Silent Sam helps inspire us to move past racism

TO THE EDITOR:

I for one see Sam as a reminder of our University's dark history and as a symbol I desperately wish to prove wrong. In a weird way he ends up being an inspiration.

On the night of Sen. Obama's victory I wanted to run up to Sam and tell him how I really felt. Expletives would have been directed at the monument I'm sure. I stopped myself when I realized that he's just an inanimate object but I took immense joy in the fact that Sam's credibility had taken a fatal blow.

His presence symbolizes a marked past and a sin so engraved in our history and our culture that makes it impossible to forget. Tearing down Silent Sam won't heal us of our racial problems. There are still plenty of divides permeating our campus but his departure might make us forget how far we have come and how much further we still need to go.



Chris Clayman

Sophomore

Political Science