In the beginning of February of 2021, a bunch of Ohio State students all went sledding in the snow. There were over 100 students in the oval sledding and having snow fights, and the police were called to check out the scene. These students were in a large group setting and were out past the state wide curfew. Instead of the Police telling everyone to go home, they just threatened students with tickets if they used the moving carts and even went sledding themselves. http:/www.thelantern.com/2021/02/students-take-to-south-oval-for-sledding-despite-covid-guidelines/Reading this story, it seems like it would bring a smile to your face, but it there is more behind it. When Ohio State students marched in Columbus for the Black Lives Matter movement, they were not treated with the police being as friendly. Instead, the police tear gassed students, even if they were peacefully protesting. An Ohio State grad student died from the tear gas. The difference in the police response says a lot on the systematic injustices here in Columbus, Ohio. The police were so easy to react and hurt the crowd for BLM protests, but when students who were doing more questionable activities were given a pass. If the students who were sledding were majority black, there would have been more consequences. This may seem like a small comparison and injustice, but what starts out as small can lead to something much larger. White supremist stormed the capitol during the election, and were treated with lots of privileges’ then the protesters who were peaceful in the BLM marches. These cases may be at different levels of extremeness, but the concept is still the same. Police treat white people differently then they do black people. There are still lots cases in Columbus on how black people are still being killed by the police. http://https://twitter.com/tayrhodes19/status/1346921505926631430A twitter user compares the differences of the police treatment to white people at the capitol compared to black people in Columbus. In Columbus, black people are seen as an other group by the police because they are treated differently then white people. How can the city of Columbus react to this serious injustice? For starters, Ohio State University has separated themselves from the Columbus police department. This can allow Ohio State police to have their own training to always out the safety of students first. Columbus can also train and educate their police department on black history and learning more about different cultures. Now, these are just minor solutions to major problems, and there is a lot more to be done then just educate people on what is happening, but it is somewhere to start.
I heard about the sledding on the news and Ohio States page. It sounded like a great way to unwind given the countries circumstances. I did not think much further of it. As I read your example, I did not hear about the BLM protest and the Ohio State students. The sledding was praised as a cute and nice way to see the police in the news to maybe counter what they had done in the past.
Thank you for bringing this topic up as I never had made the comparison/contrast in actions from the policeman from both of these events. I had friends that marched during the Black Lives Matters movement here at Ohio State and the violence they had witnessed from cops was unbelievable. Additionally, I saw posts on the other half of the cops joining in on the “fun and games” of students, unmasked sledding down and outside on the oval in the snow.
Therefore, I agree that there should be many more actions and reprimanding made on behalf of the cops and towards the cops for the action or lack thereof. Ohio State disassociating from the cops is only the first step of consequence towards the cops, but it is nowhere near enough.
I believe that Ohio State students as well as the Columbus PD need to be educated because students should not allow any individual to get away with such inhumane and cruel behavior.