Guest Post: Fellow Columbia Anthro Grad Student Weighs In On the Noose Incident

(By Al-Kami)

Let's protest! No, let's not and say we did.

Nooses are so last year. My only issue with the whole noose thing is that it's really uncreative.

Columbia is supposedly a place where everyone is entitled to free speech, right? Why someone would feel that they are not entitled to spew hate at a university where the President insists that he too can be prejudiced is beyond me. Just be yourself! Hate openly. Don't hang a noose and run. Rather than leave nooses out of dislike for a black professor, why not rally like everyone else at Columbia does and spew racist views about black faculty (or whomever) in front of Low library? It's your right! There might even be some good media coverage! And we all know that's really the point of our university protests.

Why we even give these people (or this person) so much attention is beyond me. "Idiot hangs noose outside of black professor's door and incites hundreds to rally and protest in the rain" - seems like a job well done. We are giving this fool way too much credit. I think the only way he/she/it/they would deserve this much attention is if they intelligently (wow, I laughed as I typed that) present their views in front of an audience. (Otherwise, we have no idea what you're really trying to convey chap! You bored? Lonely? Didn't get enough attention at home?) Cowards are at the bottom of the racist pool. Take off the hoods and show your face - the air is so much cleaner when it's not covered by a sheet. And then we
can hear your lovely voice.

I understand that some have conveyed concerns about feeling unsafe due to Columbia's secretive" handling of on-campus hate. Students believe that they should be in the know when there's bathroom graffiti, and nooses-a-hangin'. These are certainly valid concerns when dealing with haters who aren't also cowards. When Jessica wrote "Ann-Marie is a slut" on the bathroom walls, no one feared for their safety. They either laughed at Jessica, with Jessica, or assumed she was immature. An adult at a university promoting hate via bathroom scribble is hardly a person that anyone should fear. Nor is a person who isn't even creative enough to come up with a new and improved hate crime that hasn't been highly publicized on television for the past few months. These people are cowards looking for attention. What we are doing is validating their actions and giving them the attention they need. When those protests take place, the "hater" that did the hating is probably amongst those protesting. In fact, he/she/it/they are probably the ones that come up with the protest chant. Either that or they're sitting inside of a warm room with a cup of cocoa looking at all the "coloreds" yelling in the rain. And at whom? And for what?

It is my opinion that none of these cowardly actions deserve our missing very expensive class time. But, for those that feel something needs to be done, the protest thing will not suffice. We constantly protest in front of Low, and then go for pizza and forget about it. If students really want to do something, a news conference needs to be organized where individuals can express their feelings about the situation. If that route is unavailable, get a video camera and put something on youtube. Express yourselves to the masses - not to random kids on the way to Elementary French. In the message it should be expressed that everyone at Columbia has a right to free speech, and therefore it is unnecessary to hang anonymous nooses. Invite all noose hangers and graffiti writers to stand on the steps of Low and voice their concerns. Invite them out of cowardice and into humanity. Everyone has a right to speak, so secret hate crimes are really unnecessary. I'm sure everyone will find that none of these people will step up, proving their cowardice, and the point that they should be left alone to carry on their uncreative, eighth grade, petty hate as they feel necessary.