We need to stamp out racism – including on this campus

In light of the recent tragedies of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, our country is newly aware of how deeply rooted the racist, Civil War-era tendencies still run.

It was very much apparent as I was scrolling through my Facebook feed the morning of Wednesday’s “(In)Justice For All” panel in the Goldstein Auditorium, the first time Lesley McSpadden, the mother of Michael Brown, and Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, have participated in an event of this kind.

I came across an article in The Daily Orange that covered the upcoming event. It wasn’t the article itself but the actual comments that disgusted me.

It’s disheartening to see students of such a proud university have such hateful views.

These are the kids at the table next to us in Bird, the ones buying fishbowls at Lucy’s, the peers sitting next to us in lectures. We are taught to open our minds, challenge our values, and water them into something beautiful.

However, there were students labeling themselves as the “White Cultural Club” sending tweets in using the #IFACuseNPHC embodying the exact racist views the event was geared to bring light to.

There are students I call my fellow Orangemen who still see race as a defining trait on someone’s character.

With this panel, one of the most controversial topics in America was finally brought to light on this campus. We have to speak up.

Crump is urging us to go to jury duty, to vote, to actively participate in the political process. That is how change is made.

Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, was a part of the discussion panel last night. She told the audience, “In order to promote understanding, there has to be ice that is broken so you can really see each other and have dialogue.”

She reiterates some people do not understand the race issue because they do not walk the same walk. When people don’t understand the issue, there is a lack of humane recognition.

Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney, believes others are not giving the benefit of humanity or treating others like genuine human beings.

We have to go out there, in our country, our society and hope our words are making a difference. Community plays a huge role in investigating cases like these and through community support, there is now a broader sense of probing.

More questions are being asked and the way this country goes about some things are being called into evaluation, just as it should.

Lesley McSpadden, Michael’s mother, said, “We want to let them know you can be the person to help navigate these things to make a change.”

I used to view social media activism as weak and ineffective. Why don’t my peers go out and make a change?

I used to believe sending out “fire” tweets from behind a computer screen was not the right way to make a difference. I was wrong.

Our generation’s lives are so intertwined with social media we never skip a beat when there’s a trending topic.

Even better, a majority of us refuse to sit back and do nothing. Conversations are happening and our generation is taking notice.

These small conversations built up to 8.2 million people signing an online petition to get people thinking. It took 8.2 million people to make Travyvon Martin’s life matter in the public eye.

Social media does make a difference because it directly reaches the youth, who are the leaders of tomorrow.

The use of hashtags such as, #IamTrayvon along with images of people in hoodies combined with #BlackLivesMatter got people thinking.

When Lebron James tweeted “I am Trayvon” and when President Obama stated if he had a son he would look like Trayvon reached everyone across different social media platforms. It gets people thinking; especially the youth.

Mr. Crump stated, “I think without young people, these causes would not have taken hold of America.”

Even CNN news analyst, Sunny Hostin, laments the importance of youth, “I think we can’t underestimate the power of our youth, of social media.”
Sunny Hostin introduced the problems she had to face a colored journalist, and yes, she made the distinction.

She was a moving force on the panel and kept pushing for more education, more awareness, and most importantly, the courage to speak up and voice our opinions.

She stands up in the newsroom and can say, “No, you’re not going to put up the picture up of the victim with the grill on. You’re going to put the picture up of the victim riding a horse.”

By influencing social media, we are fighting against mainstream media.

When Trayvon was killed, all background checks ran on him were clean. The media still tried to find the littlest details to paint him as a criminal instead of a victim. This is where the police narrative comes into play.

Crump points out you can’t be in fear of your life because you just shot a man 4 times in the back with no plausible cause. Reality is, you cannot take away the facts.

Trayvon and Michael were shot and killed. Trayvon and Michael did not ask to be killed nor did they cause their own deaths in any way.

Sybrina Fulton expressed her disappointment because the media kept looking for things to justify the murder. She knew her son was innocent.

Thanks to social media, so did a good portion of society.

The head of the FBI introduced an uprising “dilemma”: the Ferguson effect.

Following the increase in racially-driven deaths, cops are now mandated to be equipped with a body camera in efforts to decrease police brutality crimes.

