Say Woah to Hatred and Discrimination

    Wipe Out All Hate -- or WOAH. I read of the episodes of hate at BYU and wish a program would be organized to root out and end the hatred that comes from a small percentage of BYU students. 

   "Every team in BYU Athletics has had sessions related to belonging at the start of each athletic season (since February, 2021)," said associate athletic director Whitney Johnson as a story hit the fan this week about a baseball player shouting slurs at those protesting for gay rights -- and he did so while driving around with a gay athlete, bisexual gymnast Mina Margraf, who broke the story this week in an interview in USA Today.

   Johnson is wonderful for organizing sessions addressing and discouraging hatred of Black and LGBTQ among athletes at BYU. It would seem BYU has done all it can to fight hate. They brought in Johnson to serve as associate director for student-athlete development, diversity and inclusion. They formed the Committee on Race, Equity & Belonging. They have classes which provide teaching on race and gender. They are considering whether they need to increase the hiring of minorities on the faculty and staff. They have a statement in their honor code calling for racial justice, equity and inclusion. They have a Anti-Racism Club and a Black Student Union. 

   So, what the need for WOAH? Why one more organization to fight hatred and discrimination with everything else that is being done? Answer: because the problem remains, and if it remains, you must look for yet more you can do to correct it. And, in addition to that, if you set a limit on your resources for solving a problem -- if you say more resources are unnecessary -- how wise is that? Why oppose additional efforts? 

   WOAH could benefit not only BYU but most every organization in America, from prisons to police departments. The idea with WOAH is to regularly teach the members of a student body or other group to not speak disrespectfully of minority groups, nor mock them, nor shout slurs, nor marginalize them.

   WOAH is not a one-time lesson, it is a commitment to repeating the message in staff meetings, and classrooms. Sprting events? What would be wrong with an announcement before every sporting event asking for both sportsmanship and the absense of hate speech? If that is a place you are having your greatest problem, that is a place you should exert your greatest effort to make improvement.

   Woah means stop. It is an alternate spelling to Whoa. We need to stop the hatred among us. We need to say woah to the hatred and put the breaks on it.