The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Wednesday, September 28, 2016 — 3A
“I want each and every student
here to know that you are welcome
here, and we’re proud that you are
here, and your faculty members
and your staff that work with you
on a daily basis are proud of you,”
Martin said.
After Martin’s remarks, the
gathering was loosely structured,
and invited students to engage in
individual discussion with one
another.
While
the
flyers
were
a
large part of the conversations,
discussions
also
addressed
broader topics of racism on
campus and in society at large.
LSA freshman Bailey Dozier-
Shabazz said she appreciated the
opportunity to share her thoughts
about the fliers.
“It makes me feel a little bit
unsafe, like I’m not even wanted
here,” Dozier-Shabazz said.
Students like LSA freshman
Carlena Toombs attended the
event looking for answers as to
how the University would respond
to the fliers.
“I came to the event just to
observe how exactly LSA plans to
deal with the issues such as the
racist flyers, because I love the
University of Michigan, but I’m
still having trouble finding what
is the place of the Black students
here,” Toombs said.
While
Toombs
said
she
appreciates steps taken by the
University, she added that the
response was not entirely in line
with what the Black campus
community wants.
“I feel like it’s very hard for
(the administration) to do what
we, Black students, want them
to do, but, at the same time, I
appreciate them allowing things
like protests to go on, which I feel
like is as much as they really can
do, politically,” Toombs said
Reginald Hammond Jr., student
administrative assistant at the
Lloyd Hall Scholars Program, said
he thinks the event was a strong
beginning to a greater movement
on campus.
“This is the beginning of
discussions, of building a culture
where people feel comfortable
expressing how they feel and
being in a place with other people
who are unlike them who embrace
their differences,” Hammond said.
LSA sophomore Chanelle Davis
said the flyers were an attempt
to hijack the Black experience of
oppression.
“It was offensive to me as
a Black person, because I feel
like people like that often try
to take away from what we as
Black people or we as people of
marginalized identities try to do:
get the world to understand why
we are oppressed,” Chanelle said.
“And I feel like we try to have the
conversation a lot and for them
to portray things like they’re the
ones being attacked, that they’re
the ones not being able to be who
they are freely is not accurate — it’s
not fair to us.”
COMMUNITY
From Page 1A
Hillary Clinton performed better
in the debate, with 68 percent
choosing
Clinton,
whereas
Republican presidential nominee
Donald
Trump
received
9
percent. A significant number of
respondents — 18 percent — said
neither candidate performed well.
The
Daily’s
poll,
however,
showed that tuning into the debate
didn’t necessarily equate to a
change of preference. The majority
— 59 percent — of respondents said
the debate did not influence their
vote, while 27 percent reported
the debate somewhat influenced
their vote and just 2 percent stated
the debate greatly influenced their
vote.
Aaron Kall, director of debate at
the University of Michigan, agreed
with respondents that Clinton won
the debate. However, he added that
the lack of lasting influence the
debate had on young voters could
prove problematic for Clinton
moving forward.
“I think the main reason cutting
into her support of younger voters
are these third-party candidates
and so debates are an excellent
way for her to bring some of those
candidates into the fold,” Kall said.
“But if she’s not talking about issues
and subjects that relate to them and
they either don’t vote or vote for a
third party, then she could be in
real trouble.”
In the most recent survey of
overall voter preference on campus
conducted by the Daily on Sept.
18, 80 percent of respondents said
they would vote for Clinton, while
her primary opponent Trump
received 9 percent when only
given the choice of the major party
candidate, with 11 percent voting
“other.”
In the poll of students after last
night’s debate, the “other” not
present on the stage had a stronger
showing: 67 percent of students
favored Clinton, 14 percent favored
Trump, and 19 percent said “other,”
though it is important to note that
the sample for the post-debate poll
was different than the sample for
the Sept. 18 poll and the former had
double the number of respondents.
When asked which candidate
has the better temperament to be
president in the post-debate poll
— something Trump repeatedly
assured voters of during the debate
— a majority chose Clinton over
Trump, 75 percent to 7 percent
respectively. Sixteen percent of
respondents felt neither candidate
has
the
temperament
to
be
president.
In
response
to
student
favorability
toward
Clinton
post-debate,
Taiwo
Dosunmu,
communications
director
for
University’s chapter of College
Democrats,
said
he
thought
students had picked up on how well
she performed and the qualities
she possesses that would make
her a better president than her
opponent.
