I don't like to talk about politics on this blog too much. There are far too many sites out there that talk about politics but every so often political matters intrude on other things. Last night was one of those circumstances.
As I mentioned in the other post, there was tension surrounding the game as well. A group of Eastern Michigan students organized a protest. Earlier in the week, some racially motivated graffiti appeared on campus. The one that I'm aware of said, "KKK Leave N-words". Now, I know that my English isn't great but I don't even know what that is supposed to mean but I'm guessing that someone wants a group of students to leave. I'd like to think it's the KKK group but I know that's not the case.
The University was quick to remove the graffiti and were quick to condemn it. Sadly, they are still trying to find out who did it. Those cowards found a part of campus that was neither well lit or well monitored by video cameras. And yes, I use the term cowards because they scrawl their crap in the middle of the night and don't even want to stand behind it. Apparently someone else scrawled something similar in one of the other dorms.
As a result, there have been protests on campus the whole week. For the most part, they have remained peaceful other than disrupting traffic in some places. And I think that is a good thing. And I think I understand what they are protesting but I'm not sure this is something that needs to be protested.
Whoever was sprawling their crap on campus was hoping to stir shit and that's what they got. And that's why I disagree with the protesters. They gave the assholes exactly what they wanted. Instead of mocking the poorly written graffiti and letting it die a death from indifference, they perpetuated it. By carrying on the way they have, they gave the people who wrote the graffiti some degree of power. And that's the last thing they need. Those folks need to be mocked and scorned for the assholes that they are.
I would like to think that we as a society have moved past that kind of bullshit but I guess I'm wrong.
For the most part, the people protesting stayed to one side of the field. And I give them props for that. I think the police did a good job of containing the protesters and keeping it peaceful. I think if the police had rushed in and tried to completely shut it down, it could have been ugly. So for the most part, both sides handled this very well and I'm glad. The handling of the matter makes be proud to be an Eastern Michigan alumnus.
The protesters did march on the field after the game was completed but from what I've heard, they said their piece and left.
Like I said, this could have turned ugly. Both sides kept their cool. The protesters got their message out. While I don't think everyone was happy with this outcome, it probably was the best one.
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