Flyers asking “When is racial identity immoral?” causes increased police presence
April 10, 2007
Hat tip: NN14
White activism fliers distributed in Wilson Hall
WSU administrators said white unity fliers posted in Wilson Hall were examples of free speech, but distasteful.
Christina Watts
The Daily Evergreen
Published: 04/09/2007 00:00:00
Above a picture of a woman holding an infant, a question on the flier asked, “When is racial identity immoral?” The answer stated on the flier was, “Never.” As staff and students arrived Tuesday morning at Wilson Hall, they found fliers slipped under office doors and posted in the hallways. On the fliers were the words “White unity is not hate” and “Resist propaganda lies!” “On the one hand, I’m very disturbed that there are white power groups on campus targeting individuals,” said Rich King, interim department chairman for Comparative Ethnic Studies. “But I’m also not surprised, given that individuals have been posting things on campus and in Pullman for some time.” On March 27, graffiti with white power messages was spray painted in Pullman. Also in recent weeks, orange stickers for a white supremacy group on the East Coast were posted around campus, said Raul Sanchez, director for across Center for Human Rights.
“[The fliers] promote a radical perspective, if not a racial one, that some people might find offensive,” he said. “In this case, even if we knew who did it, unless they broke university policy in posting the fliers, nothing can be done because just promoting radical ideas is free speech.” The fliers stated that every racial group is encouraged to have its own identity, except one.
“Descendants of Europeans whose sacrifice and ingenuity built America into a great nation constitute the only racial group whose members are virtually forbidden to identify with their own race,” the fliers stated.
White heritage is not shameful and there are common misconceptions and prejudices about white activism, it continued. The flier also listed several Web sites to “Learn More.” The CHR has no idea who might be responsible, Sanchez said.
Fliers were slipped under the doors of several department offices, including American Studies, Comparative Ethnic Studies, History and Sociology. Women’s Studies and the General Education office also received fliers, King said.
“At first, really my reaction was just disgust,” said Megan Whalen, a sociology graduate student.
Whalen said she felt the departments in Wilson Hall were specifically targeted because of the anti-racist message they promote.
“I assumed someone would do something about [the fliers],” she said.
WSU Police have responded to the incident by increasing police presence in the area after employees, students and staff expressed concern, Assistant Chief Scott West said. However, WSU Police is not investigating the matter further.
“There was no criminal violation,” West said. “We are just watching things. We stepped up the foot patrols to make people feel safe.” Because the fliers were a demonstration of free speech, the CHR is not launching an investigation, Sanchez said.
“For the moment, we just take conscious knowledge of the situation,” he said. “We’ll keep an eye on this.”
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Posted in the kids are alright, AmeriKwa, oi the poisecution
Podcast
April 10th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Answer: When you are white.