Keep God in mind

With the election of the first African-American president, our nation has proven that change has and will continue to occur. For years, African-Americans were denied even basic rights, and this election has shown that many are tired of the past discriminatory ways of thinking. The tunnel episode shows, however, that hate still does exist. Many have proposed unity rallies, parades or harsher punishments as solutions. To me, it seems as if these suggestions only change the behavior, while leaving the root cause of the issue unresolved.

And here the problem lies. How can we change someone’s heart? Can we work to change hate to love? Is that possible? The answers we seek can be found, yet we have overlooked who to go to during this time of tragedy on our campus. We have forgotten to go to God. 

As a university, we are so careful to keep God out of everything. “Keep religion out of this!” many yell. Yet it seems to me that He is the exact person we need right now. Should we not pray for those who did this act, allowing God to change their hearts? Should we not show them God’s love?  Is this not the best option for changed behavior? 

The Bible says in Genesis 1:27 that, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Should this not inspire us to love all of God’s children? No matter what color of skin, male or female, liberal or conservative, we are supposed to model God’s love for all. It seems to me as if the very thing we need right now is more of God’s love and less of human prejudice.

I am not against repercussions for these individuals. I am not against trying to persuade them with words. I just believe there is a more powerful way, a more loving way. That way is to show them how much God cares for them enough to send his own Son to die on the cross. That changes lives. It has surely changed mine.

Josh Schroder

senior, business administration

Image matters

I have loved being a part of N.C. State. As a transfer student, I have been impressed by how warmly I have been welcomed. For the first time since my switch, I have been embarrassed to call N.C. State my home. So I ask you with concerned sincerity, what the heck has been happening on our campus?  Racist messages in the free expression tunnel followed by a poorly attended rally and most recently, more embarrassing images glorifying violence covering former shameful messages.

What image are we projecting to our fellow N.C. State students, to our community, to the world? I’m a Raleigh native and proud to say that I’m from the South. This is not the community that I know and love. Bigotry, racism and making light of violence should not be tolerated on a college campus. I support an individual’s right to free speech, but it is taken too far when we create a threatening and oppressive environment. This behavior creates a community that is distrustful and less willing to work together.  These individuals not only hurt those they are aiming to intimidate but also themselves and our community. We discourage potential students and professors from coming to NCSU. I would like them to see the N.C. State that I know and love. Please, let’s not let a few ignorant individuals tarnish our name. We can do our part by acknowledging their wrongdoing and taking a stand against such acts. Let’s reclaim our university and our pride.

Allison Moore

senior, biological sciences

A few thoughts on hate

President-elect Obama is not black. He is not African-American. He is biracial. Mislabeling him because of an old-fashioned one drop notion is offensive to him and to his family who raised him, who loved him and took pride in him before he was a senator or president. We should therefore celebrate him for being, what he has referred to himself as, “a mutt.”

As for the hate speech and the lack of disciplinary action, I ask how can you punish a person for expressing what you are thinking? I may

be horribly wrong, but I think that Obama’s presidency is a change for which many were not ready, but that came nevertheless. Others, who think differently, are calling for the perpetrators’ expulsion. However, expelling them could be the wrong solution. It can prevent them from learning or understanding why their action was wrong. I think that it is the University’s responsibility to educate not just these four individuals, but everyone else to first learn our history as people, to then take what we have learned, and think critically and independently. Maybe then these students will learn that true enemies do not always have a color.

Kyra Johnson

freshman, Environmental Engineering