Chalking is a way to bring awareness to events abroad.
In defense of chalking, I will say that we live in a democratic society wherein we are raised on ideas of involvement but feel that true influence is unattainable and that the government is inaccessible. Chalking on a college campus can serve as a life vest to make us feel less helpless, being a democratic tool we hold in our own hands, and any right we neglect to use will surely be a right lost.
If you have been attending your classes for the past week you have undoubtedly seen the chalk messages written across campus. A remarkable sight but, importantly, not a unique one. Publicizing events or writing encouraging messages in chalk has been a regular occurrence on campus. Everyone has come across a kind message written on the bricks that makes them smile and every year a freshman’s life is forever changed by the advertisements of Chicken Party written on the steps of Hurricane Plaza. Recent events have brought this convention into question as new pastel pink words do not wish good luck on midterms but, rather, are geared towards protesting the conflict in Palestine with Israel. The messages usually revolve around calling for a ceasefire or reminding people that children are dying — a stark contrast to past chalk messages.
These messages, which have been construed as political, have caused a stir around what should and should not be chalked about. Notably, the messages seem to frequently be washed away overnight leading to suspicion that someone on campus is trying to get rid of them despite President Carson’s denials. It is worth noting that chalking does not always get approved by campus officials, or necessarily need to, but they reserve the right to erase any messages they disagree with.
Funnily enough, the place I have seen the most discourse about the chalk has been on YikYak. A lot of the conversation so far has revolved around the idea that writing phrases in chalk on an Oklahoma college campus does not save the lives of people on another continent. There is no denying this. The conflict in Palestine is a complicated international affair thousands of miles away. However, to say that it does not make a difference is frankly untrue. It creates dialogue around the conflict, reminds people that it is going on and dares them to question the path Israel might be traversing.
There is a phrase that has really stood out to me: “We won’t let you forget children are dying.” This statement has been written in a few locations and is something that has stopped me in my tracks when I come across it. It startles me so much because it is true. Children are dying and that should not be something I let myself forget. This is where some of the validity in this movement comes from. It definitely supports an idea of what the right thing is, but at its most effective, the chalk messages serve more as a form of factual reporting than anything else. Children are dying. Israel is in conflict with Palestine and now Lebanon. These are not radical stances; they are facts that are important to understand.
If the chalking had begun a year ago, I probably would have felt closer to the naysayers. The conflict in Palestine is a difficult one to truly affect, as seen by response to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s presence in New York and the processions of the International Court of Justice. I fear that we might ascribe too much meaning to our protest and allow it to become purely performative. However, the timing of this event changes everything. There is an election in a month. One that will have a massive effect on the US’s involvement in Palestine and that most people on campus will be voting in. We are on the cusp of our biannual opportunity to have a direct say in the federal government and reminding voters that people are dying is not a pointless endeavor. The chalk is leading us as students to discuss the conflict and to come to terms with the fact that our decisions are colored by the context of an atrocity. The point of writing these messages is not to stop bullets but rather to sear a phrase into your mind in hopes that you will remember it in the voting booth.
There is another layer of interest to this as, recently, people have started chalking in response, spreading messages against anti-semitism. These two stances, while not antithetical, are placed in opposition to one another. There is such a rich importance in that, now, there is a dialogue around something that truly matters. Chalking has created a back and forth where we are able to view the issue from multiple sides rather than ignoring its existence.
Speaking up about issues matters, and freedom to chalk about the things that matter to us is foundational to democracy. There is an especially important message written on the steps of Tyrell Hall, and I hope that the faculty have seen it. It urges administrators of the Arts and Sciences to speak up and reminds the faculty that their “students are watching,” and I hope they know the chalk is right — we are watching.
