It’s just past noon and over 85 degrees in Cullowhee, North Carolina on September 23, 2016. Nearly 110 students sit in direct sunlight around the campus fountain, their mouths sealed by strips of yellow tape. The sight is impossible to miss as passersby walk through the brick circle, which is located in the middle of campus. Social media instructed the student body to dress in black today, a rule which was applied by student groups across the country. The organizers provided name tags, each marked with the name of one of 200 people of color who died this year, under police brutality. One protester, dressed in her black outfit, holds a white poster board: “please respect our silence as we mourn.”
Kiyonna and Aaliyah were two of the students participating in the sit-in. “We’re Charlotte natives, so we feel like we needed to be here and be part of it. Not in violence, but you know,” Aaliyah says, “we feel like we can silently display our protest.” They point out that the bright yellow tape across their mouths was a color picked intentionally, so that those walking by with easily be able to see it.
The Odyssey: “Have you noticed problems with racial tension here on campus?”
Kiyonna: “I have noticed it, with the confederate flags and how people are so open with it. I respect everyone’s beliefs but I think it comes off as inconsiderate and aggressive. We’re all college students and we’re all coming here with different cultures. The confederate flag displays separation and racial tension, in a way. As an African American, that’s how I perceive it. Hopefully I never have a problem with the police, but I guess the guy who got killed in Charlotte never thought he would get killed by a police officer.”
Aaliyah: “When I first came here, [four years ago], I experienced it first hand by people in fraternities, with the confederate flags on their trucks. I feel like we do have a problem, but we can do more as a whole than we can separately... We all need to stand together, because this world is full of hate.”
Kiyonna continues to add her thoughts on the protest. “Standing here in the protest is just a way to prevent what has been happening and speaking up for it in a non-violent, non-aggressive or non-confrontational manner. We’re speaking up, but ironically because we’re being silent.”
Tristan, Westley, and Angie are three of the students of Sociology on campus. They sat together, yellow tape across their mouths, surrounding a handwritten sign (pictured below).
The Odyssey: “What do you hope the student body takes away from this protest?”
Westley: “I think more people should educate themselves on what ‘Black Lives Matter’ actually means… If you understood the process, you would see that ‘All Lives Matter’ didn’t start occurring until after the movement for ‘Black Lives Matter’. You would see that ‘All Lives Matter’ doesn’t even try to support any individual who has experienced police brutality, while BLM has tried to reach out and support anyone who has. That in itself is the white man trying to cover up the black man’s voice. People need to go out there and stop just reading what they read in media.”
Tristan: “I think people need to educate themselves on what white privilege is and realize that it exists. A lot of the problem is that as a white person, you can go on about your life without having to think about the actions you make or the behaviors you do. We need to be more aware of what the media content portrays. They tend to portray black people as violent and say things like ‘50% of crimes are committed by black people’. If the system wasn’t set up to disadvantage people of color, maybe we wouldn’t have these problems.”
Angie: “This is no different than what they did in the 1960s, when they hung [people of color] in trees and leaving them for public display. This is no different than what they did, leaving these men to bleed on the pavement. I also want to say that there are good cops! There are bad cops too, though, and they are more of a danger than anyone else. We need to get them off the streets.”
Tristan: “I want to add this: black people have to live with a double consciousness. as a white man, I live with one consciousness and I see the world in one way. Everything I do is from that one perspective; it’s from that white racial frame. For a black person, it’s more than that. It’s “how do I act in this situation?” and “how will that be perceived by everyone else?”.
Baron Crawford, the student body president, participated in the protest between his classes. He sat with tape over his mouth for over half an hour, in total silence.
The Odyssey:“Did you get anything from the protest? What about those walking by?”
Baron: “I woke up to reality sitting out there. By participating, I saw that this is real. At this point, I feel like I need to do something as a student leader. This was me standing up for what I believe in and leaving an impact.”
Today’s sit-in served to unite students across the campus, regardless of their race, religion, or political affiliation. They sat together, sweltering in the early Autumn sun, grateful for support as observers passed out bottled water and took pictures of the activity. In wake of disastrous riots only two hours from campus, it is evident that parts of the community at this university are pulling together more than they are pulling apart.
