After about 10 seconds of the simulation telling me to calm down, I began to hear loud noises to my left followed by someone kicking my seat. Once someone told me they were going to stab a fork into my neck and glass shattered I began to shake and wanted to throw my headphones off. I made sure not to let myself give up and I kept my hands on the table and my eyes closed. The simulation continued for about one more minute and I began to tear up before it ended. Once I got up off of the chair and was handed a tissue I couldn't stop myself from crying. That was the scariest thing that I think I have ever experienced. I could not even begin to imagine what the Greensboro Four must have gone through until I experienced it myself, and even my experience was just a simulation. I would never wish that feeling upon anyone, and to think that this wasn't even "the worst" protest in terms of treatment. To think that people were beaten, dragged around, sprayed with fire hoses, lynched, shot, and brutally murdered is incomprehensible. I don't think anyone will ever be able to fully understand what these activists went through until they can put themselves in their shoes.
Emily Berner, Park School
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