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The Daily Tar Heel

Let's talk about Troy Davis

Should Troy Davis have been executed?

Agree or disagree, it’s unlikely many are apathetic on an issue of life, death and justice.

The Troy Davis case is tonight’s focus for Tea Talks, a monthly series of campus conversations to be held in the Campus Y’s Anne Queen lounge.

It’s an initiative launched last year by a number of students, myself included; you might remember the tea which followed Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s visit in the spring.

We launched the series because we believe that if individuals from across UNC can regularly converse together outside our little silos of student (or employee) life, it will strengthen our community.
By considering the case of Troy Davis, we can learn a lot about each other.

Growing up in the United Kingdom, I was taught that capital punishment was abhorrent and that the abolition of the death penalty was the mark of a civilized country.

Of course, I’d never known violent crime in my community, nor felt its repercussions. When the senseless murder of Eve Carson rocked this campus during my freshman year, I found it harder to condemn those who called for her killers to receive the death penalty.

But the Troy Davis case seems to fit everything I was raised to see as wrong with capital punishment, including the possibility of innocent men and women being put to death, the delayed and inconsistent application of the punishment and the way that the victim of the crime is lost amidst the media circus.

That’s my perspective. I would love to hear yours, and to understand the experiences and values which have led you to reach it.

One friend of mine who attended a tea last year said he learned more in two hours about different parts of the UNC community than he had in the previous year.

Lest I set anyone up for disappointment by inflating expectations, not everyone will have that kind of experience.

We probably won’t fix all of the campus’ problems or leave the room marching to the beat of the same tambourine, and perhaps we shouldn’t even try to do so.

But there’s still a lot to be gained by conversing and trying to empathize with others different from us.

This experience fosters creativity and collaboration by exposing us to new ideas and testing those we hold, and it offers us feedback from our peers on what we care about the most.

And just as importantly, it makes the community more resilient; so, that when conflict arises in the future and we do disagree on the big issues, we can do so without being disagreeable.

If you read this opinion page, then you’re already interested in learning about what other students think.

So consider joining us. We’ll be in the Anne Queen lounge of the Campus Y between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday for tea and conversation.

It would be great to see you there.

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