Growing up in Durham, I was surrounded by a diverse group of people. They were black, white, Asian, Indian and every other race you could think of. But more than that, they were accepting.

From elementary school recess through my time at the N.C . School of Science and Mathematics, I had the luxury of being in a place where race was accepted, not judged. While I thought this level of acceptance would continue in my time at N.C . State, I was wrong.

Race matters here. Not only because ignorant people exist, but also because those who can make a difference refuse to educate them.

I was called to a meeting Friday to discuss a “controversial” photo of the free expression tunnel. On one of the walls of the tunnel was a racial slur.

Having walked through the Free Expression Tunnel countless times and observing the countless numbers of racial slurs, homophobic slurs and sexual graffiti, I couldn’t say I was surprised.

It is the nature of the tunnel to be controversial. It is a venue for all expression, not just the expression that a specific group finds acceptable. And it is this free expression that I find to be a great part of N.C . State, even if I don’t believe in the message.

Unfortunately, this view does not seem to be shared by the black community at State.

At the Friday meeting, Assistant Vice Provost for Student Diversity Tracey Ray campaigned for the image to be pulled from The Brick, a publication meant to introduce students to the traditions at State, including painting the Free Expression Tunnel.

It is precisely this knee-jerk reaction by both the black community and administration that is holding back race relations in America and specifically at this University.

As noted economist and statistician Milton Friedman said, “A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.”

Ray is solely focused on equality. And while I appreciate and support her desire for equality, she is going about it all wrong. By fighting the hatred in the Free Expression Tunnel, she is reinforcing the ignorance which she is fighting.

Ray is putting equality before freedom. The proper course of action, however, is to embrace the painting, embrace the words, embrace the culture that is the true source of inequality. She must place the freedom of the individuals who regard blacks with hate above her own desire to not suffer the hatred of others. She must place true freedom above equality if she is to help enact real change.

When the University painted the tunnel white following racist comments painted when President Barack Obama won the election in 2008, it placed surface level equality above freedom. And later racist comments showed this knee-jerk reaction enacted no real change. Following the midterm elections of 2010, a group of black students blockaded the tunnel as a reaction to more racist graffiti. This has seemingly done nothing to change the culture either, as I have seen plenty of racist graffiti in the tunnel since then.

And now, in 2011, Ray is following in their footsteps. I would go so far as to say her actions of trying to cover up the message and keep people from seeing it, just as the incidents in 2008 and 2010 did, fall under Einstein’s definition of insanity—”doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

The time has come to no longer hide this part of who N.C . State is. Just as a person must learn to accept his or her flaws before he or she can start to change it, this University must come to accept that hatred exists and we cannot run away from it. We must place this freedom, the freedom to hate, above our desire for equality.

So the next time you see someone painting hate speech in the tunnel, even if it is directed toward you, thank them. Thank them for exercising their freedom. And after you have embraced their freedom, educate them. And invite all levels of this administration to join you. We must all embrace humanity’s freedom — be it a freedom to hate, a freedom to love or a freedom to paint.

Once this freedom has been truly established, then we can start to teach those who would hate. Because hate speech is not the true issue nor the real danger—ignorance is. 

See Nubian Message Editor CJ Guion’s  response to The Brick incident and Brent Kitchen’s column in the July 21 edition of the Technician.