Newspapers / The Guilfordian. / Sept. 5, 2014, edition 1 / Page 9
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OPINION SEPTEMBERS, 2014 BY NICOLE ZELNIKER Staff Writer Police racism rages You walk down the street, your whole life ahead of you, until a police car comes up behind you. Some will claim that you continued walking, others that you attempted to draw a gpn. Either way, your life ends when that officer shoots you to death. For those of you who don't know, Mike Brown, an African- American teenager from Ferguson, Missouri, died at the hands of a local police officer on Aug. 9. Unfortunately, racially charged incidents like this can and do happen even in Greensboro. "A Vietnamese woman (was) shot here," said Director of the Bonner Center for Community Service James Shields. "A lot of people think this is something new, but if you think about the ... communities of color, it's always been that way," According to the Center of American Progress, even though people of color represent 30 percent of Americans they make up 60 percent of our prisons. "What do the jails in Greensboro consist of?" asked sophomore and Greensboro resident Taylor Brown. "African-Americans and other (minorities). Even on the news, you never see white men being arrested." Even as a teenager. Brown experienced racism through the police. "I've had one interaction with the police," said Taylor Brown. "(They) decided to profile me (because) I'm an African-American person ... I was only seventeen." Among yoimg adults, problems prevail. "One girl was accused of attacking the police when they really attacked her," said Coipmunity and Justice Studies major and junior Leah Meservey. Instead of holding our officers accountable, we give them more guns. "People (get) upset about the fact that the police are using military hardware," said Chair and Visiting Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies Jeremy Rinker. Even within the police department, radsm rages, according to Tara McKey, former Greensboro police officer. "I couldn't wear headphones at my desk, but all the white employees (could)," said McKey. "(My colleagues') treatment was different than mine. I got remedial work (while they) got to go on a conference." One only needs to look at Greensboro's history to understand why this happens here. "Slavery was adopted ... here," said Meservey. "Seeing the background of white and black people (makes sense)." Not surprisingly, most of these incidents occur in lower-class neighborhoods. "The majority of the policing happens in poorer neighborhoods," said Shields. "I doubt very seriously if a kid in an affluent neighborhood were walking in the streets that he would be arrested." Among Greensboro's homeless population, many are considered criminals just for being on the streets. "It's a problem when people see ofliers as a nuisance just for existing," said senior and project coordinator for Church Under the Bridge Noelle Lane. "When you pay more taxes, you get better treatment," said Lane. Increasing police accoxmtability could lead to a solution. "My father was a cop for 30 years," said Shields. "One of the things that he pioneered was a police- community relations office... to have a place where you could talk to someone you could trust." Types of training also ne^ to be addressed. "Anti-radsm training (would get) people to understand their privilege," said Rinker. "That kind of training would be the first step." Next, we ne^ to worry about our own capacity for caring. Just like in the Mike Brown case, middle- aged Hispanic neighborhood watchman George 2Smmerman shot and killed another African- American teenager named Trayvon Martin m 2012. As outraged as the public was, that passion for justice died out all too soon. "Vyhat I'm afraid of is, just like Trayvon Martin, at some point, the sexiness of the whole stoiy will go away and we'll go back to things like tne ice (bucket) challenge or whatever," said Shields. "We'll forget about it imtil the next guy is shot." Anti-radsm training and holding police accountable could put an end to race brutality by police. Police officers are human, too. They aren't monsters, as some think, but they also aren't invindble. Regardless, we need to put an end to the radst stereotype plaguing the ones meant to help us. "Currently police are seen as untouchable," said Rinker. "That's not structural. If s cultural." ■BIHBIMiaeSsfeS Social media ‘slacktivism^ enacts change BY BANNING WATSON Staff Writer 2014, the Year of the Heroic Slacker. Slacktivism, or low-effort activism on the intemet, is the way of the future and that might not be a bad thing. Many think the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge qualifies, but if it does, it is surely slacktivism at its finest and maybe tiie fibrst step towards legitimate Sodal Media Activism. The genius of slacktivism lies in the fact that anyone can do it for almost no cost or effort. The viral success of the IBC is the reason that the ALS Assodatioir reports donations totaling $94.3 million in the past month "compared to 2.7 million during the same time period last year 0uly 29 to Aug. 27)," induding 2.1 million new donors. This is also the reason why activism and slacktivism alike are turning to sodal media to determine their futures. Certainly great for raising awareness, the IBC also raises some skeptidsm. It's undeniable that people are more aware of ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease, than potentially ever before, but does that mean people are more informed about ALS? "When you hear that phrase 'raising awareness', ... does that mean that it has higher name recognition or that people actually imderstand more about it?" said Chris Henry, assistant professor of psychology. "Is the public being educated about what it is?" Henry and other educators interviewed for this artide all seemed skeptical of the actual educational value and with good reason. Of the dozens of IBC videos this author viewed only two delved into what ALS is, the state of research and why their partidpation was important. "The IBC does get people talking about ALS, but the dialogue does not seem to extend past commentary of the cute or creative videos people post of their own partidpation in the challenge," said a spedal needs teacher at Gateway Education Center. The teacher went on to say that the honorable intent to raise awareness and educate was overshadowed by the sodal media fad into which the IBC evolved. Henry suggested that, for many, the motivation behind making a public display of generosity might be conformity or not wanting to be left behind on a trend, rather than an attempt at education or raising awareness. However, not everyone was so disparaging about IBC. Henry was willing to term the IBC videos and donations as pro-sodal behavior, regardless of the motive, and felt it might have involved more people in activism, or slacktivism, than otherwise would have been involved. For people like Glenn Dobrogosz, executive director of the Greensboro Sdence Center, and his staff, it was more personal than simply following a sodal trend. "We had a dose friend and board member who died from ALS recently," said Dobrogosz in an email interview. "It was something we felt strongly about. We would only partidpate in something that had purpose and meaning attached to the mission and values of the staff," The IBC is proving that sodal media activism, coupled with dever marketing, can have meaning and be an effective means of raising awareness and funds without trivializing the cause. Maybe this is the new gold standard. N i i V. f . • - . • ■ ' • n'; ■ - - • •' a-'-*-• ACTION , | i f - ’■'.v . "-i .1 September 5 (1- 3 p.m.) East Gallery Fdimders Student Panel: Get Involved in ■ - ■ ... . 3.' ..... CSielsea Yarborough, Holden QesSio% & Jon Maoemore September 5 (4-6 p.m.) Pounders IMJDENT : ■ ■
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