Major cities in the US erupted in protests following the results of the Grand Jury in Ferguson, Missouri on November 24th. Even more outrage has been sparked since the grand jury decision regarding the death of Eric Garner. While citizens of all ages have joined this movement, it is especially young Americans that have given the campaigns their power. #BlackLivesMatter and #ICantBreathe have inundated major social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. College campuses throughout the country are holding their own demonstrations to voice their outrage.
On one level, it makes sense that students are some of the primary activists. The events in Ferguson and the death of Eric Garner reflect some details that might hit close to home. Eric Garner was a father of six. Michael Brown was 18-years-old. Still, the level of response, especially among college-age students has been unprecedented. Universities that can’t even boast a proximity to Ferguson held demonstrations to start a dialogue on the racism that is still alive in this country.
The University of Notre Dame is around 350 miles from Ferguson, MO, but some quieter implications of the surrounding movements have reached students and staff on our campus as well. As we process the flow of media information, we ought to ask ourselves, “how do the events in Ferguson affect us as a campus?”
Asking a few students from different areas of the university, it’s apparent that ND offers a range of perspectives on the issue:
Kathleen Flavin, a freshman from Welsh Fam, has a sister who attends St. Louis University. She says, “On a personal level, Ferguson concerns me for the well-being of those involved especially for my sister who is very close in proximity to some of the protests. The racial concerns posed by Ferguson are definitely worth bringing attention to, but I have a hard time accepting that riots are necessary in doing so. The situation is not black and white and poses questions on both ends of the spectrum. I think as educated individuals, these events should force us at Notre Dame to question our societies’ inconsistencies and create long term solutions.”
Ernesto Aveledo, a junior from Venezuela, also has a unique, personal take on the event. “Personally, I was born and raised in Caracas, where crime rates are among the highest in the world. Honestly, the events in Ferguson have had minimal impact on me. This is due to the fact that I am, sadly, accustomed to gun violence both from police and from criminals. And, because of this, I especially disapproved of the violent protests over the death of one man. I will say one way that the events have impacted everyone on campus in a common way: we all are looking into our views and beliefs on how much lethal force should we let law enforcement have. We all have revised and questioned whether or not there should be extra measures in place to reduce the use of lethal force.”
Finally, Imani Parker-Robinson, also a junior, gives a take on how we ought to move forward. “First and foremost, the events in Ferguson, Missouri affect everyone. As students at a premier university, it is our responsibility to invite intellectual discourse. We must find a way to talk about differing opinions instead of invalidating the beliefs of others through hateful words or, even worse, failing to address the situation at all.”
Though all our opinions vary on the issues, one resounding theme remains clear. It is important that we, as a campus, keep channels for dialogue open in order to learn and improve, so that we may avoid unnecessary violence and injustice.
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