Sometimes I find it hard to believe that people are naturally good. When the weight of the world seems too much to bear and stress is high, I admit that I start to believe the worst in people. But I never lose hope because I believe in the goodness of the human race.

I’m not sure what Steven Kazmierczak believed, but I do know that he did not see the people in that classroom as human beings worthy of life and happiness because he was angry with the world. Steven had no hope. He wanted to share his hatred and frustration with others.

For us to deny Steven a cross is to deny his humanity. The burning of his cross, and request for its removal only allows his distorted view of humankind to be spread among this campus, which is exactly what he had wanted.

Now, in our time of stress, in our darkest hour, and when the weight of the world is upon us as a campus, we have a choice. We can adopt the mindset of Steven and perpetuate anger and animosity. We can choose to believe the worst is possible in this world. We can continue to live with fear and anger toward each other, and if we choose that course, Steven’s beliefs of humanity will ring true.

Or, we can show the true side of humanity. We can show that we have the power of love and hope and forgiveness. We can show the world that he did not cause our love of one another to falter for one moment or for our moral compass to be led astray. We can realize that being a good person is more important than being right. We can show our righteousness with our love.

We will not honor him as a killer, but we will recognize the humanity of all beings on this earth, and by doing that we will have triumphed.

Jason Looney
Senior, political science

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