Video: Discussing Controversial and Political Topics

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — Whether it’s House Bill 1523, the presidential election, or the state flag, society seems to divide us all.

“Today’s society is very split, and its either you’re with us or you’re not, and so you have to choose which battle you want to fight or which side you want to join,” said Wilburn Smith, president of the NAACP.

“I feel like we are very labeling, as in if you fit into this category you will be with this group of people, if you fit into this category you’ll be with this group of people,” said Bailey McDaniel, sophomore at MSU.

McDaniel said she believes there’s a lost understanding that everyone can come together and co-exists with one another.

“I think we’re afraid, we’re afraid that we’re gonna lose the individuality that we think our labels give us,” she said.

“I think a lot of it is ignorance,” said Talla Cisse, senior at MSU. “It’s like black and white, I don’t wanna term it that way, but that’s pretty much how a lot of it is going right now and until we figure out our common ground, that’s how it’s gonna be.”

But finding that common ground, can be easier said than done.

“Absolutely, I think the common ground is really complicated, and I think it’s gonna take a lot of work to get there, and I don’t think many people are looking for ways and avenues to work though those problems and complications to find a common goal,” said Dylan Davis, junior at MSU.

Davis said due to pride and ego, society also has a hard time accepting someone else’s ideas.

“When somebody opposes what we find right, we get really defensive really quickly,” said Davis.

“As a society we do have a low tolerance because we always want to be right instead of sitting around the round table and listening to what people have to say and coming together and joining in those shared experiences and coming together with a decision or conclusion,” said Smith.

Though things may be this way for now, students have an idea about how to overcome this division.

“It’s about the action, that’s where the low tolerance comes in, we’re not doing anything, we’re just talking and sitting at the table, that’s it, that’s where the low tolerance comes in,” said Queen Brown, vice president of NAACP.

Staying on the topic of division,  MSU students are voicing their concerns for other changes to be made made on campus other than the state flag.

This week they wrote MSU President Dr. Mark Keenum a detailed list ten changes they’d like to see made on campus.

Keenum said he is working with students to help bring some of those changes to fruition.