In case you have not heard, on Wednesday night someone wrote a racially insensitive comment on the wall of Gordon Hall. The comment said "N****** deserve to die".
When I saw this the only thing I had to say was wow. I was shocked someone could be so cruel and thoughtless as to write such hurtful words. This is absolutely not okay! First of all, if you are that racist, YOU DO NOT BELONG AT COLLEGE. A college is a place of learning! Here we learn about how people who judge others by physical appearance are a poison to society, and that everyone has something important to offer.
Second of all, I found it ironic that the day after the incident, I learned about prejudices and discrimination in social psychology. One study we talked about that stuck out to me was done by Fein and Spencer. I won't go too much into detail, but basically people were either given positive or negative feedback on an IQ test and then asked to evaluate an "unrelated" job applicant to see if they discriminated against the applicants. The study showed that the participants that got negative feedback were more likely to discriminate. I mentioned this because, as a psychology student, I was trying to understand what could have possessed someone to commit such a stupid act. So, if this was the case and the kid who did this was just looking for a way to make himself/herself feel better, then I recommend finding a better coping method for feeling down, like exercising or reading a book. Or, if the person that committed this was trying to be funny, I would personally like to say, YOU ARE NOT FUNNY!
University Police is currently coordinating an investigation into who wrote the racist graffiti on the residence hall wall. President Heidi Macpherson responded by sending out an email to all of the students on campus stating "this type of behavior is unacceptable to me and should be to everyone on campus. We have no tolerance for behaviors or actions that are hurtful to or exclusive of any member of our community. However, when something does occur, it is important to acknowledge it and respond to it." She also encouraged student to come to the Fireside Lounge on Thursday between 10a.m. and 2p.m. to resign the The Pledge to improve and support the Brockport community.
This was a great response or at least the best way the Brockport staff could have counteracted the situation. The Brockport staff constantly reminds the students (including myself) to be considerate and represent the college in a positive way. I understand that if I want my school be be better I have to my part and influence others to do theirs. Brockport cannot change unless everyone decides to help out. I say this because I'm sure the person who wrote the graffiti on the wall had friends that provoked them or laughed because they did not want to seem lame and tell their friend that "hey, maybe you shouldn't write that". Now, of course no one is going to say anything because they do not want to be the snitch, but this serves as a warning for future issues. Next time someone sees something questionable, PLEASE stand up and say something!
What do you say Brockport? Can we do that?
