The high racial tensions at the University of Missouri have the country talking, among those involved in the conversation is Young Jeezy who recently spoke on the school’s unrest.
While promoting his eighth studio album Church In These Streets, the rapper told ESPN’s First Take Wednesday (Nov. 11) he wholeheartedly commends the students for boldly standing up for what they believe in.
“I think they led by perfect example,” Jeezy said. “Obviously, football is a big deal there. So, for them to band together and even decide to do that, I think it shows excellent leadership, if you ask me. That’s a big deal, especially for the school.”
The Snowman even gave props to the university’s now former president, Timothy Wolfe, for being what he considers to be “a bigger man.”
“And for him to step down, it definitely showed that he was a bigger man and he took notice, ’cause obviously it was gonna cause a problem. You got students and people paying for their kids to go to college. You got these racial issues going on, and you got a president that’s letting ‘em happen. At the same time, for him to step down I think it was the right thing to do…Sometimes just as an athlete or entertainer, sometimes you don’t actually understand the power that you have until the situation presents itself.”
Wolfe announced his resignation Monday (November 9) after days of boycotts from members of the school’s football team. The boycott was in conjunction with a hunger strike from graduate student Jonathan Butler who complained of Wolfe’s and administrators hands off approach when dealing with racial injustices on campus.
The businessman, who occupied the school’s highest office since 2012, said that he was stepping down for the betterment of the university.
“The frustration and anger that I see is clear, real, and I don’t doubt it for a second,” Wolfe said at his resignation press conference on Monday (Nov. 9). “I take full responsibility for this frustration and for the inaction that has occurred … My resignation comes out of love, not hate.”
After discussion of the uproar at Mizzou, Jeezy went on to talk about his latest project due out Friday (Nov. 13), and even reflected on his major-label debut, Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation.
“You gotta evolve. Thug Motivation, believe me I was really thugging. It was some thugging going on. But that thugging, that was my past and that was the only thing that I could actually pull from and tell people what was really going on,” he said.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=zN_KRIYvMIM