UT-Austin Campus Stabbing: Amid Efforts To Heal, Racism Rears Its Ugly Head

AUSTIN, TX — In an age of polarization and chasms between various cultures, perhaps one of the byproducts of a deadly knife attack on the UT-Austin campus was inevitable. One day after a student, who happens to be black, went on his stabbing rampage — killing one student and injuring three others —racist fliers condemning all black people appeared on campus.

"Around blacks, never relax!" read the fliers, depicting a cartoon of a menacing black man with exaggerated features while holding a knife. Sadly, this is not the first time racist fliers have appeared on the campus (previous posts targeting Latinos and Asians have popped up in the past), but the emergence of fliers one day after the stabbing of a promising young freshman has added to the potent mix of emotions in the UT-Austin community.

“We have lots of emotions, including fear and distrust,” UT-Austin President Gregory L. Fenves said during a press conference about the crime. “I’m hurt and I’m angry that our campus has seen these tragedies with two of our students.”

Amid the emotional stew, Fenves called for healing and reconciliation. As he and other administrators move to provide a semblance of normalcy to the young people in their charge, classes resumed as normal on Tuesday after being cancelled for the rest of the day following the attack, and student activities were back on.

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The reasoning behind the decision to resume a normal schedule came after a determination that the threat had been neutralized with the arrest of Kendrex J. White, 21, the UT-Austin student now charged with murder after the knifing attack. Police on Tuesday told reporters White suffers from mental issues and was once involuntarily committed to an institution for treatment.

But to the reasonable mind, the fliers emerging on Tuesday are anathema to such healing, a hateful anachronism running counter to the tactics of conciliation, mending and healing from a collective and still-open wound.

"I know what happened yesterday was a tragedy and that people are scared, upset, hurt and/or looking for someone to blame," student Kim Nguyen wrote on Facebook. "But this? This is not okay. I don't know who you are, but by doing this, you're only spreading more fear and hate and deepening the racism that already exists in our society."

The antithesis of hate is love, Nguyen suggested, urging others to tear down the hateful missives and throw them in the trash while supporting one another amid the fear in the crime's aftermath: "We need to show love, now more than ever, not hate," Nguyen wrote.

Thankfully, others share that view. Students have organized a community gathering scheduled for Wednesday evening, during which they will honor Harrison Brown, the freshman killed in the attack, and the three other victims who survived. The event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the 9 Main Building at the South Mall portion of the campus.

Meanwhile, Soncia R. Lilly, the vice president for student Affairs and dean of students, sent students a letter the day after the stabbing that shocked them. In the letter, a breadth of university resources are listed to which students can avail themselves as they recover from the resulting emotional trauma — student emergency services, the counseling and mental health center, behavior concerns advice line, student ombuds and more.

"During times like this tragedy, it is normal to experience a range of emotions that may affect your daily routine," Lilly wrote students. "These emotions could come up now, in the coming days, or even the weeks and months ahead. Please remember to take care of yourself and utilize these campus resources."

The idea of blaming an entire group for the heinous actions of a single person is a toxic aftereffect, one that has been historically utilized. But in taking a different tack intent on healing, one is reminded of the words of Robert F. Kennedy when he announced the killing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to a largely black crowd in Indianapolis during a campaign stop on April 4, 1968.

"You can be filled with bitterness and hatred and a desire for revenge," Kennedy said. "We can move in that direction as a country in greater polarization—black people amongst blacks and whites amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one anther. Or we can make an effort like Martin Luther King did to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that is spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion and love."

Long before the immediacy of social media, Kennedy broke the news of that tragedy to many, if not most, in the crowd. But in his own grief, he helped assuage the crowd with what has emerged as a primer on dealing with issues of race amid acts of violence that could be utilized at UT-Austin and anywhere else where blood is shed amid racial undertones. His words proved an emotional salve, and while cities across the country burned in reaction to King's death, Indianapolis was spared.

He ended with the words of his favorite Greek writer, Aeschylus, to help soothe members of the crowd suddenly left emotionally traumatized by the death of the civil rights leader: "He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God."

>>> Photos of Harrison Brown via Everipedia