Most students have recently heard for the first time about Resolution 19-4 being voted on and “unanimously” passed by the ASB senators. What all the news articles and social media posts have in common is the idea that “the student body has spoken.” That notion has a fundamental flaw.
The “student body” did not speak, for it has no voice. Most ASB senators are not put in power by merit or through effort of their own, but they are placed there by the massive amount of “yes” votes that stem from their respective Greek organizations.
What the vote proves is that a group of senators who do not represent the student body believe the resolution should pass. They believed so strongly in the righteous foundation from which their argument is that they announced the vote and passed the resolution before anyone with a dissenting opinion could organize or raise their voice in response. No debate was heard. Aside from the shady proceedings that surround the resolution, one must ask what exactly moving the statue accomplishes?
We, the student body, are told that the statue stands for slavery and that anyone who says otherwise is a racist bigot. When did the ASB get the power to tell me what I think and believe? Most white Confederates of the Civil War did not own slaves and only fought because Northerners invaded their homeland. It is them for whom I am proud.
So, when I see that statue, I don’t reminisce about days over a century old, I see a memorial to men who fought for their homes and lost. The movement of the statue represents another step in the fight to destroy our campus identity and to make us the perfect liberal bastion in the South.
Shade Smith is a sophomore biology major.
