{"id":8845,"date":"2020-06-19T15:01:36","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T19:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2020\/06\/29\/i-made-myself-watch-every-second\/"},"modified":"2022-11-06T19:30:02","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T00:30:02","slug":"i-made-myself-watch-every-second","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/i-made-myself-watch-every-second\/","title":{"rendered":"Eyes and hearts opened, voices raised amid national BLM movement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Furman Women\u2019s Basketball Coach <a href=\"https:\/\/furmanpaladins.com\/staff-directory\/jackie-carson\/261\">Jackie Carson<\/a> &#8217;00 could not remain silent after the death of George Floyd on May 25.<\/p>\n<p>In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CoachCarsonFU\/status\/1267535401603956738\/photo\/1\">an emotional letter<\/a> on social media, she wondered how much longer she could wait to tell her daughters, ages 8 and 6, that \u201cone day, someone will think less of them, or hurt them, simply because of their skin color.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNormally I stay pretty quiet on stuff, but this is not something I feel like I can be quiet about as an African American female leader, on campus or anywhere,\u201d Carson said.<\/p>\n<p>She met with her team not long after May 25, where players shared their feelings of confusion and sadness, and she told them the reason for her public statement. They responded by releasing one of their own:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is Furman Women\u2019s Basketball. Our ladies wanted to make their own statement about their feelings and thoughts. So proud of you all. Thank you ladies for being DISTINCT!! May your voices and message touch many! ???? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Z7G4Ryy9K0\">pic.twitter.com\/Z7G4Ryy9K0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jackie Smith Carson (@JackieCarson22) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JackieCarson22\/status\/1268236013387878406?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 3, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They developed an amazing video. We had nothing to do with it as a staff,\u201d Carson said. \u201cI just felt like it was really powerful, and I was really proud of them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That wasn\u2019t the only get-together in the athletic department. In addition to a department-wide meeting, the football team also had a frank, closed-door conversation that Running Backs Coach <a href=\"https:\/\/furmanpaladins.com\/staff-directory\/david-sims\/221\">David Sims<\/a> called \u201cthe best experience of my career so far.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_45718\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-45718\" class=\"wp-image-45718 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/218\/2022\/08\/SimsD.jpg\" alt=\"David Sims\" width=\"150\" height=\"210\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 150px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 150\/210;\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-45718\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Furman Running Backs Coach David Sims<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cA big reason it was so meaningful was just the openness, the honesty, having multiple players speak up who hadn\u2019t spoken up much so far,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just our black student-athletes that were speaking up. We had several of our white student-athletes who were very, very passionate and very, very open about it as well. It left you with a little bit of hope, because one of the biggest ways to try to help solve this is going to be from having conversations.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Like Carson, Sims felt he had no choice but to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/20_DSims\/status\/1267272036180779009\">become more vocal<\/a> after Floyd\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we\u2019re ever going to have positive changes that we want as a country, this is a time to do it,\u201d he said. \u201cI try to do it in a respectful manner, but it\u2019s one of those things, too, where I\u2019m trying make sure my guys understand, hey, this is a call we\u2019ve all felt, and we all have an ability to actually contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/furmanpaladins.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/tierra-hodges\/2780\">Tierra Hodges \u201921<\/a>, a health sciences major and forward on the women\u2019s basketball team, said support from the university, both in asking for people&#8217;s feelings and allowing them to be openly expressed, has been welcome.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThem taking the time to create these meetings and let us know that they\u2019re with us and they\u2019re supporting us, I think that made the biggest difference,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of people have been silent for so long, and it feels like being silent (says) you\u2019re OK with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hodges\u2019 teammate, <a href=\"https:\/\/furmanpaladins.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/grace-van-rij\/2789\">Grace Van Rij \u201922<\/a>, said she has wanted to speak up in support of racial justice but hadn\u2019t known how until now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was scared at first because I thought it wasn\u2019t my place, and I thought I would say the wrong things and I would overstep,\u201d Van Rij, who is white, said. \u201cI didn\u2019t feel like I was educated enough to speak on it. But then when we had our Furman athlete meeting on this I got to hear the perspectives of many of the students and coaches affected by what is going on, and it really helped me see how I can help.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The experience left her changed: &#8220;I feel like the one upside of this is I understand what Black Lives Matter means now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But if this moment is truly to be different from the other\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2020\/06\/01\/george-floyd-death-police-violence-in-the-us-in-4-charts.