Why all the joking around at SC March for our Lives rally?

I attended the March for Our Lives at the State House, and I was confused as to why such a serious subject was dealt with with jokes and shout-outs and entertainment from the stage. The event lasted too long as a result, with many people leaving well before the end.

The issue of safe schools and gun violence seemed lost at times in a shuffle of performers promoting their next project, or the emcee (charming and good at the job, if it were American Idol) making jokes and trying to pump the crowd up.

It was the students who brought the leadership needed to address the issue of the day. It was the students who were inspiring and serious-minded about their safety at school. It was the students who showed the grace and dignity the day required. Every single adult on that stage could have taken a seat and kept quiet, and I wouldn’t have been mad about it.

Talking about the deaths of innocent children isn’t a time for a party. Emma Gonzalez’s few minutes of silence at the Washington march were more powerful than the hours of clowning at the State House.

Focus, people.

The State publishes a cross section of the letters we receive from South Carolinians in order to provide a forum for our community and also to allow our community to get a good look at itself, for good or bad. The letters represent the views of the letter writers, not necessarily of The State.

This story was originally published April 2, 2018 at 8:56 AM with the headline "Why all the joking around at SC March for our Lives rally?."