Baltimore Protests: Alumnus Responds
Benji Hart, BA Urban Education-Elementary Education '14, responded to the recent protests of police violence against Black men by citizens of Baltimore, and the subsequent media coverage, with an op-ed in Salon:
I'm overwhelmed by the pervasive slandering of protestors in Baltimore this weekend for not remaining peaceful. The bad-apple rhetoric would have us believe that most Baltimore protesters are demonstrating the right way—as is their constitutional right—and only a few are disrupting the peace, giving the movement a bad name.
This spin should be disregarded, first because of the virtual media blackout of any of the action happening on the ground, particularly over the weekend. Equally, it makes no sense to cite the Constitution in any demonstration for Black civil rights (that document was not written about us, remember?), but certainly not one organized specifically to call attention to the fact that the state breaks its own laws with regard to the oppressed on a nearly constant basis.