The White Student Union (WSU) at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is facing attacks from all fronts surrounding this year’s Martin Luther King (MLK) Day.
The Graduate Student Association (GSA) at UCSB started Friday by publishing an official condemnation of the white student solidarity group in the school newspaper and demanding that there be a formal investigation of the “white supremacist hate group” for “attempting to hijack national debate on the murder of people of color through aggressive policing by instead alleging racial discrimination toward white people.”
The GSA encouraged all students to join them in denouncing the WSU for “predicating their cultural identity [i.e. whiteness] on violence and the denial of multiculturalism,” and called on the university administration to take action against the group for “appropriating our community values.”
We demand that university administration formally investigate this online white supremacist hate group in order to ascertain whether the motives for its inception violate the principles of community at UCSB, as well as our student and faculty codes of conduct.
We additionally demand that university administration remain vigilant with regards to any such organizations appropriating our community and values.
We finally demand that university administration actively protects students from harassment, stalking, cyberstalking or any form of hate crimes and hate speech.
Oh, you mean hate speech in the form of death threats received by WSU members daily for protesting anti-white racism?
The GSA is not alone in its campaign against the white student group. The university indicated collaboration with the graduate students in an email sent to the entire UCSB student body Friday, inviting students to attend a “Silent March” at noon Tuesday in honor of MLK Jr.
On Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at 12 noon, members of the UCSB community are invited to participate in a Silent March in honor of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.
A Silent March in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. has taken place at UCSB for many years. Given recent local, national, and world events, it is particularly important that we follow our tradition of recognizing King’s contributions. The March will begin in front of Cheadle Hall and will proceed to Storke Plaza with stops to pause in front of significant locations on our campus. At Storke Plaza, we will stand in solidarity. Members of our community have been invited to make brief remarks. Confirmed speakers include Professor Eileen Boris (Feminist Studies), Professor Felice Blake (English), and Professor Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval (Chicana/o Studies).
This year’s March is coordinated by the GSA Assembly, Associated Students, and the Division of Student Affairs.
The university event is scheduled at the same time as the WSU’s White Student Walk Out, which was organized to protest the marginalization of white students on campus. The deliberate attempt of the university to detract from the WSU’s events follows previous condemnations of the group by the university, including a measure to offer counseling to university members offended by the existence of a white-allied student group.
“We demand that university administration formally investigate this online white supremacist hate group …”
UCSB Graduate Student Union referring to the White Student Union
But the WSU stood tall against campus backlash and announced a successful turnout of today’s Walk Out on its Facebook page:
“We encourage attendees to chant ‘Anti-PED is Anti-American!’” the WSU advised student protesters today. “We look forward to creating a change for the better treatment of white identities and PED at UCSB. This is the first step in that direction!”