Many students and alumni have voiced their opinions about racial tension on campus in recent issues of the Spectator. I understand that racial relations here in the South, at Valdosta State in particular, aren t the best in the world, but making these types of analogies does not make the climate for racial accord any better. You may not recognize or want to admit it, but that is a form of an abusive relationship. I, too, was in your shoes and refused to recognize it. Most people think of abusive relationships as sexual abuse or actual physical abuse, but that is not always the case.
Verbal abuse can leave more lasting emotional scars than any other form of abuse.
Although the victim may not have visible scars, bruises and cuts, the emotional wounds remain with him or her for a lifetime. See Column Don't sweat the small stuff Until the middle of my sophomore year here, I was the most shutdown person in the world. I just kept to myself. To some degree, I still do. Anyway, I finally figured out that I didn t have to be so closed off from the rest of the world.