On October 19th, Georgia Southern NPHC put together a solidarity protest walk based on the events that happened earlier in the school year. Remember the “Triggerish” incident? Yeah, me too. Well, the black community at Georgia Southern is not quite done with the situation. Black student organizations at Georgia Southern tell us that if we want to see change, we can’t forget the unfair things that happened in the past.
(Protest Photo from Georiga Southern)
In July of 2018 a student at Georgia Southern used the “N-word” when she was texting her future roommate for the 2018-2019 school year. The students name is Courtney Schaefer and she happens to be a member of the swim team. The incident blew up and even got to the point where it made it to daytime talk show, “The View”. Georgia Southern NPHC decided to walk from the student rotunda on campus to the Recreational Activity Center, where the first home swim meet was being held. Knowing that Schaefer is on the swim team, students stood outside of the swim meet and protested against the way things happened with the incident. Georgia Southern students are not afraid of confrontation, let em’ know. In footage captured at the rally we hear students chanting phrases like:
“We woke; the system is broke”
“New faces, same problem”,
“Love, not hate, will make America great”, and the one we all know so well
“Black lives matter”.
(Protest Photos from Georiga Southern)
We also see students holding signs that read:
“I am not a trigger”,
“History has its eyes on YOU”,
“Siri isn’t racist” and my favorite one,
“I love my IG, thank you very much!”.
Schafer comments on her new roommates IG to say “her IG looks pretty normal not too niggerish”. She meant to send the text to a different person but she sent it to her new roommate, on accident. Her reaction was “OMG I am so sorry! Holy crap. Damn spell check I did NOT mean to send that. “ She claims she meant to say “Triggerish”, which actually isn’t in the dictionary… because it’s not a word, lol. The word auto corrects to triggerfish, which we know she did not mean.
Photos and videos from the protest are all over twitter and have went viral.
Nevertheless, this is not a new issue which is why organizations on campus are working so actively to bring attention to the problem. We must remember that we have to speak up. As the minority our voices are already small. As a unit we must stand up and speak out; majority and minority. If we continue to do nothing in return, we get nothing. Black lives matter not only when we want them to but everyday. The bar is already on the floor. Are we going to stomp into the ground or uplift it? No matter what happens we must remember this and fight for our rights and respect. After all, our ancestor fought so hard for us. So why are we not fighting as hard for them? Stand up! Let’s match their energy!
(Protest Photo from Georiga Southern)