At the beginning of the semester, one example of Systemic Injustice that I learned about was the painted rock at Kent State University. If you do not know, the rock that is typically used to show school spirit was painted over with violent and inappropriate things multiple times. I not only transferred from Kent State but have a lot of friends there that are students, and the Assistant Dean is a family friend. What happens at Kent State affects a lot of people I know, and I feel I am still tied to Kent State since I went there for 2 years and still have a love for that University.
The inappropriate paintings included “White Lives Matter” written on the rock at Kent State University multiple times even after the University sent out emails to try to stop this. Since this, Kent State has considered removing the rock, fencing it or putting up a security system. There was also a protest at the campus because of the rock being painted over with “White Lives Matter”.
This is impacting a lot of my friends and family at Kent State and the campus of Kent State. I believe Kent State is making the right decisions with what to do after these occurrences happened. However, I do not know what the students who painted the rock could do to make it right. Them painting the rock showed injustice and painting over “BLM” with “White Lives Matter” was wrong in every way.
This is impacting the campus of Kent State University and a lot of the students there. When I went to Kent State I never experienced racism and injustice like this from other students or the university in general. I hope Kent State can find the right way to handle this situation and stop the rock from being painted over like this again.
After going back, now a couple months after this incident, I was able to find new information. Before school started multiple black students who attend Kent State painted on the rock with Black Lives Matter related things. At this time in the world we were and are still having a fight for justice and Black Lives Matter. However, after the rock was painted over with White Lives Matter related items a total of 3 times. I was not able to find out if Kent State has come to a decision on if they will remove the rock or not. I think they are still trying to decide what the right thing to do is for something that has never happened before. The rock started off as something for sororities or fraternities to paint on in 1987. It slowly became something anyone could paint for anything, but now students have taken it too far in an inappropriate way. This to me relates to Othering because obviously some students at Kent State feel as though they are higher up, and the “One” compared to other students and can do anything they want.
https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/09/09/white-lives-matter-repeatedly-painted-over-kent-state-rock/
Hi Emma,
It was really eye-opening to see that this actually happened at Kent State and interesting to hear that there hasn’t been much actually done to fix the issue. It’s good that they are taking the issue seriously, but it is weird to me that they are taking a long time to make a decision. Thanks for sharing this example that is so close to home!
Hi Emma,
I am actually surprised that is my first time hearing of this. I feel as if typically things are more in the media, and I would’ve expected this to as well. It is also upsetting that people always have to ruin things for everyone, as it seems this rock holds tradition and others have to take it to a different level. Hopefully they can find a solution to the problem without removing the rock, such as punishing those who do things like this. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Emma, This is really sad that people act this way and are so outspoken against certain races and it makes me sick to my stomach. This is a terrible act that not only happens at colleges like Kent State but also many other schools around the world. For example in my hometown, Lansing Michigan, home of the Michigan State Spartans, This same act regularly occurs on a “sacred” rock at the center on the university. I really love that you brought up this injustice because I think a-lot if us can relate to seeing things like this on local universities. Although it is very hard to catch these people, I think there needs to be a steep punishment if one is caught taking part in one of these acts. These rocks like the ones at Kent State are something that thousands of kids walk by every day.
Hi Emma,
This is a great example of systemic injustice. As a minority myself, it very painful to see that people have no sympathy for other people and judge solely based on race/ethnicity. People should take the time to educate themselves rather than become ignorant and purposefully offend others. Reasons like these are why the progression of our country and the world as a whole becomes delayed. A rock that once symbolized school spirit has now turned into a controversial issue.