The Amherst Christian Fellowship (ACF) would like to applaud the members of the Black Men's Group (BMG) for having the courage to speak out regarding the very painful issue of racial profiling on this campus. ACF would also like to thank the College administrators for taking seriously the BMG's concerns.
We, too, are concerned about the racial profiling incidents and the general feeling within the BMG that they are not welcome on this campus. It is easy to say that it is just black men on this campus that are upset about the racial profiling. But as a multiethnic fellowship committed to loving God's people of every ethnicity and culture, ACF supports the BMG in speaking out against prejudice and discrimination on this campus. Moreover, we support the BMG because we strongly believe this is a matter of God's justice. We believe that God's justice is based on making things right. In this context, it means making sure that we love, accept, and welcome all people because God loves all people. We believe that active and deliberate individual and collective pursuit of this justice will lead to racial reconciliation on this campus and elsewhere.
People often ask: "Why can't we just get along?" or "Why do we have to talk about race or multi-ethnicity?" We (the College in general) will have to address these concerns because Amherst is a diverse campus and is becoming more so-the last two matriculating classes have been the most ethnically diverse classes in the College's history.
Many students will stroll through the remainder of their Amherst days without having to deal with diversity issues. Minority students, however, do not have this luxury. They deserve to feel safe on their own campus, and, more importantly, all of us will certainly benefit from learning to treat every individual with the dignity and respect that we ourselves wish to receive. If we do not tackle these prejudices, then we will carry them with us out into the world, where these issues and concerns certainly will not be any easier to confront.
Let us not forget that the College's motto is "Terras Irradient," ("Let them enlighten the lands") and that we ought to light up the world.
The Amherst Christian Fellowship