CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this letter mischaracterized the involvement of the NAACP and Black Student Movement in the #SayHerName vigil; they were sponsors of the vigil. The letter has been updated to reflect this change.
TO THE EDITOR:
Freshman orientation and the first days of class are filled with constant harangues about what it means to be a member of the UNC community.
Chapel Hill, we are told, is a baby blue place where the students, faculty and staff care and want to change the world. They are active and, above all, supportive of each other. But when I attended the #SayHerName vigil sponsored by the NAACP and UNC’s Black Student Movement, I couldn’t help but feel that this “community” might be nothing more than a feel-good illusion.
When the stories of those women killed by police violence were told, I couldn’t help but notice the absence of our great Tar Heel spirit.
Of course not all of us, myself included, are remotely in a position to talk, but why aren’t there more people listening?
Why is it that in this school where hundreds or thousands of people can “turn up” for frat parties or sports games, not even 150 can come to an event that actually matters? If we can be animals on a Thursday, why is it so hard to be humans on a Monday?
This community is being offered an opportunity to move forward, and if it’s even half as great of a place as it likes to think it is, it should take the time to learn something important.
Thomas Elliott
