Antajh Boggan, sophomore political science major, chants “black lives matter” at a die-in at the foot of the confederate statue on the square Wednesday. (Photo by Logan Kirkland)
Nearly two dozen students sprawled beneath the Confederate war memorial in front of the Oxford Courthouse to bring awareness to the importance of black lives Wednesday afternoon.
The protesters shouted “black lives matter” in response to recent police violence against blacks. “Are you next? Am I next? Are we next?” the protesters asked.
A similar protest with the same purpose was held two weeks ago in front of the Student Union.
“I participated in the last one and there wasn’t a lot of black participation in it. I thought that was a problem,” said senior Jalisa Giles, who helped organize the event.
Giles collaborated with sophomore Allen Coon to prepare the protest, and the two decided to move the demonstration off campus and into the Oxford community. Coon and Giles chose the Confederate war memorial located in front of the courthouse, at a major entrance of the Square, as their location.
“If you read the inscription it says they gave their lives in a just and holy cause, and when you think about what that means and what we’re actually fighting for, to emphasize that black lives matter, and to fight against racial discrimination there could not be a better place,” Coon said. “This is a physical manifestation of the remaining ideology of the lost cause of the Confederacy and the systems of white supremacy.”
The black protesters staged themselves on the ground and up the steps, lying down as if they were dead. There were posters positioned on the protesters and propped up so that passersby could read them. White participants stood among their peers, holding signs that read “demilitarize the police” and “black lives matter.”
People outside of the protest had varied reactions, some more extreme than others. Cars passing by the protest slowed so they could analyze what was happening. Some honked their horns, throwing a thumbs up out of their windows.
One woman driving by shouted, “Y’all need to get a job.”
A few onlookers became participants.
A couple of women that work on the Square, Rebecca Camarigg and Dorothy Laurenzo, saw the protest through a window and decided to join in.
“Rebecca pointed out that they were out here protesting that black lives matter and it matters to us too,” Laurenzo said.
Camarigg said that they appreciated that people were taking a stand for what they believed in.
Senior psychology major Austin Conner had planned to participate in the protest after seeing a video of the Walter Scott shooting. Policeman fatally shot Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina on April 4. This was her first protest.
“I decided to be a part of the protest today because I always wanted to be a part of something that would demonstrate how I feel about things,” Conner said. “You know, after learning about the civil rights movement, I admire those people who stood up for what they believed in even though their lives were threatened.”
Faculty at the university showed support for the students’ cause as well. Susan Glisson, Executive director of the William Winter Institute for Race Reconciliation, was in attendance.
“It’s important for the students to protest both on- and off-campus because this issue affects all of us,” Glisson said. “It’s not just a campus issue, it’s not just a Ferguson issue, it’s not just a North Charleston issue. All Americans who care about justice and care about equality should be concerned about this issue.”
Glisson said she hopes observers will see that the students deeply care about the issue and that there is a need for more people to get involved.
“I’m just really proud of the students that are standing up for things that they believe in and I think that they are picking important things to lift up,” Glisson said. “I will always be where students are doing that.”
Giles is graduating, but Coon said there is a possibility of more protests in the future, especially next school year.
