Howdy,
By now I am sure many of you have heard about the horrifying and disgusting racial incident that occurred earlier this week on campus. Unfortunately, this was a sobering reminder that while the vast majority of us, myself included, have been blessed to know an exceedingly outstanding group of students during our time here, our experiences and perceptions do not always align completely with reality. My initial emotions of shock and disbelief have now soured into the painful realization that a very small group of students could be capable of such an ignorant and barbaric form of hate.
I first want to address a number of individuals I have seen that are completely denying that this happened, and are directly or implicitly accusing the victims of fabricating this story. My message to you is simple: Stop. There is absolutely no reason to believe that a large number of students and teachers would conspire in an effort to lie about this. An attitude of denial is dangerous because inhibits our ability to have constructive dialogue, learn from what happened, and move forward productively.
Because of the heinous nature of this incident, it is extraordinarily easy to be disgusted by the actions of others, and be confident that you would never be capable of such a thing. It is easy to think that because such an incredibly small percentage of students are responsible for this, that it does not point to a larger problem. And it is easy for all of us to agree that racism is bad and move on with our lives.
However, it is much harder address the difficult reality of how an individual on our campus become so emboldened in their racism that they were able to openly yell the slurs at a group of black students. How did they reach the point that they felt so comfortable and so unopposed in their primitive hatred that they could shamelessly display it?
The attitude displayed this week does not make its first appearance in such a radical manner. I strongly believe that this is where the vast majority of us as a student body can take responsibility and make changes moving forward.
I know that I am guilty during my time here, as I suspect many of you are, of ignoring passing comments or jokes at the expense of a group based on their racial, sexual or gender identity. I have generally dismissed these types of comments as a poor attempt at asinine humor and as coming from a place of immaturity, and not from a place of genuine hate. However, I feel that silence in response to these comments camouflages the genuinely hateful and empowers them in the development of their beliefs.
It is time that we embrace the attitude that our silence does an extraordinary disservice to Texas A&M. Our silence fosters hate. Our silence enables the hateful to feel comfortable and welcome.
Now is the time to reflect on our attitude about these kinds of things. We need to make it known that hate has no place in the Aggie Family. These comments may have been made by students here, but they were not made by Aggies. An Aggie never stands for hate. An Aggie defends the marginalized and stands for truth.
Next time you hear someone make a comment, or attempt to make a joke, remind them that those attitudes have no place here. That kind of ignorance is untenable in a modern society and hate is completely incompatible with the Aggie Spirit.
I still strongly believe that we have the most exceptional student body in the world. I know that the vast majority of us will take this issue seriously and use this opportunity to embrace to our core values and spread the love and openness of the Aggie Family.
For the good of the hateful individuals, our underrepresented students on campus, and for Texas A&M as a whole, it is time to make a change.
Joseph Benigno 16
Student Body President
