On Tuesday, a coalition of student groups - including the Muslim Student Association - held a speak-out on the Student Union steps, protesting the continued presence of "Islamophobia" in the United States.
Speakers at the rally struck a consistent note: the election of Barack Obama was a momentous step for race relations, but, in America, there is much more work to be done.
Much of the rally centered on the recent pepper-spraying of a Mosque in Dayton, Ohio, during the month of Ramadan.
Unlike most political gatherings held on the student union steps - that invariable yearly cycle of anti-war, "support our troops" and pro-marijuana rallies - Tuesday's event was something to take notice of. It was, in fact, quite a stirring sight.
Islamic students, members of a generation whose political awakening came early - with the morning of Sept. 11 - were standing on the grounds of an American university, proclaiming and defending their rights to equal treatment. They were speaking from within a long tradition of American civil resistance. They insisted on the promises of the Bill of Rights. They demanded that the United States live up to its mission. They made a direct and irrefutable appeal to the democratic heart and the democratic mind.
At times, however, the speakers at the rally missed the point entirely.
One student insisted that anti-Islamic sentiment in America comes "from the top," and launched into a discussion of the Federal government's reaction to the World Trade Center attacks. A student in the crowd shouted an unprintable insult, directed at the current occupant of the White House.
This kind of antagonism hurts the cause of positive change.
In a democracy, problems are not solved via the blame game. Every citizen bears responsibility for the flaws of the nation. When hatred arises in America, we do not look to someone else for the cause.
We look within ourselves, and we do what we can to make things better.
Event participants led the small crowd in various chants: "Islamophobia has got to go!"; "racial hatred has got to go!"; and the more confrontational "no justice, no peace!"
This last chant was completely out of line with a rally in which various protesters held signs reading "Islam = Peace."
If the chant was meant to convey that civil resistance will not cease until all citizens are treated as equals, then it was as good a chant as any.
If, however, it was meant to convey that acts of physical violence - like the Dayton pepper-spraying - will be met with acts of non-physical violence, it was entirely inappropriate.
When citizens take a stand against hatred, they run the risk of getting involved in the fight to the point that they themselves become hateful.
Those who promote peace ought to do just that. They cannot afford to allow their good intentions to mutate into a hatred masquerading as righteousness.
Taking all of this into account, Tuesday's rally was successful. Most of what was said was said with a spirit of genuine concern. Those who spoke did so to remind the crowd that when things go wrong in America, it is up to the citizen to set things right. The telling missteps mentioned above did not, in the end, spoil the rally as a whole.
At this point in its history, the United States is facing a rather unprecedented identity-crisis. We have elected an African-American president of Islamic descent. We are negotiating the still-pressing issues surrounding gay marriage. Immigration remains a pressing matter and every year, more and more groups of Americans demand that their right to equal treatment be enacted.
As Americans make their way through this time of transformation, they ought to do so in a spirit of peace and compassion.
When there is a problem in our country, can we blame anyone but ourselves? Ours is a nation capable of solving almost any problem that presents itself, so long as we do not waste our days pointing fingers at each other.
James Mathews is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at jwmathew@student.umass.edu.
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