“Last night’s debate showed
how unfit Donald Trump is to be
president,” Dosunmu said. “The
students surveyed by the Daily saw
this clearly, and they saw — just
as clearly — how well Secretary
Clinton performed. She was calm,
cool and collected. She displayed
the command of policy details
we have come to expect from her,
while being humorous, likable and
confident. It should be no surprise
that a majority of respondents
listed Clinton as their choice for
president.”
In the Sept. 18 survey, students
listed social issues, the economy
and gun violence as the top three
issues that mattered the most
to them in this election — all of
which were covered in the debate.
The issue of college affordability,
however, was only mentioned by
Clinton briefly twice, and not by
Trump at all.
SURVEY
From Page 1A
Wednesday in East Lansing and
Grand Rapids. Holton’s visit
follows a recent one from Kaine,
who came to campus two weeks
ago, and precedes a Friday event
in Novi featuring Republican
nominee Donald Trump. In her
remarks, Holton highlighted
the importance of grassroots
campaigning, and repeatedly
asked the audience to continue
to volunteer and encourage
people in their lives to vote for
Clinton.
“I’m going to talk about you,”
she said. “You are the key to
this election. You all know that,
right? You all know Michigan
is often the key to the national
election.”
Mai Le, an attendee and Ann
Arbor resident, said she found
Holton’s message reassuring.
“I
really
think
me
and
everyone in this room really
want to see a Clinton campaign
victory on November 8th,” she
said. “Hearing how directly we
are making a difference for the
campaign was very inspiring.”
Over the past few decades,
Michigan has been a blue state,
except for a victory by President
Ronald Regan in 1988. However,
the GOP has dominated state-
level politics over the past few
years, and Trump has stated he
wants to flip Michigan several
times. Nonetheless, Clinton has
maintained a lead in the state
against
Trump
throughout
the election season. The most
recent RealClearPolitics polling
average shows Clinton leading
by 4.7 points.
After
the
event,
Holton
repeated
her
emphasis
on
volunteering in an interview
with The Michigan Daily, saying
Michigan could determine the
outcome of the election on a
national scale.
“Michigan is a battleground
state,” she said. “It always
is like Virginia is. It’s just so
important. We are fighting for
votes everywhere. If Michigan
supports Hillary Clinton, the
nation will support Hillary
Clinton, and she will be our next
president.”
Students on campus have
been actively involved in the
election with organizations like
the University of Michigan’s
chapter of College Democrats
hosting
a
series
of
voter
registration drives. Additionally,
the first Michigan Daily election
survey indicated overwhelming
support for Clinton among a
sample of students.
Holton told the Daily she
believes the student vote is
valuable in the presidential race,
but even more so in state and
local elections.
“I’m really thrilled to hear
that students are involved in
the top of the ticket, but also
we’ve got great candidates up
and down the ticket,” she said.
“Our students don’t always fully
engage in those races … The
student vote can really make
a difference for that and it can
really make a difference for the
top of the ticket too. Students
are our future, and when they
participate, Democrats win.”
Ann Arbor resident Jane
Campbell, an event attendee,
said she believes candidates
visiting the state indicates the
significance of this election.
“It’s really important to see
the major candidates and their
surrogates here in Michigan, so
that people can understand the
seriousness of the election,” she
said. “I do not understand how
anyone cannot vote in this or
any election.”
HOLTON
From Page 1A
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Anne Holton, former Virginia Secretary of Education and wife of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine,
speaks to volunteers and audience members at the Hillary Clinton office in Ann Arbor Tuesday.
ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily
Amr Moussa, an Egyptian politician and former Egypt Foreign Minister, explains the current status of the Arab world
in a talk hosted by the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies in the School of Social Work Tuesday.
AR AB WORLD POLITICS
the audience of about 50 students,
“Do you want to hear what Black
people have to say?” One of the
protest organizers also led a call-
and-response chant, including the
statement, “Your life is not up for
debate, neither is mine.”
The protest and debate came a
day after racially charged posters
were found in University buildings
and
around
campus,
which
the University condemned in a
statement Monday afternoon. A
separate protest was held Monday
night by students in response to
the posters, and the College of
Literature, Science and the Arts also
hosted an event Tuesday night for
students to discuss the fliers.
