Written by: Starr Davis

I am Trayvon Martin, are you?

A 17-year-old African-American high school student named Trayvon Martin was shot and killed Feb. 26 by gunman George Zimmerman.

Students at The University of Akron are reacting.

Most are posting Facebook pictures wearing hoodies, symbolizing the piece of clothing Martin was wearing when he died. Celebrities and famous icons on Twitter have been reacting as well by speaking out against injustice and racism.

Even though these are all power statements, I think the student body, as a whole, should be taking a bigger approach. Back in the day, college students were known for holding rallies and speaking out against racism and political movements. Now is the time for us to act and come together to take part in what is happening in our society.

I believe students are not responding strongly enough. If we look outside of this case and take a look at racism on our campus, I think more people would understand how big of an issue this is.  We just had Rethinking Race week a couple of weeks ago that discussed issues like this one. I attended a play that week titled “Race.” The play pinpointed how no one speaks out against racism when it occurs.

As a campus, we should speak out. Some teenager was just shot and killed and no one is doing anything about it. I thought campus would be flooding with discussion and events honoring the injustice of this issue. However, that is not the case. People are saying very little, and doing less.

The counseling center usually has a lot of discussion sessions about a variety of issues. Why has no one created an event or a discussion where students can speak out on this issue and be heard? I am disappointed that with this being election year, people are not motivated to talk about what is happening in our country. We should be more responsive to these issues.

When something like this occurs, everyone should have an input. We have a power, as students, to change the world. Our voice does count, and we should start utilizing our rights. There have been rallies, marches and debates going on throughout the country. We should step up as a student body and make an effort to stop racism.

I have dealt with acts of racism many of times. Anyone can relate to being judged on the color of his or her skin, religion or gender. However, none of us can come back and say we were killed because of it. I hope the university decides to bring this issue to surface so we can move past issues of racism on our campus and in our country.