These words are possible because a group of Brandeis students refused to say no, refused to lie down, refused to compromise and refused to accept anything short of success...On Oct. 21, many members of the Brandeis community felt betrayed by their school newspaper when the "N-word" was used in a sports column. The "N-word" is undoubtedly the most hateful word in American history, and it has absolutely no place in a university newspaper. For those who have never been called it or have never experienced racism, you cannot begin to imagine the pain nor determine what is or what isn't a "reasonable" solution.

For that reason, members of Brandeis Black Student Organization (BBSO) approached the decision makers of the Justice with a list of demands that would allow the Justice to correct its gross error and begin to mend it relationship with the minority community. These demands included the resignation of those responsible for the article and an apology and response from us on the front page of the next issue. Unfortunately, we were met with resistance and the Justice refused to meet our demands. Their unwillingness to comply was a sign of disrespect and further action had to be taken.

We staged a walkout on Thursday to make it very clear to the Justice and the entire campus that the forum was unacceptable and it was imperative that our demands were taken seriously. On Saturday, we attended a Justice Alumni event during Parents' Weekend and participated in a discussion with a professional reporter about "ethical journalism." We were happy to find that she condemned the irresponsibility of the Justice and shared many of our sentiments.

Over the next couple of days, members of BBSO and the Editorial Board met several times and, although some of the demands were eventually met there was still conflict. On two occasions, we were under the impression that an agreement had been reached only to have the Justice renege on their end of the deal.

Late Monday night however, it ended. After finding out that the Justice decided to ignore our demand - which called for a front-page response - by printing Tuesday instead of Friday, we held a demonstration outside of their office. For six hours, nearly fifty students rallied together to protest the printing of the Justice. At around 6 a.m., our voices were finally heard and our demands were finally met. When it was all said and done, the editor-in-chief, sports editor and columnist all resigned and we received our front-page apology and response.

Now it's time that we begin the healing process. We have to come together and start to seriously combat the problem of racism on our campus. We plan to work along side the Justice to accomplish this goal. They will be enlisting a professional and independent adviser to give editors and writers the necessary training and guidance to handle their responsibility. They will also revamp their editorial process in order to increase efficiency and reduce mistakes. We will also work with and challenge the administration to take strong preventative measures and look out for the interests of the minority community.

We are requesting that a mandatory University requirement be implemented that will force every Brandeis student to take a class about race relations and cultural sensitivity. In the near future many panels, forums and discussions will be held with the rest of the Brandeis community to increase awareness and actively attack the issues that have divided us for far too long. Apathy will no longer be tolerated. Racism affects us all and everyone must look within him or herself and do everything in his or her power to start making changes.

Last Tuesday, the Justice fell asleep and allowed this disaster to occur. By today, everyone woke up. The editorial board woke up and realized that they must take their job more seriously and put in a conscious effort to maintain the highest level of journalistic integrity. The Brandeis administrators finally woke up. They now understand that it is not students' responsibility, but rather the administrators' responsibility to protect the minority community. They also know that if they fail to protect us, we will turn this university upside down. The greater Brandeis community woke up.

Whether they agree or disagree with our cause, they cannot deny that we have a voice - a very powerful and undeniable voice. But most importantly, we woke up. We realized that it's not that actions speak louder than words, but actions are the only things that speak. We pushed ourselves to limits beyond what we ever thought possible and refused to stop until our demands were met. We are truly UNBREAKABLE.

If this were to happen again at Brandeis, to any community, always remember the words that rang out at 2:30 in the morning and will forever echo throughout the halls of the Shapiro Campus Center... A People United, Will Never Be Defeated.

Peace.


Justin Moore '04, BBSO & Our Supporters