We all should know by now what transpired on campus. In case you haven’t, let me give you some context.
Chalk around GATA fountain and the surrounding vicinity were messages favoring the Black Lives Matter movement and social justice were combatted with dueling counter messages that favored the police and others.
Both parties were victim of defacement of their messages, most particularly, chalk messages that responded to BLM content.
We lost a sense of rationale and love towards our fellow students and that includes both parties.
After speaking to countless people on the matter from both viewpoints, one thing is painfully obvious. What happened on campus was petty and the opposite of our Christian values.
It was a poor decision to even respond with statements favoring Black Lives Matter. It was also just as immature to go out of one’s way to deface and erase all pro-police chalk.
If you disagree with chalk statements, the mature and Christlike thing would be to simply keep walking and go about your day. Instead, our students showed the opposite.
What we failed to recognize is the ultimate truth behind these statements is about the genuine care and love of others.
Black Lives Matter goes under the belief that obviously all people matter, but Blacks across America are not treated to the same value as others. On the contrary, those who write “cops’ lives matter” also believe that Black lives matter, but the emphasis is different and not focused on just Black lives.
We need to stop vilifying the opposing group and recognize that we all have a sense of love towards others. But because of the current climate, both socially and politically, we fail to recognize the sense of humanity others have. We also fall short to treat others with compassion and love with different viewpoints than our own.
If we ever hope to move past this on campus, we need to have constructive dialogue with those we disagree with. As difficult as that may be, we need to start hearing different perspectives with an open mind.
It’s time to move forward and grow together.
