As journalists, our job is to observe and understand the world so that we can parse out the important details for our readers. In our section in particular, this occasionally calls for us to relay messages about what can or even ought to be done. When events like those in Minneapolis begin to unfold, we feel that we have an obligation as journalists to report on it. After watching the videos of I.C.E. agents carelessly murdering Alex Pretti and Renée Good, a violent and unscrupulously-hired militia roaming American streets and tearing families apart, we are at a loss for words. What can be said as we watch state-sponsored violence for the first time in our short lives? There is nothing.
What are we, as a nation, as Kenyon students, supposed to do now? We may feel obligated to be out in the streets, or sitting in the halls of Congress, or bravely throwing our bodies in between I.C.E. agents and their next victims. But instead, our days hardly changed within our privileged Kenyon bubble. And even if we could be on the streets of Minneapolis, when doing what’s right could cost your life, who are we to ask that of you?
We all feel that someone has to stop these horrors, but we also feel powerless to be that someone. As editors of our college newspaper, we are in an insoluble position: We couldn’t stay silent and yet we have nothing meaningful to add to the conversation. Even though we don’t feel empowered to make a real difference in the face of this injustice, we can’t let perfect become the enemy of good.
Fundraise, organize, protest tomorrow, call your representatives, post on Instagram — do whatever you can. Instead of calling people out, call people in. What’s going on right now is horrific and inexcusable, and sometimes there is nothing else to say. As for what we can do, maybe just do what we can and hold each other closer.
Sincerely,
Dalia and Robbie Collegian Opinions Staff