Apex
Somewhere Around Nothing
A student group calling themselves "Amherst Uprising" are attempting to capitalize upon the actions of the Mizzou protesters. They have issued a list of demands to the school president claiming that if they are not met by November 18th than they will respond "in a radical manner, through civil disobedience". They claim these demands are due to a "negative social climate created towards our peers of color and other marginalized groups". Yet they give no real substantiating evidence to support their claims other than two posters, one lamenting the death of free speech, and the other saying "All Lives Matter". Their reasoning seems to be summed up as "racist things exist in the world, our school is part of the world, thus the president of the school must apologize for the racism of the world".
In addition to using just about every social justice buzzword in existence, they also take a trick out of the Mizzou protesters play book and demand that those they disagree with be silenced and punished:
Digging around on the internet led me to a FB post by the individuals who put up the "All Lives Matter" posters (which appear to be Pro-Life related). They wanted a chance to respond to the accusations that Amherst Uprising has accused them of.
Is it not ironic that in their righteous zeal, those claiming to fight against inequality and intolerance end up demanding that the civil rights of those they disagree with be violated. And with their preaching of "safe spaces" they create an environment that breeds fear for those who might disagree, forcing them into anonymity.
Amherst Uprising said:
In addition to using just about every social justice buzzword in existence, they also take a trick out of the Mizzou protesters play book and demand that those they disagree with be silenced and punished:
Amherst Uprising said:
Digging around on the internet led me to a FB post by the individuals who put up the "All Lives Matter" posters (which appear to be Pro-Life related). They wanted a chance to respond to the accusations that Amherst Uprising has accused them of.
Dear Amherst student body,
Our initial anonymity was due to our lack of association with any particular group on campus. As merely two individuals, we did not have an official group name to list on the posters. But given the recent backlash we have received, we are glad our names were withheld. No Amherst student should be subjected to such unfair assumptions and accusations for merely sharing her opinion on an issue about which she feels passionate.
Over the past week, we have been accused of many things, such as defacing posters and making hateful comments on Facebook. Emails from President Martin and the Black Studies Department ensued, condemning “our” actions—but we never did any of what was attributed to us. While remaining anonymous has undoubtedly saved us from further and more direct verbal abuse, it has also prevented us from responding to the false allegations made against us. Therefore, it is our fault that one side has been able to singlehandedly dictate what happened, but we hope this email will help clear the air.
“The disrespect toward this campaign expressed in tearing down, defacing, or covering of posters sends a terrible message to our community.”
--Excerpt from the Black Studies Department’s email
Not only is this false (we did NOT take any posters down), we also paid close attention when putting up our posters so that no Black Lives Matter posters were covered. Our intention was to add to the discussion, not to detract from it. Defacing their posters would have not only been wrong: it would have undermined the discussion we had hoped to expand. Posters for Black Lives Matter Awareness Week were hung throughout campus, both in designated and undesignated areas. While it is possible that individuals other than us removed some posters in bad faith, it is more probable that our campus’s janitorial workers removed them— considering the locations from which they were removed—not because of their content, but because of their unapproved location. Lastly, it is important to note that every one of our “All Lives Matter” posters was torn down, both from designated and undesignated spaces. Surely, that was not the doing of merely the janitorial staff.
“Facebook posts that followed apparently included dismissive comments about the ‘Black Lives Matter’ series and the people who organized it.”
--Excerpt from President Martin’s email
We did not post any comments on social media pertaining to this event. Had we posted any dismissive comments (which we would never do), they would have surely been shared amongst students, and their existence would have been rapidly made known—not to mention that such posts would have revealed our identities. Contrary to President Martin’s email, these were some of the Facebook comments that we saw:
• “**** the group that put up pro-life ‘All Lives Matter’ signs.”
• “Sometimes at Amherst, you might feel like you’re the dumbest or even most ignorant person on campus. Then you see ‘All Lives Matter’ posters up.”
• “These cowards…really hope we find out who did it.”
In her same email, President Martin urged “a concerted, respectful, and educational campus conversation about these issues,” but surely these Facebook comments were not meant to encourage productive dialogue. If we are ever going to achieve that level of conversation, hateful comments (such as those listed above) and trumped-up allegations cannot take place: they only serve to stifle it. We hope that those responsible for making such hateful statements and false assumptions will, at the very least, reconsider the manner in which they responded. You may not know who we are, but we know who you are: after all, Facebook is not anonymous.
“SIT DOWN AND WAIT YOUR TURN. This is our week.”
--Excerpt from a Facebook status of a member of the student group, Black Lives Matter
We hung up our posters on the night of Monday the 20th because that was when we believed Black Lives Matter Awareness Week ended. We saw the first posters and sidewalk chalk messages promoting Black Lives Matter Awareness Week on Monday the 13th, which we interpreted as the awareness week’s beginning. Furthermore, of all the various awareness weeks that take place on campus, this was the first and only to begin and end on a Wednesday as opposed to a Monday. Nevertheless, had we known that it ended on Wednesday, we would have waited another two days—not out of obligation, but out of respect for the initiative and activism that our peers had demonstrated. After all, we had already waited until we thought the week was over.
