The Mac community responded to hate speech from outside agitators this morning with a counter message of love and support.

At roughly 8:15 this morning, a group of agitators from the Official Street Preachers gathered in front of the campus, yelling and holding signs with hateful messaging that disparaged Jewish students, Muslim students, LGBTQ+ students, abortion advocates and more.

The group isn’t new to Mac. On Aug, 22, 2023, they threw the Mac community off by showing up just before school dismissed with no prior warning. Today though, was a different story as the group told police at Austin High on Monday that they were coming to McCallum on Tuesday and after showing up on the Election Day holiday to find no students on campus, the group made plans to come back today.

On Tuesday night, Principal Baxa sent out an email to parents, staff, and students, alerting them of the possible presence of these individuals. Having learned from last year’s experience, Baxa laid out a clear plan, which diverted students from the main agitator area on the Sunshine Drive sidewalk right in front of the front entrance to the school.

“We responded about as best we could in that situation,” he said. “We rerouted our students; that way, the kids riding in the buses wouldn’t have to go through the protesters to get into the schools. We sent out the message that let parents have that conversation with students, let students prepare so they weren’t just walking in blindsided by seeing people spewing hate speech at the school.”

Along with the physical plan, Baxa vocalized a moral one as well.

“The biggest thing that we needed to do was not do what they wanted,” he said. “They come here because they want to be able to engage with people, they want people to get upset with what they’re saying. We can’t battle hate with hate. We’ve got to battle hate with our version of love.”

The plan to ignore the agitators worked, especially when the Mac community and people like freshman Harriet Zettner, found a means to express their version of love.

“When I came to school today, my mom, [front desk clerk and substitute coordinator Sara] Zettner suggested going outside with chalk and drawing rainbows and stuff like that around the entrance to the school,” she said. “So my brother and I went out there and started drawing. We drew things like rainbows, PRIDE flags, the BLM fist, the Palestine flag and more.”

Quickly more and more people joined in on the sidewalk chalk drawing, without engaging the agitators or acknowledging their verbal attacks.

“Other people started coming out and helping, including one of my friends who brought a speaker to play songs,” she said. “By 8:30, there was a ton of people out there drawing kind messages and uplifting the Mac community instead of spreading more hate towards the protesters.”

Sophomore Tegan Hahn joined in, creating messages with the chalk that was mainly directed at supporting the groups that were the targets of the specific attacks made by the agitators.

“Me and my close friend, Paityn, wrote in chalk phrases and symbols that were in protest of the protesters,” she said. “She’s Christian and wrote Bible verses about spreading love vs. hate and ‘love thy neighbor as thyself,’ which I thought was inspiring because the agitators claimed to be Christian and were spouting hate speech ‘in the name of God,’ which was just horrible, and I think that writing those Bible quotes took power away from them.”

Even though the agitators were directing negativity towards students like Hahn, it didn’t feel like it to her.

“There were teachers holding up rainbow umbrellas against the protesters, kind of like they were protecting us,” she said. “It made it feel like the threat was a whole lot smaller.”

The arrival of the agitators was originally yesterday, Election Day, until they realized that school wasn’t open due to the election. So when they made their way back today, for some students like Hahn, their messaging could have been overwhelming, but the community’s reaction turned into something different.

“Seeing the community come together, especially at a time like this gives me hope for a lot of other things too,” she said. “Doing this the morning after the election kind of sparked something in me. I really want to continue to find that uplifting, safe feeling that this community gives.”

Music continued to play during the time before school, and people continued to draw on the sidewalk in front of the school, eventually covering the full pavement area under the flag poles.

“The positive messages all the students wrote helped enforce how McCallum is a school where everyone is welcome, and helped those who were hurt or upset by the protesters,” Zettner said. “The protesters said some very hurtful things, but I think the Mac community was able to show their support to the people who the protesters were shouting about, through actions and words. I could tell how much the chalk improved everyone’s spirits and distracted us from the hate group right across the street.”

Joining students like Hahn and Zettner, were numerous parents, like Bromwyn Hibbard.

“I’m so proud of our kids and I love their perseverance,” she said. “I’m glad to be standing on the side of goodness. I was very surprised at how much hate speech was being shouted at children and what compelled me to come out was offering a safe space for the kids and a level of protection and love for our children.”

For her it was an obvious choice this morning to stand up for Mac students.

“I always like standing up for children, equality and love,” Hibbard said. “It’s very important to not let hate be the only voice in the room.”

Other parents, like Lisa Morehead, found themselves in the “counter protest.”

“All children and humans should be loved for exactly who they are and what other people think doesn’t matter and shouldn’t matter,” she said. “We came out here so that all the children at McCallum would know that they are loved and accepted for who they are.”

The parents’ efforts, according to Morehead, likely helped validate students’ feelings, while diminishing words shouted by the agitators.

“When you’re a teenager and young, you tend to feel like these older adults’ opinions matter about your future and who you’re going to be and who you’re going to become, and they really don’t matter,” she said. “You know who you are. You know you’re gonna be successful and that what these people are saying really has no effect on your future.”

The large group of people who gathered outside of McCallum in support of those being attacked far outnumbered the small group of agitators, a fact that made Principal Baxa proud.

“We value inclusion, and we value a safe community and we’re going to be there to support each other,” he said. “That’s what I saw from the parents this morning. When the parents came in to support and love on the kids, that’s all I felt. We felt the love this morning from our community, and we appreciate it.”

That morning’s event was just the beginning for Mac’s expression of love and support. Baxa worked with Link Crew to create signs and place them around school. One read, “All are welcome.” Another said, “Freedom of Religion is a MacKnight Right,” and at the front entrance of the school, a third sign read, “Mac Loves our Muslim and Jewish Friends.”

“We put up signs showing support for our students who are Muslim or maybe have a Jewish ethnicity so that they can feel that McCallum itself supports you,” Baxa said. “Even if [someone] outside the school is telling you all these nasty things about you, whenever you walk into the building I want you to know that you are loved and supported.”

Though many students were not on campus during the agitators’ presence, the reaction to it continued throughout the day.

“During the morning and in my classes, I heard several teachers saying that if any student needs someone to talk to, they’re there to help,” Zettner said. “Along with the counselors and APs, the Mac faculty does a great job at providing a safe and supporting environment for the students here.”

Participating in the morning “protest to the protest” gave Hahn a boost of confidence as she went about her day.

“Their words just bounced off of me; it was nice to just not let it bother me,” she said. “I hope that it also brought a bit of hope to the Mac community. There’s always a way to take power away from the haters if you stay true to yourself and stay hopeful.”

This story was originally published on The Shield Online on November 6, 2024.