Racial Justice

We, students of Columbia University, firmly oppose the disciplinary action (including possible expulsion) threatened against students who protested white supremacist speaker Tommy Robinson on Tuesday, October 10th. From antiwar sit-ins to demonstrations against South African apartheid, student protest has played a crucial role in responding to injustice, both on campus and in the world at large. By attempting to silence protestors while providing space and funds for hate speech at Columbia, Suzanne Goldberg and other University administrators are demonstrating complicity with violent ideologues whose claims continue to actively harm historically marginalized students. In an email sent before the protests, Suzanne Goldberg wrote that “it is foundational to Columbia’s learning and teaching missions that we allow for the contestation of ideas, as President Bollinger has often made clear.” If EVP Goldberg and President Bollinger truly believed in open dialogue and the “contestation of ideas,” they would not be threatening student protestors with disciplinary action. Educational dialogue does not only take place in classrooms and lecture halls. By having the courage to challenge the widespread acceptance of white supremacy and envision a more just and inclusive campus, the student protesters were providing a model of informed political engagement to us all. Students should not be punished for reminding the campus community of the moral principles that the Columbia administration failed to uphold.

Modoc County, California, approved a 5-year $3.5 million airport development plan that includes a massive, 3-mile long, barbed-wire topped 8-foot high fence.  Having an airport, even a small and primitive airport, operating in the middle of the Tule Lake concentration camp site, is inappropriate and demeans the memory of more than 24,000 people who were incarcerated in Tule Lake. The proposed fence closes off remembrance of this civil and human rights tragedy, and it will destroy the integrity of this unique historic site. The fence will eliminate opportunities for Japanese Americans and others to visit, reflect and mourn. This exclusion will be a permanent legacy of Modoc County’s and the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to comprehend the traumatic injustice created by the racism, fed by wartime greed and hysteria and failed political leadership that led to the mass incarceration. The Tule Lake site has not yet been comprehensively surveyed to document surface and subsurface historic WWII resources. Consequently, it is a priority to identify structures and artifacts before more damage to the site takes place.  In July 2014, the Tule Lake Committee sought legally-mandated environmental review of the entire airport area, which occupies two-thirds of the former Tule Lake site.  However, instead of conducting careful examination of the entire area WITHIN the fence project, including subsurface review, the County and the FAA have argued their environmental responsibility is confined to surveying only a narrow strip of land where the 3-mile long fence would directly lie.    In the past year, the Tule Lake Committee participated in talks with Modoc County, the FAA, other state and federal agencies and local representatives, hoping to promote understanding of the historic site’s significance, urging it be protected, not destroyed.  Seeking a long-term solution to the problem of preserving an irreplaceable historic site, we raised the issue of moving the Tulelake airport to a less sensitive nearby location. It was clear to all interested parties that a small airport can be moved.  It is not possible to move a historic site. Thank you for signing our petition! We are grateful for your support. PS – Please like or follow our Facebook page (@SaveTuleLake) to receive updates on our campaign. 

Last week, several students at Bel Air High School, in Bel Air, MD, posted a picture of themselves standing together holding up the word, "n****r." The identities of the children were investigated and the school sent a message to parents noting that disciplinary action was taken for each student. It has been clarified that the students were only suspended for 9 days. The students should be disciplined with zero tolerance in mind. This is what HCPS indicates their policy is pertaining these types of behavior. Expulsion, community service, public apology to their peers, etc are better suited as consequences, instead of a minor suspension, without further consequences. The children get to go back into their environment, without a care. The consequences should be adequate for the age group. They need to be held accountable and this can also be a great opportunity to teach them the impact of their poor decisions. Would you please join me in standing up to racist bullies. No child should have to go to school in fear of being assaulted, harassed, or degraded because of their skin color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and so forth. Please stand with me and ask Principal Gregory Komodor, along with Harford County Public School Administrators, to reconsider the consequences to the seven involved in the situation. We're calling for stiffer consequences because,let's face it, a suspension is just not enough!  

Facebook will remove posts or ban users if they violate the site's community standards. However their assessment of reports are not equal, and they place better protection on certain groups over others. Women posting statuses with the phrase "Men are trash" are having their posts removed or they are being banned for 24+ hours. However, posts and messages containing actual threats of rape and violence or blatant homophobia, racism, or sexism are left alone. Facebook, your community standards do not protect your users who are women, trans*, LGBTQ+, people of color, or religious minorities. We are seeing and receiving threats and hate messages every day. Reevaluate your enforcement of standards to fairly protect all of your users.