Editor’s note: The word limit has been waived for this letter to preserve the intended purpose of the author.
Very similar to Brent Kitchen, I also grew up in Durham surrounded by a diverse group of people. I would list their ethnicities, but I don’t find it necessary to attempt to give myself some sort of legitimacy for the point I am trying to make.
First and foremost, I do not believe race matters at N.C . State. I will agree that race matters to some people within our community, but the attempt to pawn off the actions of the select few to the University as a whole is not only wrong, but done so in poor taste.
I do agree that certain members of our community need a mentality shift in regards to how we operate and respond to such events. I have been through the Free Expression Tunnel numerous times and seen some of the very things Brent has seen written on the wall. However, what I have not seen is someone out there writing slurs in the middle of broad daylight. It would seem, in my opinion, that these people are aware that the vast majority of our community does not approve of such vile garbage, requiring them to sneak around in the night and write it while the rest of us sleep or study.
I disagree with his sentiments that the nature of the tunnel is to be controversial. The nature of the tunnel is to allow people the freedom to express themselves and ideas to the general public and more specifically the N.C . State community within reason. The tunnel doesn’t have a sign that is up outside of it that says, “be controversial inside please.” It’s an issue of people using the privilege they have — which is having the ability to write in the tunnel — with the intent to emotionally harm or make other students around campus uncomfortable.
A point I would like to address is within Brent’s original viewpoint, his statement that, “this view does not seem to be shared by the black community at State.” I am curious as to how this conclusion has been reached. Is there an article or website I can subscribe to that will tell me in absolutes what the black community on campus “seems” to think? If so, how come I have never heard of it before? We have organizations on campus that work with and support the black community, but I have never seen one claim they spoke on behalf of them as a whole.
The act of inaction is by definition action within itself. Inaction by the very virtue of not acting is the presumed support for the events that are currently taking place. By the University and Dr. Ray not acting against the image in “The Brick” they are condoning it by allowing it to continue.
Another point I would like to address is Brent’s words about the Vice Provost for Student Diversity Tracy Ray. She does have a PhD and as such should be referred to Dr. Ray as a courtesy. The message that was attempting to be sent lost what little steam it had the moment the topic at hand moved away from its original focus and instead began to continually target Dr. Ray.
Dr. Ray putting equality before freedom is another sentiment Brent expressed in his article. However, operating under the premise that she is indeed doing her job as Vice Provost for Student Diversity by focusing on equality of all of our students, I must applaud her for her efforts — they clearly aren’t going unnoticed even if some people disagree about the manner in which she is attempting to accomplish them. I didn’t see anything close to proof to back up such accusations that she is harming freedom.
Furthermore, I disagree with Brent’s accusations that the University, by painting the tunnel white, placed surface level equality above freedom. I am not interested in debating the whole freedom debacle of the tunnel. Given that not every campus in the country has a freedom of expression tunnel, I am apparently supposed to understand this as an attempt to deprive the students of freedom. In short, the point I am making is that the Free Expression Tunnel is a privilege and by no means a right. Closing it due to the actions of the few would only harm those that have done nothing wrong.
I must offer my own counter-proposal to the situation at hand, because anyone can criticize someone without attempting to solve the problem. N.C . State and society needs people of all races to embrace each other for their differences for who or what they are. If we embraced our differences then there wouldn’t be any hate left to “embrace.” Differences are not things that need to be shunned, insulted, talked down upon or bashed repeatedly by anyone for any reason. Diversity is much more then differences in sex, religion, race and sexual orientation. It is simply differences among people and that should be something we can all appreciate.
Lastly, I do agree that N.C . State should not hide who it is and I have not seen any indications that we are attempting to hide anything or mislead anyone. I don’t consider the removal of the select few people’s distasteful spraying in the freedom expression tunnel an attempt to hide the issue or even an attempt to save face. It could, should and was changed because it does not accurately portray what this University stands for and is indicative of the majority of this community in my opinion. I will not attempt to speak on behalf of anyone but myself. Finally, I do agree ignorance is a real danger to society, but not in the same context as portrayed in the article by Brent.
