Tuesday was fun! I ate sushi (not so fun) with a bunch of friends and watched as Obama became the president-elect. The place went all crazy, lots of cheering, almost no booing, it was a good time. And the ice cream tempura made my night. Watching McCain's concession was pretty inspiring - he delivered it quite eloquently and I appreciate that. And of course I was jealous of all the people in Grant Park (so close to home!!) who were watching Obama give his first speech as our president-elect. It was pretty powerful.
And then Wednesday happened. Why oh why did I pick a southern school? (Rhetorical question.) I walk to my second class of the day through our Free Expression Tunnel, a place where students express themselves in graffiti. Standing outside of it is Dr. Stafford, our vice chancellor for student affairs, and about 5 police officers staring with disbelief at what had been written over night.
"Let's shoot that n***** in the head."
"KKK will rise again."
and so on. I live among the bigots of our nation. North Carolina did eventually go blue, but 66 counties were red and only 22 were blue. And guess what? All those 22 counties go to UNC and I get stuck with the other 66. It was very hard for me to see such blatant racism, because frankly, I never really thought it existed in a such a harsh manner. I see people with confederate flag apparel, which makes me sick, but it's "their culture" whatever that means. It's just a pitiful excuse to let it keep on happening. It's impossible to believe that people down here just think it's right, let alone ok. If you know it's wrong, don't use the excuse that "it's how they were raised" because that's just shoving the problem under the table and allowing their hatred to continue and grow. It's gross.
(Obviously still a beginner...)
Peace.
Anyways, campus police acted swiftly, and by the time I came back through the tunnel (after about 50 minutes) the entire tunnel was painted over white. There was a large letter from Student Government condemning the actions. Here is what it said: http://students.ncsu.edu/sgims/documents/files/499/SL_Resp_to_Hate_Speech.htm
Our chancellor also made a quick statement: http://www.ncsu.edu/about-nc-state/chancellor/speeches-and-writings/free-expression/index.php
All of this sparked a need for a Unity Rally that was held on Thursday. I attended part of it, and was impressed by how quickly student government put everything together.
Our chancellor also made a quick statement: http://www.ncsu.edu/about-nc-state/chancellor/speeches-and-writings/free-expression/index.php
All of this sparked a need for a Unity Rally that was held on Thursday. I attended part of it, and was impressed by how quickly student government put everything together.
So, that's my election story. A true blue girl in a battleground state. Luckily the students who wrote all that crap on the wall turned themselves in. Their apartments/dorms were searched and it was determined that there was no real threat to Obama. Well, no offense, but obviously. They are just some college kids from Bumblefuck, NC, who think they are invincible and that free speech includes hate speech, which it obviously doesn't. I actually de-friended a couple people on Facebook after seeing what they wrote about our new President. They all said they are "afraid for our country." You know why I'm afraid for my country? Because of the crazy people like them who allow racism to live on. Again, it's gross.
And I'm done ranting.
On to more important things... like my future. Ha. Well, I had another interview on Friday and another one is coming up tomorrow for internships in the food industry. I'm still debating if that's what I really want, but with the looks of the economy, any job that pays may be worth it. I still would really like to do something abroad, more related to hunger, but it may not be an option. Oh, and I have decided to add a crop science minor. That's right. Even more classes. Yippee. But I think it will be a "tool in the toolbox" to have, to agree with my mentor. Let's hope that it takes me somewhere exciting.
And something completely different. I've been fooling around with Photoshop, finally after about a year of never using it. Here are some things that I've done with some Costa Rica photos. They make me happy :)
(Obviously still a beginner...)
Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment