accelerate and exaggerate all actions and do so unapologetically.”
So on Friday, dozens of demonstrators — many clad in black — joined a protest on campus as the homecoming procession wound through with the Spartan Marching Band, sororities and fraternities among others.
At one point along the route, the group fanned out across the street and stopped in front of the convertible carrying Simon. Witnesses saw her speak to the students and allow police on the scene to give them a few minutes to let the parade proceed.
“As she typically does, President Simon took a few moments from the parade to talk with the students about their concerns,” Jason Cody, a university spokesman, said late Friday. He added she echoed the sentiments in her letter.
It wasn’t clear if anyone was detained or caused disturbances. Organizers and MSU police did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday night.
What’s also not clear is just what Which Side Are You On meant when it said “accelerate and exaggerate.” Hopefully the latter doesn’t mean hoaxes — after which everyone is then told “It doesn’t ultimately matter if (the incident) is true or not. These matters are real enough for many of our marginalized students. It is a teachable moment.”
WSAYO’s Facebook page also has a video of President Simon with the title “Lou Anna K. Simon states that All Lives Matter while insinuating that the Black Lives Matter Movement promotes violence.”
Note that the interviewer posits the question as an either-or proposition: “Do you think black lives matter or all lives matter?”
As president of a large public university, what would you expect her to say?
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IMAGE: Teacher Dude/Flickr
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