If an unlawful action was committed against a cop, there will be video proof versus hearsay. Most importantly, there will finally be proof of the many instances of police brutality occurring all across the country.

Benjamin Crump raised the important question, “When are we going to challenge the standard police narrative, ‘I felt fear in my life so I had to shoot?’”

When are we going to differentiate between the race driven motives and brutal actions of a 28 year old and the pure innocence of a 17 year old boy? We should not live in fear of police simply because of the color of our skin.

By implementing the mandatory use of body cameras we are embracing “as citizens it is our job is to police the police. They are here to serve and protect us.”

We learned that Michael and Trayvon loved their mothers unconditionally and never failed to show affection.

Michael Brown’s mother, in an attempt to help heal the void his absence has made, has to go on Soundcloud just to hear her baby’s voice again. All she has are memories.

The audience could easily see the joy she had from watching Michael grow as she retold her memories. But we could also hear the heartbreak as he voice started wavering.

Trayvon was the same way. His spirit never failed to brighten up a room. He was always ready with a hug. His mother would even pretend to be needy just so Trayvon would shower her with love and affection.

We heard that Trayvon refused to leave the house without a hair cut, spicy cologne, and the latest trendy clothes. So of course, he was always on his phone trying to spit game to the cute girls from school.

He was on his phone when he was unjustly killed.

So you could imagine the worst day of Michael’s mom life wasn’t the day she got the call. It was when she saw her son, the one to shower her with love, in a casket.

The #BlackLivesMatter is constantly under fire because it “discredits” other races. So does it make breast cancer awareness negative because it “discredits” other cancers? The fact the hashtag even has to exist is saddening in itself.

We are American citizens bred on the same soil, there shouldn’t be racial profiling or hate crimes occurring here at home. When a minority feels like they are being targeted so hatefully a movement has to be started, is a sad reflection on our country.

How do we expect to consistently flourish in the global economy and convince other countries to play nice with us when we can’t even get along here?

To my fellow Orangemen,

I urge you to take stand and speak out. Race issues are uncomfortable, but it should not hinder anybody from voicing their opinions.

CNN analyst Fredricka Whitfield urges us to be fearless because “When you speak up, you are lending your voice to progress…as a continuation of this movement, it means being vocal. It means not being afraid to speak up, to challenge.”

Sandy Fulton solidifies the need to speak up because “The more we address these uncomfortable issues, the closer we are to coming to a solution.”

We need to break the ice and have open dialogue about race.

We can not let any more mothers deal with burying their child, we cannot ignore the extremity of the situation when police brutality is being committed.

We need to educate the ignorance on this campus, such as the White Culture Club. It is 2015: wake up.

It is disgusting to see race as a constant deciding factor both on this campus and in society.

As humans, we are better than this. As active college students, we are way beyond this.

There should not be a difference between “black parties” and “white parties.”

We need to come together and acknowledge we are all flesh and blood alike.

Most importantly, we need to be courageous and speak up because our university experience is not being afraid to challenge, to learn, to reflect, and to grow.

MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM THE NIGHT 
“We are all adjusting to this heartache and pain and how we can channel that negative energy into positive,” – Sybrina Fulton.

“We want to let them know you can be the person to help navigate these things to make a change,” – Lesley McSpadden, Michael Brown’s mother.

“I want people to see the brokenness, the broken pieces I came from…I experienced some things you never imagine coming from an average mom,”- Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother.

“One day, I opened up my hands and saw nothing but tears… [I] decided that I had to do better than this,” – Sybrina Fulton.

“Don’t let court define who Trayvon Martin was. It’s going to be me and his dad and his family, through the foundation. That will define who Trayvon Martin was.” – Sybrina Fulton

“Imagine your son going out to the store to get a snack and not coming back.” – Sunny Hostin

“Your ability to communicate is your most valuable resource.” – Chief of DPS, Maldonado

“We all have an obligation to say that all lives matter but black lives matter too.” -Benjamin Crump

“Have those difficult discussions. Have those uncomfortable discussions. That’s where it starts.” – Sunny Hostin

“In order to promote understanding, there has to be ice that is broken so you can really see each other and have dialogue.” – Fredericka Whittfield.

“The worst day of my life was seeing my 17 year old son stretched out in a casket in the front of my church.”