Emory University students launched protests against pro-Donald Trump chalk messages that appeared around the university’s campus in Atlanta, Georgia on Monday, The Washington Post reported. Students have said these chalk messages were not politically motivated, but were instead meant to intimidate Emory’s minority student population.
Emory University President James Wagner released a statement Tuesday in which he promised the school would “take a number of significant steps” to respond to students’ concerns. However, according to a statement issued Tuesday from an Emory spokesperson to Newsweek, “no follow-up action is planned related to the incident” even though the graffiti “did not follow guidelines” for “where and how students can write chalk messages.”
The pro-Trump messages were written near the school’s Centro Latino and the Black Student Union. Some students told Newsweek they feared there would be a campus shooting soon afterward.
Alexius Marcano, president of Young Democrats of Emory, told The Washington Post, “A lot of people feel targeted by that … this is a pretty elite, southern institution … it can be very easy for students to feel not welcome.”
Even though the graffiti consisted of a simple “Vote Trump” message, just Trump’s name can come with an immediate association with hatred and prejudice. People hate him because he is hateful. But this incident isn’t about Trump. It’s about students being able to voice their support for a presidential candidate.
There’s a slight distinction between free speech and hate speech, but the pro-Trump chalk messages fall into the category of free speech. There was no clear or present danger or threats made to any specific student group. Trump’s name alone is not enough to strike fear into the hearts of small children.
If this were any other candidate, nobody would be making a fuss about it. College students are caught up in protesting everything and anything without critically thinking what should warrant a protest. Students are using their energy to react to something they technically can react to, but really shouldn’t.
Let’s look at the medium of the message. The pro-Trump messages were written on a sidewalk. In chalk. Whoever wrote the messages didn’t want them to last through a mild drizzle.
Emory students against Trump are now passing out anti-Trump flyers. How is that any different from writing a pro-Trump chalk message? Nobody is marching in support of Trump’s anti-immigration views or forcibly slapping banners into people’s faces. If anything, college Trump supporters hide in the shadows on campus, rarely vocalizing their unpopular opinions.
People can’t be punished for vocalizing their support for a candidate, just as they can’t be punished for speaking out against one another. Be offended, but deal with it. Nobody thinks the same way.
Feeling threatened by Trump supporters is a long stretch as well. People may agree with Trump’s economic policies while entirely rejecting his racist views. Not every Trump supporter is a deranged lunatic.
Emory’s demographics are similar to Boston University’s. That is to say, it’s a very white and very privileged school. Many marginalized students may be looking for a way to vent their frustrations, and this pro-Trump graffiti is just an outlet.
What the administration needs to do is not respond to Trump supporters, but to look into the broader issue of why students feel unsafe on its campus. Going from looking at a pro-Trump message to fearing for one’s life is a wide leap to make. Something about Emory’s on-campus climate is missing.
Students just really want to get their voices heard about the lack of diversity on campus, and they shouldn’t resort to using the Trump campaign to do so.
Emory must tackle the broader issue of diversity at higher education institutions and how that affects the student body. Emory’s students of color are essentially going to school in white central. They may feel marginalized, but free speech is not a selective game.
