COVID-19 put a halt to all Ethics Bowl Club meets and tournaments, but the club has still managed to raise awareness over an important issue: racism.

The club normally engages in a wide-ranging scope of moral debates with other schools over modern controversies, so they felt obligated to help bring justice to the black community by raising funds in early June.

This school year, EBC is selling multicolored wristbands to students in order to raise awareness for racial injustice. 

“We primarily do two main things: we have ethical discussions about pretty much anything, but we usually take ethical theories and philosophies into account,” Co-President and sophomore Kalina Peneva said. “Like the theories of utilitarianism and deontology, and we’ll put that into the frame of current events, and whether what we see is happening right now is something that is ethical, or if it’s not ethical, why not and such. And then the other primary way we function is through competing in ethics, both tournaments, which we actually haven’t been to any yet.” 

EBC member and sophomore Soleyana Tekalgn said that racism is a poorly-handled pandemic that has been deeply-rooted yet neglected for over 400 years.

“I really feel there is no antidote,” Tekalgn said. “And if there was a bill passed, there’s been so many bills passed, and yet, from slavery, and till now, black people are still being oppressed.”

When the officers first met in June to discuss the fundraiser, the first step of the plan was to find a company to design the wristbands. 

“We brought it up to our officers and we all kind of thought about it, but I think that in the end, me and Mitsuki both collaboratively said ‘Okay, we’re joining to sell wristbands,’ and then we talked about what that would entail,” Peneva said.

The club contacted several different companies until they chose Wristband Resources, an accessory supplier that customizes and manufactures wristbands. The design turned out to be a black and purple swirl with the popular slogan “Say Their Names”, with black power fists on one side and “I stand with #BLM” on the other.

While the wristbands, which sell for $3 each, are the main fundraising project, EBC teamed up with the Maple Street Journal (MSJ) to advertise to a larger audience. 

“I think personally one of the biggest challenges is the fact that we are a new club, and it’s really hard to publicize when everything is online,” Co-President and sophomore Mitsuki Jiang said. “You can’t go around the hallways and put up flyers, or you can’t go around and tell people our campaign or what we’re doing right? So I think that’s definitely a challenge.”  

The fundraiser has accumulated $59 as of right now. The majority of donations and orders occurred around June and July. 

MSJ members agreed to sell their July issue and the EBC’s wristbands as a bundle and donate 50 percent of their proceeds to the BLM movement. All of the proceeds were donated to Color of Change and The Movement for Black Lives. 

Color of Change is a non-profit organization that arranges social justice campaigns to strengthen lower-class black communities. The Movement for Black Lives is a union of more than 50 groups that push towards social activism. 

To purchase a wristband, go to the EBC or MSJ Instagram accounts, @bellaireethicsbowl and @bhs.maple.street.journal respectively. 

There are links in both account bios. The EBC’s link is under the heading “Get a wristband” and the MSJ’s link is under “Order & Submit”.