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tragic number of black deaths at the hands law enforcement in recent years<\/a>, the current momentum for change must be maintained, Sims said. A good start would be formal recognition and the observance as a federal holiday of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wnet\/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross\/history\/what-is-juneteenth\/\">Juneteenth<\/a>, which commemorates the day the last enslaved people in the U.S. learned of their freedom on June 19, 1865.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJuneteenth is one of those things that has never been celebrated like it should have,\u201d Sims said. \u00a0\u201cA lot of people are talking about <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/503504-group-of-democratic-senators-to-propose-making-juneteenth-national-holiday?fbclid=IwAR2QDQRvEsAqywlVVW-ySMIhG_4DXYm6DCGHZufE0D9On_ApmZE5Wvb0H58\">making it a national holiday<\/a>, and I think we should.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_45720\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-45720\" class=\"wp-image-45720 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/218\/2022\/08\/15_Tierra_Hodges-2.jpg\" alt=\"Tierra Hodges '21\" width=\"150\" height=\"210\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 150px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 150\/210;\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-45720\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tierra Hodges &#8217;21<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Carson had learned about Juneteenth as a child, thanks to her upbringing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mom is from Texas, so we learned about (Juneteenth) really, really young. But I never learned about it in school,\u201d Carson said. \u201cI think the good part about a lot of this is people are hearing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She wants to see that learning continue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to have constant dialogue \u2026 We need to have conversations with professors and staff members and incoming freshmen and current students, so that it is a part of Furman\u2019s curriculum,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that it\u2019s necessary. It forces the conversation and doesn\u2019t let it die down. (The women\u2019s team) is going to be very vocal. We\u2019re not going to hide from this. We may get backlash, and I told them I\u2019ll take it all day long, but I don\u2019t want them to be scared of invoking change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whether the Floyd&#8217;s death is a pivotal moment in American history remains to be seen. But it will always mark the day Lauren Duggar \u201919 wouldn\u2019t \u2013 couldn\u2019t \u2013 look away any longer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI made myself watch every second. I made myself listen,\u201d Duggar said of the agonizing video documenting the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.startribune.com\/7-minutes-46-seconds-county-says-error-in-timeline-of-floyd-s-killing-won-t-affect-charges\/571322872\/\">7 minutes and 46 seconds Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd\u2019s neck<\/a> until he died, hand in pocket, as Floyd said he couldn\u2019t breathe and bystanders begged him to stop. \u201cI made myself be educated about what happened so that it could sit with me. Nothing that you come up with in your mind could justify it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_45715\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-45715\" class=\"wp-image-45715 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/218\/2022\/08\/lauren_duggar_w_softbl_2018_19.jpg\" alt=\"Lauren Duggar\" width=\"150\" height=\"210\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 150px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 150\/210;\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-45715\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lauren Duggar &#8217;19<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Duggar had never joined the battle being fought by the <a href=\"https:\/\/blacklivesmatter.com\/\">Black Lives Matter movement<\/a> since 2013 to draw attention to and reshape the narrative around systemic racism, but watching Floyd, an African American, die in a \u201creally brutal and public way\u201d made it impossible for her to do nothing. So, her heart and mind opened like never before, Duggar reached out to black friends to ask how she could help them.<\/p>\n<p>All said the same simple thing: Get off the sidelines. Days later, on June 7, she did just that when she participated in a justice and prayer walk in Charleston, South Carolina, organized by Grace City Church.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI kept hearing, \u2018Be a part of it, because we need the white community to be by our side through this,\u2019\u201d said Duggar, a health sciences major <a href=\"https:\/\/furmanpaladins.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/lauren-duggar\/3420\">who played center field for the Furman softball team<\/a> and is currently in dental school at the Medical University of South Carolina.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8220;We spent those 3 miles walking beside someone we had just met but feeling really real and raw emotion,&#8221; said Duggar. &#8220;He was like, \u2018That could have been me.\u2019 Every step we took we were fully cognizant of the fact we were beside somebody who feels this injustice every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The walk was one of hundreds of marches and demonstrations that have swept across the country and world in the wake of Floyd\u2019s death. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/polling-institute\/reports\/monmouthpoll_us_060220\/\">seismic shift in public opinion<\/a> about black deaths at the hands of police officers, coupled with the removal of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/graphics\/2020\/national\/confederate-monuments\/\">at least 20 Confederate monuments<\/a> since Memorial Day, indicate that Duggar is far from alone in feeling the time is now for change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Furman Women\u2019s Basketball Coach Jackie Carson &#8217;00 could not remain silent after the death of George Floyd on May 25. In\u00a0an emotional letter on social media, she wondered how much [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":18661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,24,51,70,21,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-department-page","category-athletics","category-communication-studies","category-diversity-equity-and-inclusion","category-health-sciences","category-top-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}