The recent Arizona shooting — as most things that make the news nowadays — has yet again thrown our country into a vicious cycle of debate, or more accurately, of blame and accusation. Everything from the rhetoric of political leaders to America's mental health system has been brought into the discourse as people seek a rational explanation for events that perhaps have none. But what we have failed to remember during this current crisis is that there are times for heated disagreement and the midst of national grief is not one of them.
It is easy, in the increasing cynicism of the political atmosphere, to craft passionate arguments and justify them with hatred against a particular party of people or institution. It is easy to pick a cause and battle dissenters. But President Barack Obama's memorial speech Tuesday night did exactly what was sorely needed: Bring people to the middle ground.
As Obama said in his speech, "If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate — as it should — let's make sure it's worthy of those we have lost." And we, as students of USC and as citizens of this country, should also keep this in mind in these moments of strife. If we disagree, let's be civil. If we debate, let's not attack.
Not everything has an explanation, and rather than become angry over the things we cannot control, we should count our blessings and focus on paying our respects to the victims of this tragedy. Most importantly, we should strive to maintain unity — not just unity within the school but also unity among ourselves as people with differing opinions and backgrounds — because it is times like these that require it the most.
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