So it seems that this time of the year has become a tradition for all the bigots to hide in the shadows and spew their hatred on our campus. Last year we dealt with the infamous cotton ball incident and now we have someone who wants to utilize a spray can of paint to show how he or she feels. I for one can say that I don’t want to parade around and talk about the unity of the University of Missouri. I do not want to stand on the steps of Jesse Hall singing kumbaya and lighting candles for unity. I do not want to pacify this situation. What came out of the cotton ball incident besides a Columbia judicial verdict? What came out of Mizzou alumn Terrence Williams having racist words written outside his dorm room? What is the university doing to prevent these issues?

It is apparent that we have racist students here at the University of Missouri. When a Black History Month display can’t stand alone in College Avenue residence hall without an invisible racist vandalizing it, we have a problem. When students have to take down their dry erase boards in Hatch, like Mr. Williams back in 2009, because students write vulgar racist statements on it towards them, we have a problem. The NAACP, along with many students and organizations, will stand firm to see that change is implemented in the residential halls and on this campus in general to insure that we are striving to educate our students. If Mizzou is really taking a stance on racism, then Mizzou will take its “zero tolerance attitude” for these actions and make measures to educate and scare any undercover racist from making statements such as this one.

Just like the cotton ball incident was not just littering, this spray paint is not just vandalism. This is a direct attack on the black students of the University of Missouri, and we will not stand by and take this type of treatment from anyone, seen or not seen.