LSA
senior
Joshua
Strup,
president of the MPU, said the
group made the decision to hold its
debate before the racially charged
incidents that have occurred at the
University and Eastern Michigan
University this past week. However,
he added that he still supported
going forward with it.
“We feel that it’s a disservice to
the issue itself to shy away from it
because of additional events that
it deserves to be recognized, it
deserves to be heard, it deserves to
be discussed and to not do so would
be a dismissive attitude,” he said.
The protest had a mixed impact
on the debate, halting parts, but not
all of it. For several minutes after
the protesters entered the event,
debaters continued to speak, while
protesters
continued
chanting.
Shortly after the chanting began, a
new MPU speaker took the podium
and
engaged
with
protesters,
asking questions and discussing
the issues at hand. Protesters then
took to the podium directly, and
spoke one by one to a mostly quiet
crowd, when a disagreement broke
out over whether white people
should be speaking at the event.
The protesters began leaving the
room shortly afterward, chanting
as they went, and effectively ending
the debate.
Standing outside the event while
protesters were inside, University
Spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said
he thought it was positive that
protesters and event organizers
were engaging each other.
“As often happens on this
campus, groups with different
points of view find a way to get
together,” he said. “The dialogue is
really important. Listening as well
as talking are important for both
sides on this campus.”
Many protesters and audience
members, however, said though the
two groups had been in the same
room, not much open dialogue had
occurred.
LSA sophomore Allison Hellman,
a MPU member, said she did not
feel the protesters respected the
decorum of debates, which resulted
in four of the intended speakers not
having the opportunity to speak.
“I thought the protest was fine,”
she said. “I thought the initial
coming in and saying their piece
was fine. I had an issue with once
they had said what they were
supposed to, what they were going
to say, continuing to impede civil
discourse.”
LSA junior Corey Walker, who
was an audience member, said after
the event that he also did not support
the disruptive nature of the protest.
“I am Black, so yeah, I want to
make life for myself and my family
better,” Walker said. “At the same
time, I don’t necessarily think that
their tactics are going to get us
there simply because when you do
things like what they did today, like
shut down any type of discussion
whatsoever,
not
being
willing
to
listen,
interrupting
people,
discounting facts, screaming and
yelling in people’s faces, using
profanity, trying to silence people’s
voices, it doesn’t move the ball
forward.”
Walker added that he felt the
Black
Lives
Matter
movement
often follows this format, calling it
unproductive to achieve long term
goals.
“As demonstrated here today, I
don’t think this movement is about
bridging gaps or actually finding
solutions to problems; I think it’s
about people who have a specific
agenda screaming and yelling,
which is fine,” he said. “But in order
to make progress, you have to set
specific policy goals in order to
think about what you want.”
LSA freshman Na’kia Channey,
who spoke at the protest, said she
wished more dialogue had occurred
between audience members and
protesters. Citing the disagreement
that broke out over whether white
students should have been able to
talk during the protest, she said she
thought the white students should
have been allowed to ask relevant
questions about the purpose of the
protest and Black Lives Matter
as a whole. This, she added, is
important for allies to understand
the movement.
“I know white people have
questions about Black Lives Matter,”
she said. “And though they can look
stuff on the internet, I think it makes
sense that we let them ask questions
so we can tell them why they need
to support our movement.”
However, she also noted the
importance of incorporating Black
voices in the conversation.
“I totally agree that Black voices
need to be listened to,” she said.
“It’s very important that when our
narrativism is endured so often that
we need people to finally listen to
what we say.”
LSA
junior
Chanice
Taylor,
secretary of the Michigan chapter
of the NAACP, said before the
march she believes their actions
were important as they attracted
attention to racist events affecting
the Black community on campus.
“I’m here to show my support and
bring awareness that these things
do happen on campus,” she said.
“Although we are making strides as
far as diversity, we still have a long
way to go.”
Eastern
Michigan
University
seniors Cina Webster and Kaya
Mills also said they joined the
protest because they thought the
debate signified the need to raise
awareness about these issues among
the student body.
“Tonight showed that there is
a ton of ignorance,” Webster said.
“Willful ignorance.”
“This is only the first step,”
Mills said. “We have to continue
doing things like this, we can’t stop.
Because if we stop, then they think
‘Oh they’re satisfied.’ But we’re still
dying.”
Daily Staff Reporter Will Feuer
and Daily News Editor Jackie
Charniga contributed reporting to
this article.
DEBATE
From Page 1A