Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / March 14, 2007, edition 1 / Page 4
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EDITORIAL March li 201)7 4 DIVERSITY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 view issues in a black- and-white mentality. Perhaps she didn't say all of this—I have a bad habit of putting words in other people's mouths— but she did communicate to me the idea that her classroom would not be a place of intimidation by one viewpoint—no mat ter what the viewpoint happened to be. This is the piece that CORE 100 lacked. I do hope that it is there now. I do hope that die professors and admin istrators imderstand the need for students to be able to clearly and effec tively present their ideas, whether they are main streamed or not. If it is not there, something needs to change immedi ately. We all have a right to voice our opinions. We are given this right by the Constitution of the United States. However, not one of us has the right to deface property and write hate messag es in bathrooms, eleva tors, and stairwells. But equally true: not one of us has the right to force any ideas, beliefs, or values on another person. If this truly repugnant event teaches us anyttiing, I hope that it teadies us not just that hate needs to be abolished but that the education of a means of communicating ideas in a respectful manner is the only way to respond to hate. I have been praying for those who wrote those symbols and messages, and I pray that you do the same. Ignorance and Hatred Are Not Welcome on Our Campus By Meredith Beeman Staff Writer When I woke up on the morning of March 1, I tiiought that it would be a beautiful day (even though it was a little windy). Then I walked into Joyner and it turned out to be a not so beauti ful day after all. There were hate-filled, ignorant messages written in the bathroom. As a matter of fact, there were hate mes sages in just about every building on campus. These messages attack people from every race, every religion, and every sexual preference except for those of mainstream society. In other words, everyone was targeted except for white, straight, Christian women. Because I am a white, straight Christian woman, I am ashamed and outraged that this person chose to target every other group but mine: every other group but the majority. One of the major tenets of this campus is diver sity. As a college com munity, we signed a pledge, on our honor, that we would respect oth ers and ourselves during our time here as students. Obviously, someone does not respect herself enough to honor the pledge that she made. While we have students from other races, reli gions, and sexual prefer ences here, the majority of this campus is still white, straight, and Christian. It is very easy to attack the minority, especially in such a cowardly way. Make no mistake, writing anonymous messages on walls is cowardly. I am not saying that people cannot have their own opinions. I am saying that people who express an opinion without owning up to it are cowards and some thing so blatantly hateful and ignorant cannot be tolerated. Many American leaders and public figures have given statements regard ing diversity and its sig nificance and benefits. Jimmy Carter said, "We have become not a melt ing pot, but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, differenthopes, different dreams." We as a campus are a group of "different people" with "different beliefs, differ ent yearnings, different hopes, [and] different dreams," and we should be proud of all of these differences. The world would be an incredibly boring place to live if we all thought the same things, acted the same way, and hoped for the same things. Booker T. Washington said, "I will permit no man to nar row and degrade my soul by making me hate him." Why would a person choose to degrade their soul in such a manner as writing messages that they cannot even claim? Why would a person choose to sell their soul for nothing? I have Muslim friends, African-American friends, Indian friends, and homosexual friends and I am proud to say it. If someone wants to attack these members of the Meredith community, then they need to be pre pared to attack me too. I will not stand idly by and watch while my friends are disparaged in such a manner. It is time for the members of the Meredith community who have friends that were attacked to imite in a stand against these messages of hate. I encourage everyone who has friends that they value, whose race, reli gion, or sexual preference was mentioned in those messages, to find a time to talk with that friend and say, "I respect you and I will stand beside you and support you in what you believe." Tell them "I believe in the person that you are." Tell them that they should be proud of who they are. Use the messages of encourage ment that have been sent by faculty and staff as examples and support your friends. What kind of a place would this be if we couldn't stand up for our own friends in their time of need? CALLING ALL ANGELS! THE MEREDITH HERALD WANTS YOU! If you would like to be a member of the Meredith HerakJ staff, please email your name to herald@meredith.edu. In the subject line, state “Interested In the Meredith He''aid". Make sure to inaude tr.e areas of journalism that interests you. We are in need of DEDICATED staff writers and ednors
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