The Miami Student – Jugal Jain By: Claire Bowman As I stepped inside Armstrong Student Center on March 26, I heard a commotion from the main dining area. I approached with curiosity, and found a full-fledged protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Spread around the dining tables, a group of black students and white allies held up signs and shouted to the students in Armstrong. One student held a megaphone and lead the chants. “Do black lives matter?” “Yes!” the crowd yelled back. The protest was in response to a student’s (Thomas Wright) continued racist behaviors toward black Miami students. Many people believe the university didn’t respond strongly enough to the student when he used racial slurs in a GroupMe among Miami students in the fall of 2017. Another chant used at the demonstration was, “Do black checks matter?” and the crowd again yelled in agreement. This was a dig at the way the university uses the illusion of diversity to bring people in. The black protesters were angry that they had been used in the past to promote diversity when the school rarely supports it in their eyes. These students were heard by many that day, and the news of continued racism at Miami is spreading far beyond the campus. So far, many believe the university is lackluster in its responsive performance. Many have called for the racist student’s expulsion, but Miami hasn’t budged. If student and faculty behaviors continue in this fashion, Miami’s public image is only going to worsen. How can the university bounce back if it lets itself fall too far into complacency?
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