On Friday night, Hanna Strong was filmed making offensive and hurtful comments. By Saturday afternoon, sport and news sites were reporting the incident. Soon enough,  #SPEAKUPSU was created as a call for action. 

While I was personally disgusted by her comments and wanted the incident to be addressed, I didn’t want one thing — her expulsion. I want Hanna Strong to remain a Syracuse University student. I want her to join in on the dialogue. I want her to face everyone that has been affected. This is an educational setting, let’s teach and learn from each other. Let’s understand the issues that exist in our communities, let’s touch on history and let’s engage in true activism. Internet activism is essential but clicking, sharing, and spreading a hash tag isn’t good enough.

And reality check: she is one of many (unfortunately) that use those hurtful words, she just happened to get caught on camera.

A call for change by the people perpetuating racism by continuing the use of one of the most degrading words created, is just a call. To discontinue the use of the word, stop using it yourself. I don’t care if you dropped the “er” and inserted “ga”.

So to the entire student body: recognize your responsibility, articulate the need for change accurately and act accordingly; don’t just preach. 

If this is something temporary for you to talk about — don’t #SPEAKUP.

Chantal Felice
Senior, Broadcast and
Digital Journalism major
Political Science and
Social Welfare minor