Chester Brewer, “Father” of Mizzou’s Homecoming, is NOT someone we should be celebrating

Every year at the University of Missouri-Columbia, the campus is oozing black, gold, and white for Homecoming in mid-to-late October. Preparations are made for events and games hosted by the Missouri Students Association (MSA), Greek organizations, and others. In the early morning hours on Saturday, music is blasting from the annual parade that wakes everyone who lives downtown out of their sleep. The rumbles and cheers from the game can be heard from blocks away with the crowd chanting “M-I-Z”, “Z-O-U.” There are tailgates up and down every street in the surrounding area and on campus.These events wouldn’t have been possible without Chester Brewer, former football player and Athletic Director at the university in the early 1900s. He has a cardboard cut out in the school’s recreation center about him being the “Father of Homecoming,” a tradition that has been going strong since 1911.However, there is one very important thing about this man that has been swept under the rug and disregarded by the university: he is racist.Let’s take it back to the 1920s.Sports leagues from the professionals down to the collegiate level had a gentlemen’s agreement: a racist practice that prevented players of color from participating in their sport...