By Vivian Roach | Staff Writer
Students gathered on campus to protest the the Black Lives Matter movement and the recent grand jury indictment in the murder of Breonna Taylor.
Macon, Ga., freshman Rebecca Terrill organized the protest Thursday morning with a few friends in response to the Kentucky grand jury’s recent decision to not charge the officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s death with murder. Instead, one was indicted on three counts of Wanton Endangerment.
“It started off with just the three of us. Then everyone else who came just walked up, and we asked them if they wanted to join,” Terill said. “It is a true grassroots thing, we’re not associated with any club or association. We just believe that all lives won’t matter until Black lives matter.”
Some students said because of the predominately white campus it was important to protest for Black Lives Matter to show how to use their white privilege in a positive way.
Waxahachie freshmen Maria Miner attended the protest Thursday.
“White privilege does exist, and if we don’t use our privilege to make a stand, then no one will,” Miner said.
Altus, Okla., sophomore Kristin Valerio said she has experienced racism first-hand in one of her classes.
“It’s those microtransactions that you see on campus because it’s a predominantly white institution,” she said. “I think those are glossed over a little bit. There are really no repercussions for faculty because the people who are in charge don’t really know what that’s like or how that affects a person.”
Valerio said though Baylor is a positive and supporting campus, there could be more responsibility taken for its faults.
“We all need to look at ourselves. It’s my fault too, I’m standing here holding a sign,” Valerio said. “I hold just as large of an amount as everybody else because there are things that I could do too.”
Valencia, Calif., freshman Nandi Rogers said the protest was a good start for Baylor. She said she grew up with many microaggressions and a lot of racist comments. People didn’t care about Black lives in her town, Rogers said — she was just a stereotype.
“I’m just really tired of people making excuses saying ‘America is so great. We haven’t done anything wrong,’” Rogers said. “It’s okay to admit what you’ve done wrong. It’s okay to look at your mistakes as a country, as a whole, as a person, and fix it.”
Students came and went from the protest, some having been invited, as other passersby voluntarily stopped to demonstrate.
“We will be staying out here until everyone goes home, as long as someone wants to protest we will be out here protesting,” Terrill said.
