Clemson continues to make quite the name for themselves. After their vice president of the student government Jaren Stewart refused to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance, they held a vote and impeached him.
You might be outraged as you read this and you’re more than right as you can’t help but wonder if this is about race. Jaren Stewart and other students, refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and now, he’s impeached as VP. What’s terrible is that he wasn’t even in town for that vote but there is a trial coming up for this soon.
It all started back on September 25, when a few of his peers and he sat during the Pledge of Allegiance at a senate meeting. As you can see below, a screenshot was taken.
In September, Stewart said students sat through the pledge in solidarity with NFL players protesting police brutality and racial oppression.
Student senate Miller Hoffman is the one who proposed the idea of this impeachment.
Student Sen. Miller Hoffman, who introduced the impeachment resolution, said his motion was made because of misconduct allegations against Stewart, dating from his time as a resident assistant in a dormitory, the Clemson Tiger reports.
Miller Hoffman: impeachment motion not racially motivated pic.twitter.com/cOFS5kkBY4
— Georgie Silvarole (@gsilvarole) October 24, 2017
Stewart spoke to another outlet, Independent Mail, and expressed the many thoughts of others.
“This had come right after I had sat for the pledge,” Stewart told the Anderson Independent Mail. “They’ve already made up their minds because of this trope of the villainous African-American male. Ultimately, this stems from implicit bias.”
“This is social lynching, in a way,” Stewart said. “There’s a deeper systemic issue in which people are choosing what they want to hear, choosing what they want to believe exists and that’s why sitting for the pledge was so important.”
So, next time someone asks you why protests against the flag are occurring, refer to his quote because it speaks volumes.