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| Our Perspective ...
NOW picked the wrong time to protest |
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Appalachian
State University held its annual Walk for Awareness Sept. 3. The
Walk for Awareness was started in 1990 to honor the memory of staff
member Jeni Gray who was raped and murdered by a man in Boone and
to honor Appalachian student Leigh Cooper Wallace who was raped
by the same man.
The Walk for Awareness activities now not only includes the silent,
commemorative walk through the Appalachian campus and downtown Boone,
but messages concerning sexual assault and safety.
That night, however, the events also included a protest by members
of the Appalachian State National Organization for Women (NOW) and
members of the Boone-area NOW. |
NOW protesters
argued the university-sponsored event is too controlled and far
too quiet. Protesters said they felt any event meant to raise awareness
about sexual assault should include raised voices and awareness
is not heightened by walking in silence.
NOW protesters preferred a more “in your face” approach
to awareness by yelling and holding rape statistics on banners.
They raise some notable points and their chosen method to educate
people of rape statistics is one way to get the point across. But
overall, it seems as far as the Walk for Awareness is concerned,
they missed the point.
Both the Walk for Awareness and NOW methods of protest are ways
to raise the awareness and education of rape. NOW provided their
information through shouts and chants; Walk for Awareness provided
its information through messages from speakers and the reflection
time during the silent walk.
The silent walk is where NOW protesters missed the point. During
the walk, protesters yelled, creating noise that distracted from
the reverence and reflection of the walk. A time meant to silently
commemorate the victims of rape and reflect upon the messages from
speakers was interrupted by chants of rape statistics and protest
against the silence of the event.
The Walk for Awareness is essentially a protest as well. Participants
in the Walk for Awareness walk in protest against rape. They walk
to commemorate those who have suffered from the injustice of sexual
assault, and they intend to inform themselves as to how to prevent
becoming victims themselves.
The point of the silent walk is to give participants time to reflect.
It is difficult to silently reflect amidst loud noise. Yes, the
protesters were yelling rape statistics, but their statistics were
lost in the fact that someone was yelling. Participants did not
necessarily hear the words of the protester’s shouts; they
heard a loud sound that distracted them from reflection on what
NOW was actually screaming about: rape.
In their efforts to educate, protestors actually aided in neutralizing
the effectiveness of the silent message of the Walk for Awareness.
NOW may have had good points to make, but they chose the wrong time
to make them. |
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