THE CARROLL NEWS: Lo Castro's Lowdown: Getting the Lowdown on flashbacks to 1963

Lo Castro's Lowdown: Getting the Lowdown on flashbacks to 1963
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Jenna Lo Castro on 13 February, 2008 01:30:00
 
Love may be in the air across the country. But I think it’s lacking on the
John Carroll campus.
Two weeks ago, I witnessed an act that not only disgusted me, but made me once
again re-evaluate the type of plagued society we live in.
While enjoying a much-needed Thursday night out at Malloy’s in Coventry
with some friends, a white JCU student called a fellow black student a vile
six-lettered epitaph followed by some other choice words.
What ensued was a situation that brought photographic snapshots of the Civil
Rights era rushing into my brain – people fighting, punching, screaming
and swearing.
The riot was eventually broken up after the assistance of bouncers and police
and the crowd disintegrated.
But what lingered were bloody mouths, broken spirits and a wave of shock that
left me and others questioning the historical strides made against these types
of situations only 40 years prior.
This instance illustrates the essence of a racial war that’s still
raging.
I am not only embarassed for our University, but utterly revolted by the
individual who made this comment. This wasn’t just a typical drunken fight
– it was a fight that was fueled by discriminative remarks. For an
academic institution that prides itself on our diversity and embracing different
people, this student significantly tarnished its good name.
He is not a man doing service for others, he is a man destroying the fellowship
of humanity and disrespecting a movement that had attempted to break the chains
of racism.
However, even in this bleak situation, a light radiated. I can proudly say that
when this fight broke out, many of those directly involved as well as complete
strangers, attempted to stop the violence.
Other Carroll students tried peacefully to influence their peers into putting
their fists down. And, probably what was the most moving for me to witness, was
how the black student responded when the situation happened.
His courage and dignity to peacefully walk away from the situation proved him
to be the most reserved and strongest one of all.
If all men could embody the strength this student exemplified that night, the
world would be just a little bit more peaceful.
Maybe I sound like I’m standing on top of a soap box, but the situation
that occurred is one that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Had
the student never made that remark, the fight would have been something of
unimportance. It also would have been something that many people would have let
go or forgotten soon after that night.
What remains of this situation is the disheartening reminder that 40 years
later we are still making efforts to achieve what Martin Luther King Jr. set out
to accomplish.
I can only hope that the young man who made that vulgar comment learns form
this situation that if anyone is the minority, he is.
He’s the one who believes that racist comments are still acceptable and
that people are going to tolerate it.
Minus a couple of setbacks, I have faith that our generation is going to be the
one that makes a conscious effort to end situations like this.