Hypocrisy in Protest and Poetry

Following the controversial costume of Trump’s wall containing the slogan “Make America Great Again” at the annual Halloween costume contest, La Alianza Latina held a protest in Grill after Friday’s assembly. A summary of the statement LAL distributed at the protests claimed that the costume presented a threat to the Latinx identity on campus because the concept of the wall represents the systematic arrest, incarceration and deportation of Latinx people from the United States.

Thus the protest became necessary. After all, nobody should feel like their identity is being threatened. Nobody should feel that they are being denied basic freedoms that exist for all human beings. But I feel it is equally important to talk about the assembly that occurred before the protest. At one point, poet José Olivarez, the speaker, joked that “there are no white people in Heaven” in his poem “Mexican Heaven.” These words, coupled with the protest, show that we have a long way to go if we want to achieve real equality between all people.

First, let me talk about the protest. I thought it was valuable, because as I mentioned, nobody should ever feel excluded from our community. The costume worn by the adults was interpreted as an attack on personhood to many, and as a result, made those people feel as though their freedom was being limited. Exeter is supposed to be a place where everyone can meet on equal terms. For someone to feel that they aren’t equal to another is a wrong that needs to be righted.

However, I don’t blame the Grill employees who dressed up as the wall. Not because I believe they were joking or having fun, but because I haven’t yet heard their part of the story. The only times I heard anything from those employees was through Principal Rawson’s email to the school the next day and through the apology Grill issued in a sign on Monday.

Of course, it’s a separate problem that the email condemning the costume was sent out a day after the incident. If an email had been sent the day of the incident explaining exactly what happened, then maybe more people would have approved of and joined the protest. But even when I did hear something, I only heard that the employees were remorseful about their actions. I didn’t hear any reasons for wearing the costume.

Do I have my own opinions about what transpired? Yes. I think that the employees were incredibly foolish to think that they should wear or show off this costume. But we shouldn’t rush to judgment so quickly.

This is not to say that the protest was a judgment upon these workers. From my understanding, the protest was simply to stand in solidarity with Latinx people on campus, which is the main reason why I think it was necessary.

Regardless, there was a lot of erroneous or omitted information surrounding the protest in the community. Besides the lack of communication from the Grill employees themselves, I thought that, based upon the information I had received about the protest beforehand, that it would be a peaceful protest in Agora. I didn’t think that the protestors would block the entrance to Grill.

The misinformation I received was confusing. It was especially frustrating because, due to the location and the nature of the protest, it made it seem as though the demonstration was directed at the Grill employees—something that the LAL statement denied. This contradiction baffled me. Why else would the protestors block the entrance to Grill, I wondered, other than to take a stance against those who work there?

Another question I had was, why say that the protest wasn’t directed at the employees? If LAL had sent out an email, written an op-ed, put up posters, or took any other action that affirmed the presence of Latinx people on campus, it would have gotten the same message across. Staging a protest inherently requires something or someone to protest against, and it very obviously seemed as though the protest was against the Grill employees. LAL could have sent out an email, written an opinion piece, or put up posters. All of these would have affirmed the presence of Latinx people on campus, and it would have gotten the same message across. Staging a protest inherently requires something or someone to protest against, and it very obviously seemed as though the protest was against the Grill employees.

The other side of the coin on this issue is the assembly which occurred directly before the protest. A Latino poet, José Olivarez, read from his newest poetry book, the overarching theme of which is Latinx identity. For the most part, they were really good poems. However, Olivarez also read a poem in which he joked that “there are no white people in Heaven.” I don’t identify as white, but I still cringed at that. Why are we allowed to joke about white people if Exeter is a safe space for all?

The answer, of course, is that historically, white people have held significantly more power than any other race, class, or creed of human. They still do. But I don’t think that that excuses the joke. If we truly want Exeter to be an equal community, we have to try to not make jokes about white people, just as much as we already try to not make jokes about minorities.

I don’t care how much power anyone has held in the past or present, if the end goal of a community is to achieve, or get as close as is possible, to total equality, then jokes about white people should be just as reviled as jokes about minority groups.

I think that because of this hypocrisy, while the protest had good intentions, due to the assembly the protest occurred after, its message ultimately came off wrong. After all, if we desire complete equality, how can we affirm the validity of the presence of Latinx students if we’re not going to do the same for white students?

Despite how you may feel about it, it is important to keep in mind that the protest was necessary in order to show that there is still a level of equality on campus. Nobody should experience attacks on personhood, and nobody, whether Grill employee or poet, should take that freedom away from them.