After Charlottesville Lehman Students Want an End to Racist Violence
By Zayna Palmer
The Hall of Fame for Great Americans at Bronx Community College. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Following racist violence at a white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville Va. that led to the killing of one protestor, Lehman students feel endangered by this event because they do not feel safe. Students are terrified for their future and they do not know what to expect. They want to see these threats addressed here in the Bronx as well, where two Confederate statues have long been part of the Bronx Community College Hall of Fame for Great Americans. These Confederate statues are being permanently removed after a protest of CUNY students.
The Charlottesville killing happened on August 12, 2017, the day after a march in which white nationalists protested the proposed removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
James Alex Fields Jr., 20, rammed his car into anti-racist protestors, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring many others who were protesting one of the largest white supremacist gatherings in U.S. history. Thirty-five people were injured during this event, and at least three men arrested.
“Embracing differences includes creating space where all people feel respected, welcomed, and valued.”
– BCC President Thomas A. Isekenegbe
For Sharon Lee, a junior and English major at Lehman, the news was a wake-up call that domestic terrorism is on the rise. At first she was terrified, and she remains certain it was a hate crime based on racism. “As a college student, I am worried about the future and there are many problems that need resolutions before it’s too late,” she said.
Marisol Cotrgy, a Lehman senior and English major, also believes that racism remains an urgent national problem that demands a solution. “Racism isn’t over, there’s always been racism all over the country,” she said. “A way to stop terrorism and hate crimes is to call our congressmen to tell them that they have to fix this. Everyone can make a difference and it is from us who has the power to do so.”
Olivia Thompson, a junior and marketing major, felt “disgusted” when she saw the videos of the Charlottesville attacks, which she viewed as both terrorism and a hate crime, and more vulnerable to racist violence.
Thompson also believes that Donald Trump did not take immediate enough action after hearing about the attacks, since his first response was a Tweet. She thinks that we are reliving similar experiences to those that occurred when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was alive. “After he passed away, nothing has changed, generation after generation, our society has gotten worse. I am very disturbed about the community that I live in today because white supremacy is now being supported and as an African-American female, I do not feel safe when I am outside.” Thompson views Trump as untrustworthy because he doesn’t take immediate action in office and there are no improvements.
Closer to home, many CUNY students have protested the inclusion of two Confederate statues, the busts of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, at Bronx Community College’s Hall of Fame for Great Americans. On Aug. 17, 2017 Thomas A. Isekenegbe, president of BCC stated, “Embracing differences includes creating space where all people feel respected, welcomed, and valued. To that end, we will be removing and replacing these statues.”
Susan Powell, a graduate student at BCC, agreed that “these busts need to be taken down.” She added that, “It isn’t right to celebrate Confederate war criminals. As a nation, we must all come together as one because we are all created equal. We should also have leaders who brought change against racism and slavery in the hall of fame because it will generate positivity into the community.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio also believes that these men do not deserve a spotlight because there are many other great Americans, and these two Confederates do not belong in the hall.
Blogger Megan Brewer, from the Bronx, agreed that these statues should not stay in the Bronx but rather in museums, because “it is a more appropriate place for these historical figures.”
Another blogger, Frank Morales, also from the Bronx, concurred. “They can also be quite offensive because of what these men represent. They both committed treason against the United States to keep slavery alive.” Both Megan and Frank’s statements matter because they are both entitled to their own opinions and they are given equal rights as a citizen in the United States. They both agree that these men should be removed from the hall of fame because of what they represent in this society.
Lehman Community Disagrees over Puerto Rico’s Bid for Statehood
By Shaiann Frazier
The Capitol of Puerto Rico in Puerta de Tierra, San Juan. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.
In June of 2017, 97 percent of Puerto Ricans voted in favor of making the commonwealth of 3.4 million America’s 51st state. While they wait to see whether Congress will pass a statute admitting the new state, many Lehman students with ties to the island remain divided or uncertain about its fate.
Numerous students told the Meridian that they were unaware that Puerto Rico is trying to become a state. Of those who know about the issue, roughly half told the Meridian they think it’s a great idea, while the rest think Puerto Rico should stay as is.
The island has been under U.S. control since 1898, following the Spanish-American War, and has voted against becoming a state four times: first in 1967. In 2012, 54 percent of the vote was in favor of statehood.
