BLM protesters on campus right now
Looks like some sort of black lives matter protest happening on campus right now around rudder. 30 or so black people with tape on their mouths being escorted by police. I'd love to stay and watch but I have to get to work.
47 comments · 92% upvoted · other discussions
Ok. It's their right to protest, sure. I'm a bit confused though - Is there something bad that happened locally that they're protesting, or is it just general BLM?
[deleted] 23 points · Feb 2016
Google "Texas a&m high school racial". We made international news for a racial incident in campus.
WyMANderly 30 points · Feb 2016 · '14
Oh that thing. What do the protesters want? AFAIK the racist assholes were soundly condemned by administration and the other 99% of the campus population alike. Are they after something more?
brazosriver 24 points · Feb 2016 · '19 BAEN
They are also really late to the party on this one. If they did have a problem with the incident it would have made more sense to protest sooner.
[deleted] 20 points · Feb 2016
There was an incident circulating aggie twitter last night with a video by a girl who was walking on northgate and being called "nigger" by a random group of guys. As a person of color who has experienced similar things, racial incidents like the one with the high school students are a lot more common than the general population of students would believe. I think these students want to bring attention to it.
WyMANderly 19 points · Feb 2016 · '14
Fair enough. As the proverbial white guy, I can't really claim to have any understanding of what that is like, and it's awful that it happens in aggieland. I guess my question then becomes: what is the goal beyond general "awareness"? Is there some rule or law that needs changing? Or is awareness (and the accompanying self-policing that would hopefully happen, where other students call the racists out on their shit) enough?
[deleted] 20 points · Feb 2016
This is me speaking for myself, and not all black people (clarity: a lot of folks take the words/actions of a black person and assume that they're representing the whole race), but I just really want more people to be aware that this stuff is way more pervasive than people think. Like these incidents happen all the time, but because they happen to such a small group of people, they tend to get overlooked or ignored completely. Which is why I think black students get so upset, because they feel like the things they have to deal with, which other people don't, aren't given any thought by most people. People will just say, "suck it up and quit whining" but no one should have to deal with these things. I always thought that words were just words and they couldn't hurt, but I can't even explain what I felt the time when I was personally called "nigger" to my face by two A&M students. Since coming to A&M, I am ALWAYS consciously aware of my color in social situations and how people around me may feel based on that. That's not healthy. I'm not advocating for any laws or rules, I just want people to be compassionate and try to be empathetic. Call out racist shit that you hear, even if there aren't any black people nearby. If you already do this, thank you. I know most of the students here are really good people, but just be understanding of what some of us have to deal with.
WyMANderly 9 points · Feb 2016 · '14
This is something that I certainly try to do and will try to be more conscious about doing. I think part of the problem is that some white people (myself included) genuinely don't realize this is common because the people we know or hang out with or grew up around wouldn't dream of doing it.
Back home (a suburb North of DFW) I can honestly say that I didn't know anyone who was honestly racist in any sort of overt way (leaving talk of microaggressions etc aside for now since that's not what sparked this recent controversy). As a result, my instinctive reaction when I hear about some racist incident like what happened on our campus recently is disbelief because I on some level just can't believe that there's still people that ignorant in the world. Same thing with overt sexism. The fact that there are is, well, something I'm still having to come to terms with.
My fiancée, on the other hand, is from a small town where that sort of thing isn't only common, it's the norm. She has family friends who are otherwise very nice and kind people who still use racial slurs casually. She has neighbors who are not only Trump supporters but who actually agree with everything he says. As a result, racism and sexism are things she's acutely sensitive to, much more so than I.
EDIT: FWIW, I'm really sorry you and others have had to go through that sort of thing. It's disgraceful that people still perpetuate that kind of idiocy in 2016.
[deleted] 4 points · Feb 2016
I really truly appreciate your words and actions. They still make a difference, even if it may not seem like it.
spirituallyinsane 2 points · Feb 2016 · '16
I must run in the wrong places, because I never get to call any of that garbage out.
I'm sorry that happened to you. I've been discriminated against for something different, and it sucks, but it's something I can hide. I can imagine how much it sucks being treated differently for something you can't, and shouldn't have to hide.
If you want to hang out and have a beer sometime, hit me up!
[deleted] 2 points · Feb 2016
Yeah it's not just limited to skin color, discrimination and hate in any form is disgusting. Thank you for your sentiment and understanding!
MoreBeansAndRice 1 points · Feb 2016 · Grad Student
Thanks for saying this. The largest frustration with this whole thing is that so many people who don't experience it just think its not there because they don't perpetrate it or experience it.
TheCatnip 3 points · Feb 2016 · '14
Do you have a link to the video from Twitter?
[deleted] 6 points · Feb 2016
https://twitter.com/wolfhaleigh_/status/702733295365128192
The vid is only 5 seconds and is of the aftermath because she wanted to get his face on camera.
TweetsInCommentsBot 3 points · Feb 2016
@wolfhaleigh_
This message was created by a bot
[Contact creator][Source code]
[deleted] 3 points · Feb 2016
Pretty sad that this event doesn't surprise me.