So our Black Lives Matter campaign organized a silent march last week. Black students walked silently through campus. The only sound they made was shuffling of feet because the march was silent. Nothing else happened. A small group of students silently walked across campus. Some onlookers stopped and took photos. This was the extent of the event.
On the next day, the local newspaper came out with the photos of the black students during the march under the title, “Student march creates commotion.” Of course, there was no “commotion” or anything that could pass for one but we are very thankful that words like “thug” and “riot” didn’t make an appearance.
The thing that gives me pause is that if I hadn’t been there and witnessed an absolute lack of anything resembling a commotion (defined in the dictionary as “violent or tumultuous motion; agitation; noisy disturbance”), I might have believed the newspaper headline. This is how negative images are created and propagated.
I would have never believed it if I hadn’t seen it.
Clarissa's Blog 
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