On Wednesday afternoon, the University of Missouri of Athletics Department attempted to celebrate, by way of tweet, the diverse backgrounds and talents of its student athletes. Specifically, how they are "more than a student athlete."
A laudable idea! The only problem was, well, everything else about the now-deleted tweet:
I too, am an African America woman and value equality pic.twitter.com/8VdOoSJGtj
— Brandon🗡 (@brvnd0) October 24, 2019
The tweet featured the beaming images of four Mizzou athletes sorted into boxes, with each proudly facing the camera behind a line of text that someone clearly didn't think about long enough before hitting publish.
That's because there seems to be a clear difference in the messages displayed between white and black student athletes. There was gymnast Chelsey Christensen — "I am a future doctor" — and swimmer/diver CJ Kovac — "I am a future corporate financer." Opposite them were two black student athletes, whose texts did not include the word "future" or even mention their areas of study. Instead, runner Arielle Mack is shown stating only, "I am an African American woman."
Similarly, Chad Jones-Hicks — who appears to not be a student athlete, but rather a "Ticket Office Assistant" according to Mizzou's website — is shown stating only, "I value equality."
Not to put too fine a point on it, but what the fuck, Mizzou!? Especially for a university where the subjects of campus racism and the role of black student athletes collided just a few years ago, in 2015, when a series of protests and boycotts led to the resignation of the university system president. It was a pretty big deal at the time.
Anyway. Mizzou's social media effort — part of a larger #NCAAInclusion campaign — also included stand-alone tweets featuring the individual student athletes, including Caulin Graves, who, like the two other black people featured, seemed to exist only as a diversity checkbox. Graves' banner said, "I am a brother."
Oh no Mizzou, baby what is you doing? pic.twitter.com/RoyeTX8MmN
— NUFF (@nuffsaidny) October 24, 2019
— Just Another Rap Blog🗯 (@JustARapBlog) October 24, 2019
that Mizzou tweet is exactly what these institutions view as being diverse.
— Sister Night’s Nose (@Phllp_Wnslw) October 24, 2019
"We've got our WW, and our token Blacks. We're done."
Why would y’all post this. Do you not have any Black people on the PR team? Did you run this by *any Black person on campus*? pic.twitter.com/lmHh0BQYki
— Afro New Guinea 🇿🇦🇵🇷🇵🇬 (@simplyshorty___) October 24, 2019
Hours after posting the tweet, the Mizzou Athletics deleted it, and later posted an apology along with a video showing more athletes making their own "I am..." statements.
To its credit, Mizzou Athletics acknowledged that it had messed up.
"Earlier we made a mistake when we posted a graphic about our student athletes," it tweeted. "We apologize. Our intent was to provide personal information about our students, but we failed. We listened and removed the post."
Earlier we made a mistake when we posted a graphic about our student athletes. We apologize. Our intent was to provide personal information about our students, but we failed. We listened and removed the post. This video better represents our intent to celebrate our diversity. pic.twitter.com/Hhwd62Il4Z
— Mizzou Athletics (@MizzouAthletics) October 24, 2019
However, the video Mizzou posted along with the apology only raised more questions about the "mistake," as it features two of the black athletes included in the tweets, Arielle Mack and Caulin Graves. The video indicated that the statements featured in the deleted tweet had actually been lifted, out of context, from statements given by the athletes themselves.
In the video, Mack indeed says, "I am an African American woman," but that's not the end of her line. She continues, "... a sister, a daughter and a future physical therapist."
Graves, too, didn't just say he was "a brother." His full quote was "I am a brother, uncle and best of all, I am a leader."
This contrast — and the apparent intentional selection that took place in editing the black athletes' statements in the deleted tweet — did not go unnoticed.
So y’all mean to tell me out of “I am a brother, uncle and I am a leader” you chose I am a brother. And out of “I am an African American woman, a sister, a daughter and a future physical therapist” you chose “I am an African American woman” ?????????? Y’all need help. Lmao. https://t.co/RfuoVopzee
— SPOOKY ANS👻 (@ansssleyy) October 23, 2019
They posted the video showing the statements in their entirety. The man said, "I am a brother, an uncle and best of all, I am a leader." The woman said, "I am an African American woman, a sister, a daughter, a volunteer, and a future physical therapist."
— Nιɳα Mσɳҽι (@wildfonts) October 24, 2019
Not a great look, Mizzou.
Follow Danny Wicentowski on Twitter at @D_Towski. E-mail the author at [email protected]
