Originally published November 19 2015
Mizzou hunger strike student came from family that achieved the American Dream
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) The poor, deprived University of Missouri student who recently launched a "hunger strike" to effect "social change" at one of the most liberal universities in the country? Yeah, not so much "poor" and "deprived." And he's as much a "professional activist" as a student.
His name is Jonathan Butler, an African-American who has been heavily influenced by the "Black Lives Matter" movement, though he became fully radicalized while attending Mizzou. His shtick is that he's a member of the "oppressed" minority class in the U.S., but as Breitbart News pointed out, he is anything but.
Despite his family's multi-generational success and affluence – the epitome of the American Dream – Butler's "heroes" are communists like terrorists Assata Shakur and Frantz Fanon.
Breitbart News further reported:
The University of Missouri activist grabbed headlines when he became the public face of the movement that successfully forced out two top administrators on [recently].
However, Jonathan Butler's own family story directly contradicts his radical narrative and shows that black Americans can succeed and prosper in the United States, particularly if they apply hard work and a base of traditional religious values.
His father is Eric Butler, who is an executive vice president with Union Pacific Railroad, the Omaha World-Herald reported. And the St. Louis Post-Dispatch added that the elder Butler earned $8.4 million in 2014.
According to his online bio, Eric Butler has had quite an accomplished career:
Eric Butler was named executive vice president-Marketing and Sales in March 2012. In this position, he is responsible for Union Pacific's six major business units: agriculture, automobiles, chemicals, energy, industrial products and intermodal. Collectively, the business units account for nearly $20 billion in annual revenue. He also oversees the railroad's National Customer Service Center.
Previously, Butler had been vice president and general manager-Industrial Products, a position he had held since April 2005, after serving two years as vice president and general manager-Automotive. Since joining the railroad in 1986, Butler has held a number of positions including vice president-Supply, vice president-Planning and Analysis, and director-Corporate Compensation.
Butler graduated with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1981 and an MSIA in 1986, both from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
But there is more to the elder Butler than just his business/professional career. He is also humble and spiritual, having co-founded the Joy of Life Church of God in Christ in Omaha, where he is pastor.
In addition, affluent Jonathan Butler's grandparents are the late Attorney/Pastor John and Dr. Fay Ellis Butler of Brooklyn, New York. Superintendent John Butler was the founding pastor of Salvation and Restoration COGIC of Brooklyn, New York, their son's bio at Joy of Life states.
So how did this child of successful, hard-working parents and grandparents become so radical, idolizing the Left-wing communist (as in communal - no one is better than anyone else, except the governing elite, of course), instead of the beneficiaries of a system that is obviously not so "racist" and one-sided as he likes to think?
Blame the modern-day system of American higher education, where such radical groupthink is taught and encouraged, and where dissenting opinions are not simply opposed, but quashed, and their messengers ruined and run out of town.
This is not simply a biased observation. A recent op-ed in the Columbia Missourian newspaper that was written by UM's journalism students lays it out in uncritical fashion. The article attempts to paint the picture of a "deepening divide between white students and students of color" at his Nebraska high school, but a quote in the article by Butler doesn't seem like he and other "students of color" had it that bad:
"It was that phenomenon - that's where we felt safe, that's where we felt at home," Butler said. "People would bring their speakers, their CD players. We would play music. It was always this great time."
So which was it: a lousy time or a "great time"?
In the end Butler got his wish - the white university president and white chancellor both resigned, replaced by Michael Middleton, a recent retiree from the university after 30 years, who earned bachelor and law degrees there. He's African-American.
Sources:
http://www.Breitbart.com
http://www.Omaha.com
http://www.STLToday.com
http://JOLChurch.com/about-jol/
http://www.ColumbiaMissourian.com
http://www.USAToday.com
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