The "Ferguson Effect" on College Campuses in the United States of America

The purpose of this book is to identify and analyze the connection, as well as effecting factors and variables, between the Black on Campus (BOC) protests and Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement out of Ferguson, Missouri. The BOC movement started in Columbus, Missouri, an hour's drive from Ferguson. Many of the BOC activists were from the greater Ferguson, Missouri, area of St. Louis County. The BOC precipitated by events at Ferguson spread throughout the nation to its oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher education's campuses. The book argues that BOC protest arose from the BLM movement. Many of the activists learned how to organize, participate and demonstrate from BLM. They were motivated to do so by perceiving that institutional racism was stifling the lives, opportunities and potentials of black youth on campus as it was in their home communities. Protesters faced the same sort of institutional resistance and inertia their grandparents faced in the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for admissions to the nation's best colleges and universities. Political backlash indeed imposed greater policing and surveillance on these activists as was done 50 years ago. The arguments proposed connecting the surge in campus protests to street executions, environmental and institutional injustices experienced by blacks throughout the nation. These future leaders on campuses nationwide are intent on changing the climate by making their schools more diverse and eradicating systemic symbols of racism and intolerance. Contrary to the dictates of conservatives and traditionalist opposed to what they perceive as "political correctness," coalitions of students across racial, ethnic, religious and gender lines are demanding greater inclusion and prohibitions against slurs, slights, insults, etc., aimed at devaluing minorities or the "others." Evidence is presented to demonstrate the true value of the Black Americans, the most maligned, scorned and misrepresented socioeconomic group in this nation.