3rd Racial Incident at UCSD: Noose Found Hanging in Library
Race relations are at the top of the agenda at the University of California San Diego following a third racial incident on campus. Although this latest event has been described as a "stupid" but honest "mistake" by the unidentified student who claims responsibility.
Last week a noose was found hanging in the school's library. But Monday an anonymous letter was published in the student newspaper and the student supposedly responsible for the noose apologized and explained herself. Identifying herself as a minority, the student said she and her friends were playing with a rope when one of them tied it into a noose.
“I innocently marveled at his ability to tie a noose, without thinking of any of its connotations or the current racial climate at UCSD. I left soon after with one of my friends for Geisel (Library) to study, still carrying the rope. After a bit of studying I picked up the rope to play with, and ended up hanging it by my desk. It was a mindless act and stupid mistake. When I got up to leave, a couple hours later, I simply forgot about it.”
The paper, the UCSD Guardian, says it has “verified the author’s authenticity.” Campus authorities said details in the letter are consistent with what they know about the incident.
The letter went on:
“I know what I did was offensive — regardless of my intentions — I am just trying to say I’m sorry. As a minority student who sympathizes with the students that have been affected by the recent issues on campus, I am distraught to know that I have unintentionally added to their pain.”
The incident sparked a protracted demonstration Friday that led to a student takeover of Chancellor Marye Anne Fox’s office for several hours.
This is the third racial incident to hit the university. A recent off-campus student party mocked Black History Month, while a show on a student-run TV station that supported the party was laced with intentionally provocative and derogatory language directed at black students.
On Monday, Chancellor Fox met with members of the Black Student Union for several hours to talk about race issues on campus. They complained blacks are severely underrepresented on campus. Just 2% of UCSD students are black.
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The noose is, in America, a blatent symbol of racial hatred, known since the days of the Civil War. It is as offensive to blacks as a swastika would be to Jews or "reorientation therapy" to gay people. This is a well known historical fact. Having said that, I can't buy the excuse that it was an oversight. The student responsible for this action should, at the very least, be given sensitivity training on race relations and made to publicly apologize. It is interesting to note that the same university where this occurred had its gay community centre vandalized and a Jewish student had a swastika carved in his dorm room door. My question is what kind of a school is UC at San Diego, and why it does it allow or condone such disgusting behaviour. Bigotry of this magnitude is a very dangerous sign of the direction in which this school and indeed America, is headed. Americans need to stand up for their proud democratic tradition, and fight on all fronts against bigotry and racialism.
The student , even though she obviously isn't a racist , has every right to be one, and has every right to display a noose, especially since she didn't intend it to be threatening or offensive in any way. In a free society , you have a right to freedom of speech , not a right to never be offended by anything ever. Forcing someone to attend sensitivity training is a violation of her liberty, equally foul as sending a homosexual to "reorientation therapy," and a forced public apology is about as useful as a forced confession.
“In a free society , you have a right to freedom of speech , not a right to never be offended by anything ever.”
So people have a right to spray anti-Semitic graffiti on a temple?
Had she hung this on her own property there would have been no cause for prosecution… however she chose to do so on school property.
Though there is freedom of speech we are not free to say what ever we want… one cannot yell fire in a crowded room, nor can one threaten to kill their fellows.
Graffiti is destruction of property, not freedom of speech . Forgetting a noose in the library did not destroy any property.