Letter to the Editor

In the last couple of days, there has been a lot of debate about a performance at Apollo Night. After reading the opinion section of The Mirror, it was clear that both authors made valid points. However, since the publishing of the article, one author has been pinpointed as a target by the same students who stood on stage supporting the right of freedom of speech. It is hypocritical that the same people who are supporting “free speech” for one person are now silencing someone else’s voice through cyber bullying.

Over the last few days I have seen several negative tweets and Facebook quotes towards people supporting the administration in the decision to either edit the poem or perform it elsewhere. Through these negative comments, the minority students have not only excluded one of their own, but are also practicing what they are preaching against … silencing the minority view.

As an African American female, I feel it is my responsibility to bring this to the attention of the whole Fairfield community, not just the minority groups. Though everyone is entitled to their own opinion, in cyber bullying one person is repressed because of his or her views, especially if they go against the majority view on the same matter. That is oppression.

The Twitter account and Facebook page @UncensoredStags is riddled with tweets of hatred and anger toward people who have no issue with the mission or the poem, but simply the method in which the situation was handled. It is not the mission of Uncensored Stags that is the problem, but rather the act of silencing another whose views do not coincide with their own through the use of cyber bullying.

This is in no way supporting one view over another, but rather a call to attention to the underlying effect the opinion articles in the newspaper have caused and the biases involved. The point of the opinion section is to show that there can be two sides to every story. In addition to this, the opinion section should be used as open forum for people to respectfully express their views.

Of course, as readers we don’t have to agree with everything that has been said. But in the case of last weeks’ issue of The Mirror, one opinion was silenced by another. Not only were people’s opinions silenced because this argument has gotten so big, but the other performers of Apollo Night and their messages have been silenced as well. This argument has overshadowed all of their hard work and it is not fair that they go unnoticed because this situation has gotten out of hand.

Sharissa Ryan ‘14

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