UNC Campus: A Site for ‘Fellow-Feeling’ in the Face of Conflict

Sonja Haynes Mural in the Stone building at the UNC Campus, credit. Shahid S. Khan

The concept of conflict and non-violence may be as old as human civilization. Archaeological studies suggest among neolithic communities, conflicts grew as the needs of human beings multiplied with every passing day. 

 Scarcity is a recipe for communal conflict and violence between groups or from foreign invaders to manipulate resources. History books are riddled with wars, conflicts, and genocide, and history continues to be rewritten in some of the most violent ways imaginable. Today, the concept of non-violence in the 21st century is evolving rapidly, which is linked with the social justice movement, political activism, and civic engagement, most prevalent in democratic political systems. 

Human beings are made for social connections and relationships. For any society to thrive, members of the public must share solidarity by creating a sense of being, community, and belonging to create positive change in their communities, without risking safety or breaking the law of the land. 

Erica Chenworth, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, observes that non-violent resistance campaigns are 10 times more likely to result in democratic change. The research highlights how meaningful transformation often grows out of collective, peaceful action rather than force. Unfortunately, we live in a world where differences, both political and non-political, can result in disagreement, violence, or conflict. 

Kazu Haga, in his book Healing Resistance, the concept of non-violence can be transformative in divided societies both for individuals and communities. Haga observes that communities need to communicate and build inter-communal relations through on-going interactions, communication and by radical listening to understand each other's concerns and work them together to build a cohesive and resilient society. Haga observes that conflicts are inherently neutral. For example, they are neither negative nor positive. However, their outcomes are shaped by attitudes to conflicts, which, in an ideal world, could be based on non-violent methods, such as peaceful protests, lobbying, voting, or writing letters to the elected members of Congress , as an accepted approach in a democratic system. 

Another aspect of the response to non-violence is that unchecked human nature is also susceptible to violent actions against other human beings. Political scholars like Thomas Hobbes observe that human nature is susceptible to making choices that lead to violent ends. Similarly, scholars like Immanuel Kant observe that men are capable of violent actions if they do not watch out for their morals and values. This is where the concept of social solidarity, fellow-feelings, and community spaces come into being. Societies develop and grow when there are non-violent approaches taken into psyches, perspectives, and daily interactions with other human beings. 

Conflicts are often mismanaged when individuals disengage from one another due to a lack of belonging. In the absence of shared social bonds, people become disillusioned and disengaged, both individually and collectively. This widespread disengagement weakens society’s ability to confront and resolve conflicts effectively, allowing tensions to escalate.

Put simply, individuals in a society need to be proactive in their community to build relationships, listen, learn, and grow together to solve the problems as a collective. Otherwise, communication breaks down, personal egos, lack of empathy, greed, and power can escalate these conflicts. For example, political policies and conflicts can escalate and lead to chaos and conflict. This can turn violent as well, and take away the social fabric of the society in the long run. 

In the US, there have been many non-violent demonstrations against the recent operations of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) across many states. For example, Oliver Kaplan, an Associate Professor at the Josef Korbel School of Global and Public Affairs at the University of Denver, writes about the ICE protest and non-violent approaches by people who come to show solidarity with their neighbors. He notes that in Portland, Oregon, community volunteers have delivered food boxes to migrant families scared to leave their homes. Similarly, in Portland, Maine, nearly a thousand people turned out for a virtual American Civil Liberties Union “Know Your Rights” training event. And in Minneapolis and St. Paul, volunteers have formed networks to give warning with whistles and phone apps when ICE is prowling the streets.

In a healthy democratic society, it is the right of individuals to stand in agreement or disagreement on a policy, and the role of the government is to listen to the voices of people when making policies, review them, and engage the public in the decision-making process. Peaceful protests and non-violent approaches are the cornerstone of the democratic system. 

These patterns of non-violent resistance and the importance of non-violent movements also manifest themselves in the UNC-Chapel Hill campus community. 

Given the recent ICE protests, some universities staged a voluntary ‘walkout’ in solidarity with victims of ICE presence across the US. In support of democratic values and in memory of the 8 people who have died in the ICE protests, a group of Tar Heel students decided to have a walkout from class and stand in front of the mural at the Stone building. 

The mural marks Sonja Haynes Stone’s legacy of standing up to oppression. This group of students, including myself, stood there in a moment of silence to grieve for the many victims of violence in the US and beyond. We stood in silence to mourn the loss of a sense of safety, and quietly show solidarity with students and the wider citizenry who stand up to these events in public displays of non-violent resistance. 

I felt peace in my heart. It was a deep and personal moment for me. It was also an expression of non-violent resistance, to stand in memory of those who lost their lives while protesting for the rights of others. It also gave me a sense of community and belonging as an International student. I was standing in the midst of my fellow students in a circle, in a minute of silence, each going through their own personal problems as students, some international students, navigating the systems and barriers in their own ways. But we all felt together, and that is what the spirit of non-violent protest is. It is subtle, targeted, and transformative in its own way, but it can also be powerful to change communities and societies at a macro level. 

The history of the American civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr., or the Indian liberation from the British colonial system by Gandhi, are two prime examples of non-violent movements that achieved social justice and change in their respective societies. These great men, like many others in history, knew what it means to stand for the rights of others. It would be unimaginable what life would be, or is, if people of conscience did not stand up for the rights of other human beings, in a non-violent manner. 

The core philosophy of resistance to the power that be is not taking the violent road to destruction, but a quiet, organized, and muted response to stand in the face of tyranny and oppression for inalienable rights. 

Non-violent resistance can be a silent -reflection, standing in front of a mural at the UNC campus reflecting all those moments of oppression, long before the generations whose shoulders are stood upon, those who boldly and fearlessly gave their lives so that a free society could exist.

All it takes is to stand in a moment of silence and reflection.