Kent State University commemorates the events of May 4th, 1970 each year with speakers, marches and public actions. This past week was the 46th anniversary of the day in which the Ohio National Guard open fired on student protesters, killing four students and wounding nine students.

The events of May 4th have been controversial since they occurred. Opinions and perspectives on the day vary greatly amongst not only students of Kent State but the country as a whole. Some individuals view the National Guard's open fire as legitimate and justified, for they feared for their lives. Others support the idea that the National Guard's actions were unjustified, as the protest was peaceful, the students were unarmed, and some of the individuals killed and wounded were not even participating in the protest. It is commonly viewed as an abuse of military power.

The latter perspective inspired 2016's keynote speaker for the commemoration: Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice. She spoke passionately about her 12-year-old son's murder by a Cleveland police officer-in-training. Neither the officer-in-training nor the officer in charge of him was indicted for his respective crime. Samaria Rice's speech focused on issues including abuse of power by public officials, racial tensions, and, of course, the social and political movement Black Lives Matter.

Rice drew parallels between the events of May 4th and the events which took her son away from her. Both were situations in which the people in power -- the police officers and National Guard -- unjustly utilized lethal violence against peaceful, unarmed individuals. Both situations also caused significant controversy. Despite the obvious connection between the two events, Samaria Rice's appearance as the keynote for the May 4th Commemoration was heavily disputed.

Students, community members, and individuals around the country were outraged by Samaria Rice's politically charged appearance, as well as the overall theme of the day: "Black Lives Matter: Long Live the Memory of Kent State and Jackson State." Before the commemoration even began, numerous tweets, Facebook posts and blog posts were created in an outcry against the theme and Rice's appearance. Opinions ranged from encouragement for the event to racist outrage.

The controversy and outrage continued throughout the event. Before Samaria Rice spoke, students gathered together and spray-painted Kent's famous rock black with the words "Black Lives Matter." Whilst she spoke, a different group of students painted over that with the words "Cops Lives Matter. Shame on you, KSU."

Some of the comments on the photo include:

"To turn a day of remembering the tragedy of May 4th into a Black Lives matter day would make those who died roll over in their Graves! Come on KSU Students and smart faculty members. Live up to fighting for what's right!!"

"What I don't get is how a university is the place to bring blm?! All because she failed to teach her son not to point "fake" guns at police officers and she won a settlement... Go do something with yourself.. Maybe have a rally about raising kids correctly and how not to be thugs running the streets.."

"I would LOVE to see KSU Grads boycott graduation! Shame on Kent State for their actions and promoting BLM....ALL LIVES MATTER! As an Alum....Kent will NEVER receive a dime of donation money from me after this"

"BLM is a hate group to have them speak at any event is, in my eye a terroristic act."

Of course, every individual is entitled to their own opinion, but it is sad to see such racist reactions to an event made to enlighten students on the issues currently facing our country. The events of May 4th are parallel to the issues facing people of color in our political climate; the only differentiating factor between the two is race.

I hope people will see and understand that the abuse of people in power, the extreme violence with which the military and police force act, and the amount of blame victims receive are not new problems. They have existed for years. We must all work together to eradicate these issues.