The people of Charlotte had finally had enough when the rioting and violence made its way to their city.
The start of the protest came about when Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was questioned on Sept. 19 by police who were looking for a man with an outstanding warrant. During the altercation that followed, Scott was shot and killed.
There have been plenty of other occasions where African-American citizens have been shot and killed at the hands of the police in news as of late, and the #BlackLivesMatter movement is protesting this trend on social media and on the streets of Charlotte and other cities.
Students across the William Peace University campus have been discussing the #BlackLivesMatter movement and what it means to them.
No matter which side of the argument students are on, most would agree that something does need to be done to prevent events like what happened in Charlotte.
Amanda Terry, a senior at Peace, feels that coming from a southern conservative family has affected her views on the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
“A lot of people think that when you say ‘black lives matter’ that it disregards white lives but to me it doesn’t. It just means this a particular group we need to take the time to focus on,” said Terry.
Toya Williams, a sophomore at Peace, has a cousin in the FBI and looks at the issue through the eyes of a concerned relative worried if her cousin is going to make it home at night. She believes that problems arise from no one taking the time to listen.
“If you support [#BlackLivesMatter] in an ignorant matter, you make everyone look stupid,” said Williams.
On the other side of the issue, Peace junior Ashton Riggs, would prefer to support #AllLivesMatter saying that color shouldn’t matter and everybody’s life does matter.
“I wish that we could all get along,” said Riggs, “We’re all human!”