Currently, the island is in the middle of an economic crisis. In May of 2013, faced with a $ 73 billion debt, it filed for bankruptcy. According to data released in September of 2017 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment remains high and the poverty level has risen to 46 percent. Since jobs are low in demand and poverty has risen, many have been forced to leave their homeland.
“I’m only for [statehood] if we’re going to actually help…and I’m against it if it’s going to hurt those people even more.”
— Lehman student life employee, Teddy Hernandez
One Puerto Rican native, Lehman student life employee, Teddy Hernandez, said, “I’m only for [statehood] if we’re going to actually help…and I’m against it if it’s going to hurt those people even more.” If Puerto Rico becomes a state it would gain access to more federally funded programs such as Supplemental Security Income Assistance, student loans, and others.
Some Lehman students questioned whether that leadership is beneficial. Melissa Ruiz, 25, a Lehman student who was born in Puerto Rico but raised in the Bronx said, “As a Puerto Rican I don’t think it should really become a state because the U.S. has had a hand in Puerto Rico’s infrastructure for too long now.”
On the other hand, Mike Garcia, 27, who is a senior at Lehman and from the Dominican Republic, said, “It’s actually a great thing… In that it will help us connect to Puerto Ricans a lot more and it will help us branch out to other Latin American countries and Caribbean islands.”
Those without direct connections to this island also had strong opinions, such as Jerilyn Day-Johnson, administrative assistant to the vice president for the Division of Student Affairs at Lehman who said, “I think it would benefit them economically because Puerto Rico has become quite impoverished over the years.”
Sophomore Andrew Jackson, born in Ghana, was also optimistic, “I think it’s something that’s long overdue,” he said, “Because the U.S has a lot of power over there, so it only makes sense that they get admitted as a state.”
Dreamers in Limbo: White House Rescinds DACA
By Thomas Behnke
New Yorkers prepare to protest the White House’s DACA ruling. Photo courtesy of Eric Soucy.
On Sept. 5, the White House issued a statement through Attorney General Jeff Sessions that it was formally rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The policy, introduced by President Obama in 2012, allowed undocumented immigrant minors to receive two-year renewable deferments against deportation and the ability to apply for a work permit. According to the Brookings Institution, nearly three-quarters of DACA applicants have lived in the United States for at least ten years and nearly one-third were age five or younger at arrival. The decision to terminate the program is expected to impact up to 800,000 people nationwide, including DACA applicants and their families.
The updated policy ends acceptance of DACA applicants, though the administration has stated that applications and renewals currently being processed will be honored. Deportation procedures have been delayed for six months to give congress time to find an alternative solution to those with DACA status.
Trump administration’s DACA ruling met with Manhattan protest Photo courtesy of Eric Soucy.
In a statement released on Sept. 6, Lehman President José Luis Cruz wrote to the Lehman community, “The six-month stay of execution of the DACA program does not do justice to the hard work of the hundreds of thousands of dedicated young people whose undocumented status is simply an artifact of our country’s long-standing role as a beacon of hope. It is now up to Congress to choose national values over political expediency. Extending permanent legal status to our nation’s dreamers is the only path forward.”
Polls suggest that national support for DACA transcends party allegiances. While Sessions stated that “the American people have rightly rejected” an open border policy, a POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows 84 percent of Democrats, 74 percent of Independents, and 69 percent of Republicans oppose deporting DACA immigrants, or Dreamers.
On the Lawrence O’Donnell show on Sept. 5 Senator Kamala Harris, (D-Ca.), whose state is home to the most Dreamers nationwide, refuted the president’s assertion that ending DACA would save American jobs. “It is well documented that if we rescind DACA and do not pass DACA statutorily, we will lose 700,000 jobs in the United States and over the next ten years we could lose 60 billion in tax dollars.” She also criticized the misrepresentation of Dreamers, saying, “These young people qualify for DACA because they cleared a vetting where there was a very, very intense process of looking into their backgrounds...only then do they receive DACA status.”
The Lehman DREAM Team told the Meridian, “It’s up to us now to make history.” They added, “No documents, no problem. We’ll continue to fight and work hard to better our community. United we stand; we won’t leave our community alone.”