Regardless of any confusion concerning the end date, we do not apologize for exercising our equal right to free speech. It was not their week alone. The Amherst College Student Handbook explicitly states, “Every student enjoys the right to full participation in the academic and social life of the college, regardless of…political affiliation and belief.” We are passionate in our belief that all lives matter and had equal standing to distribute our posters as any member of the Black Lives Matter group. Our intention was to cause conversation, not controversy; we had hoped that the “All Lives Matter” posters would continue to drive the conversation about the value and dignity of all human life, including the most vulnerable. We should never have been subjected to such hateful comments and false allegations for promoting a cause we believe in.
Thus, it is not by preference that we remain anonymous. We hope that one day we can feel safe enough to voice our opinions openly and acknowledge responsibility for our activism in a non-anonymous way.
Sincerely,
The Organizers of “All Lives Matter”
Our initial anonymity was due to our lack of association with any particular group on campus. As merely two individuals, we did not have an official group name to list on the posters. But given the recent backlash we have received, we are glad our names were withheld. No Amherst student should be subjected to such unfair assumptions and accusations for merely sharing her opinion on an issue about which she feels passionate.
Over the past week, we have been accused of many things, such as defacing posters and making hateful comments on Facebook. Emails from President Martin and the Black Studies Department ensued, condemning “our” actions—but we never did any of what was attributed to us. While remaining anonymous has undoubtedly saved us from further and more direct verbal abuse, it has also prevented us from responding to the false allegations made against us. Therefore, it is our fault that one side has been able to singlehandedly dictate what happened, but we hope this email will help clear the air.
“The disrespect toward this campaign expressed in tearing down, defacing, or covering of posters sends a terrible message to our community.”
--Excerpt from the Black Studies Department’s email
Not only is this false (we did NOT take any posters down), we also paid close attention when putting up our posters so that no Black Lives Matter posters were covered. Our intention was to add to the discussion, not to detract from it. Defacing their posters would have not only been wrong: it would have undermined the discussion we had hoped to expand. Posters for Black Lives Matter Awareness Week were hung throughout campus, both in designated and undesignated areas. While it is possible that individuals other than us removed some posters in bad faith, it is more probable that our campus’s janitorial workers removed them— considering the locations from which they were removed—not because of their content, but because of their unapproved location. Lastly, it is important to note that every one of our “All Lives Matter” posters was torn down, both from designated and undesignated spaces. Surely, that was not the doing of merely the janitorial staff.
“Facebook posts that followed apparently included dismissive comments about the ‘Black Lives Matter’ series and the people who organized it.”
--Excerpt from President Martin’s email
We did not post any comments on social media pertaining to this event. Had we posted any dismissive comments (which we would never do), they would have surely been shared amongst students, and their existence would have been rapidly made known—not to mention that such posts would have revealed our identities. Contrary to President Martin’s email, these were some of the Facebook comments that we saw:
• “**** the group that put up pro-life ‘All Lives Matter’ signs.”
• “Sometimes at Amherst, you might feel like you’re the dumbest or even most ignorant person on campus. Then you see ‘All Lives Matter’ posters up.”
• “These cowards…really hope we find out who did it.”
In her same email, President Martin urged “a concerted, respectful, and educational campus conversation about these issues,” but surely these Facebook comments were not meant to encourage productive dialogue. If we are ever going to achieve that level of conversation, hateful comments (such as those listed above) and trumped-up allegations cannot take place: they only serve to stifle it. We hope that those responsible for making such hateful statements and false assumptions will, at the very least, reconsider the manner in which they responded. You may not know who we are, but we know who you are: after all, Facebook is not anonymous.
“SIT DOWN AND WAIT YOUR TURN. This is our week.”
--Excerpt from a Facebook status of a member of the student group, Black Lives Matter
We hung up our posters on the night of Monday the 20th because that was when we believed Black Lives Matter Awareness Week ended. We saw the first posters and sidewalk chalk messages promoting Black Lives Matter Awareness Week on Monday the 13th, which we interpreted as the awareness week’s beginning. Furthermore, of all the various awareness weeks that take place on campus, this was the first and only to begin and end on a Wednesday as opposed to a Monday. Nevertheless, had we known that it ended on Wednesday, we would have waited another two days—not out of obligation, but out of respect for the initiative and activism that our peers had demonstrated. After all, we had already waited until we thought the week was over.
Regardless of any confusion concerning the end date, we do not apologize for exercising our equal right to free speech. It was not their week alone. The Amherst College Student Handbook explicitly states, “Every student enjoys the right to full participation in the academic and social life of the college, regardless of…political affiliation and belief.” We are passionate in our belief that all lives matter and had equal standing to distribute our posters as any member of the Black Lives Matter group. Our intention was to cause conversation, not controversy; we had hoped that the “All Lives Matter” posters would continue to drive the conversation about the value and dignity of all human life, including the most vulnerable. We should never have been subjected to such hateful comments and false allegations for promoting a cause we believe in.
Thus, it is not by preference that we remain anonymous. We hope that one day we can feel safe enough to voice our opinions openly and acknowledge responsibility for our activism in a non-anonymous way.
Sincerely,
The Organizers of “All Lives Matter”
Is it not ironic that in their righteous zeal, those claiming to fight against inequality and intolerance end up demanding that the civil rights of those they disagree with be violated. And with their preaching of "safe spaces" they create an environment that breeds fear for those who might disagree, forcing them into anonymity.
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