One moment you’re with a group of friends hanging out, minding your own business. All of a sudden you’re in the middle of arguing and yelling. Next thing you know a drunk white male calls you and your friends a derogatory word and, you see your sister get punched in the face by another.� What could possibly be next? Well, Pedro Gonzalez soon found out there was a lot more in store for him.

On the night of September 21st Pedro Gonzalez experienced all the above. You would think after being called a spic and seeing your little sister get punched in the face things couldn’t get any worse. But, things did get worse, and Gonzalez was soon turned into a victim of being a minority.
He was accused of hitting the guy who struck his sister. Gonzalez says, “I had to meet with the directors of the hall, and they made me feel uncomfortable. They were trying to get me to say I hit him when I kept telling them I didn’t.”

One day later he received a letter saying he admitted to hitting the guy. Gonzalez was already dealing with the fact that the two males involved weren’t being punished and were still living in the dorm. Now he was being accused as if he was the one that made the racial slur or physically assaulted some one.

With the help of Movimiento Estudiantil Xicano de Aztlan, or MEXA, the two white students were reassigned to another dorm. MEXA held a press conference outside of East Akers to address the situation and see some results. Later on, MEXA along with other student groups supported Pedro while he had his hearing with the Judicial Board.
Two weeks after his hearing he still hasn’t gotten word from the board and what’s next for Pedro is uncertain. “It shouldn’t have gone this far! I personally have learned a lot, and I see this university isn’t prepared and does not know how to handle situations like this,” Gonzalez. says.

It took weeks for the two white students involved to even be reassigned out of Akers Hall. That duration to many students was far too long, and MSU officials kept saying there is a “process” and the completion of this process takes time. But, a point that some made was what if the roles were reversed and the girl that got hit was white and the offenders were minorities? What do you think would happen to them? All I can say is before we truly diversify MSU we must establish a balance.

Cyrus McNeal

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