At noon on Friday, in front of the fountain at Samford’s Ben Brown Plaza, several dozen students, faculty and alumni seemingly dropped dead.
Friday’s demonstration was meant to raise awareness for the recent instances of deadly force used by police officers, chiefly the incidents in Ferguson and Staten Island. Many of those in attendance, after coming back to life, mentioned that a bubble surrounds Samford, and they hope that the demonstration can start a conversation about race in a predominately white school.
As the demonstrators lay silently on the ground, many of them holding signs that read “I can’t breathe” and “No Justice No Peace,” there was a buzz in the air.
The sound was coming from a drone that was flying overhead. The pilot, Tate Holcombe, who was standing off to the side of the fountain, was wearing a red shirt that read, “Students for concealed carry” and a camouflage hat. By all accounts, he seemed to be the antithesis of the silent demonstrators.
“I don’t really get the point behind it,” Holcombe said, referring to the demonstration. “It seems to be an emotional response and I don’t really get the point about people protesting a crime that was committed.”
Holcombe, a journalism major at Samford, went on to say that he believes the events that unfolded in Ferguson were blown out of proportion by the media. He can understand, he said, people who are upset about Eric Garner being choked to death on video by a police officer.
“I’m happy to see a discussion taking place here, I think it’s important and I’m happy to talk to anyone about it, but I just think this [the demonstration] seems overly emotional,” Holcombe said.
Perhaps Holcombe represents what several protestors called “the disconnect” between the white population at Samford who live within the “bubble,” and the issues minorities face beyond the university walls.
As the protestors rose to their feet, after laying still and silent for four and a half minutes — one minute for every hour Michael Brown’s body remained on the ground after he was shot — several explained why they were participating in the “die-in.”
Christina Schmitt, a religious studies major at Samford, organized Friday’s demonstration. “I think it’s important that people start to talk about this. So far it’s been received well on campus. I just hope we can keep it up. There is a bubble that exists here and people don’t like to admit it,” Schmitt said.
But why is this important now? “I think this is a systemic issue we’re seeing,” Schmitt said, referring to deadly force used by police in situations stemming from nonviolent crimes. “It’s also a human rights issue in regards to excessive force being used against minorities.”
Leah Clements, who graduated from Samford in 2013, said that the demonstration came about after the organizers realized there was nothing to facilitate a conversation about racism at Samford.
“Historically, the university has been predominately white, and the minority retention rate has been really, really low because there has been so little support for those students here. But as a student, as a white woman, it was obvious that I was in the majority here,” Clements said.
“Having friendships with people who look differently than you do, I think, is pivotal in rerouting racism,” she said.
“I think what recent events in Ferguson with Michael Brown and Darren Wilson, and Eric Garner and those officers — it just shows that white and black people are still scared of each other, that there is still that distinction still there,” Clements said.
“There’s still a lot of fear…and that fear still has a lot to do with how we deal with race issues. Then you put high anxiety situations on top of that — like someone having a gun pointed at them, for instance — of course things are going to go wrong sometimes,” Clements said.
As for Samford’s retention rates among minority students, Janee Spencer, who works with Samford’s office of diversity and intercultural initiatives, agreed with Clements about the challenges faced by minorities who attend the university.
“I love my school,” Spencer said, “but people don’t really want to talk about issues of race.”
Spencer agreed that the retention rate among minority students is low. “There is just not really that many programs in place for minority students here,” she said.
After the demonstration had ended, many still gathered around the fountain. Conversations were being had, people passing by stopped to ask what was happening.
“No one is going to go home tonight and say, ‘Justice has been served.’ But I think we’ve got people talking about it. This is what it’s all about,” Clements said, pointing out the different groups of people gathered around the fountain. “This is what I love to see.”