To the Editor:
Injustice-it’s something horrible that happens far away. Something that we should think about, but that never directly affects us.
At the last Billiken basketball game, I saw a horrible injustice performed by a SLU student. While waiting for a bus to bring me back to campus, I witnessed a commotion involving two homeless men and a girl from SLU. This girl was yelling at the homeless man. She said that she would give the man a cigarette if he backed away. She proceeded to tell him to “sit and stay” before giving him the cigarette. Since she was yelling, she was gathering a crowd, and while laughing, she handed him the cigarette and told him not to talk to her or her friends. She completely took away any sort of dignity the man had left.
This is horrible, but the main injustice was the one that I committed. Even though I was so angered and hurt by the girl’s actions, I did nothing to stop it. I did not turn to her and tell her that he is a human being-an uncle, a brother, a son. I didn’t stand up and fight.
Now I am regretting my lack of courage. I turned away in anger, thinking I should say something, but chickening out at the last second. This is an important message to be heard, because, no matter what, there will always be oppression. There will always be a person-a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew, a hypocrite-that performs an injustice. The real question is how are you going to react? Be ready, and don’t be afraid to act. You don’t want to regret it and have to write a letter to the editor to make your feelings known.
Mary Devine
Junior, College of Arts and Sciences