By Susan Snyder
Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted on Sat, Nov. 15, 2008
La Salle University has disciplined a fraternity and suspended several students over an off-campus fight last weekend in which several black students said they were assaulted and subjected to racial slurs that drew on the presidential election.
The Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, also known as Fiji, has lost its privileges pending the outcome of the investigation, and 12 to 15 students are expected to face disciplinary charges, school officials said. University officials declined to say whether the students were members of the fraternity.
Meanwhile, students at St. Joseph's University were planning a candlelight vigil and other events to strike back against racially charged graffiti found in a campus classroom on Oct. 29.
At Lehigh University, the Black Student Union and others called for curriculum changes and the hiring of a chief diversity officer following reports of racial taunts being made toward black students after the election.
The actions come as two national groups report a surge of similar acts on campuses and elsewhere around the country, all in the wake of Barack Obama's election as president. [Full story:
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20081115_Hate_crimes_up_on_campuses__group_says.html?adString=ph.living/education;!category=education;&randomOrd=111608075601
1 comment:
Susan,
Thank you for addressing this pressing issue. The surge in racial hatred as a result of the election of the first black president is alarming, and needs to be discussed. In my blog, I try to examine the role played by race, religion, and culture in politics, and this is an example of its most destructive possibilties. Your post was helpful in illuminating a specific instance in which a hate crime has taken place since Barack Obama's election. I was especially surprised to learn that this type of bigotry was happening on college campuses; as a college student myself, I like to think campuses are a safe, progressive, and tolerant place. Yet, as you point out, there has been a "surge of similar acts on campuses and elsewhere around the country."
I wish your post had discussed why this is happening, and what we can do about it. These are difficult quesitons to answer from an academic point of view. It occurs to me that perhaps this is standard backlash against something that is so new and different that it can seem threatening. What worries me, though, is that it is more than that - that it is, in fact, indicative of a wider sentiment within segments of the white community that think they are on the losing end of a racial conflict. It is that type of mentality that poses a serious, long-term threat. And I wonder, what do you think we can do about it? How do we overcome this hatred? I would love to get your perspective on this. Again, thanks so much for this post. I look forward to reading more from you about race and politics.
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