James Byrd Jr. was walking back to his home in Jasper, Texas one summer evening in 1998 when they came for him. They cut him off with their pickup truck, jumped out and beat Byrd, breaking his ribs.
They said they wanted to “roll a tire.” They proceeded to slash Byrd across the throat and chained him to the pickup truck. Byrd was dragged for three miles before dying after his head and right arm were severed by a culvert – all because he was black.
Byrd and over 30,000 other victims of hate crimes were remembered last Wednesday during the second annual Day of Silence, a protest sponsored by Northeastern University Bisexual Lesbian And Gay Alliance (NUBiLAGA) where students spoke as little as possible for 12 hours.
“The silence is a tool,” said Ashley Smith, director of public relations for NUBiLAGA. “It’s a symbolic tool to show how hate crimes silence us all.”
Day of Silence kicked off last Wednesday in Krentzman Quad. NUBiLAGA representatives handed out T-shirts and information kits to those who signed up to support Day of Silence.
“The point of the event is to create solidarity between everyone on campus,” said Smith, a sophomore double major in music and psychology. “Seeing everyone on campus wearing Day of Silence T-shirts is quite a sight.”
NUBiLAGA members took turns reading off a list of hate crime victims and their stories. One member discussed the legality of committing a hate crime in the United States. Four members circled the quad convincing passersby to join the movement.
Over 430 people signed up to support the Day of Silence, including professors and administrators.
“Obviously I can’t be quiet, no matter how much my students would love that,” said Frank Dibella, professor of mechanical engineering and technology, “but it’s for a good cause, and that’s what really matters.”
For those whose jobs kept them from staying quiet, the Day of Silence information kit advises participants to be reasonable and peaceful in protest.
“The Day of Silence is not about getting in trouble, it’s about creating awareness of anti-minority harassment and abuse,” Smith said.
Others said they would be as silent as possible.
“I love this style of protest. It’s a beautiful thing to see silence used as a unique stance,” said Cory Colcord, a senior finance major. Colcord also said he understood the power of silence.
“My mother used to give me the silent treatment. It was the worst,” Colcord said.
An average of 7,976 hate crimes are committed each year, with over 50,000 hate crimes occurring since Byrd’s death in 1998, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The FBI describes a hate crime as “offences motivated in part or singularity by personal prejudice because of diversity – race, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity/national origin or disability.”
To break the silence, NUBiLAGA held a Breaking the Silence party in the Curry Student Center Ballroom. The party featured free pizza, free T-shirts, movie passes and guest speaker Margarita Alcantara-Tan.
Alcantara-Tan is a motivational speaker from Philadelphia. She has organized multiple movements to eliminate racism and abuse toward women and homosexuals and also writes for a pro-feminist, pro-Filipino magazine called “Bamboo girl.”
During her speech, Alcantara-Tan spoke of the difficulty of growing up as a bisexual, feminist and Filipino-American in the suburbs of Philadelphia and later in New York City.
“I remember one time I was waiting for my subway when a man came up to me and stared at me for a good long while,” Alcantara-Tan said during her speech at the Break the Silence party. “I told him I didn’t appreciate him staring at me. He called me a bitch and a cunt and walked away.”
Alcantara-Tan also performed some spoken word about racism and prejudice. One song, “Why You Should Know” coneyed why Alcantara-Tan was is a political activist.
“[NUBiLAGA] was looking into a group of people to break the silence, but we settled on [Alcantara-Tan] because she applies to many minorities, and has experience in protesting,” Smith said after the Breaking the Silence party.
“I’m just glad [NUBiLAGA is] doing this,” said Becky Blasenheim, a freshman American Sign Language major and participant in the event. “I’m glad because I can do this for my mother, myself and anyone else who shouldn’t be a victim of hate crimes.”