We, the undersigned faculty, are shocked and outraged over the racist, sexist, xenophobic and homophobic messages scribbled around the UCSB campus on the evening of March 30. These and similar events are generating a climate of fear, violence and insecurity in our community. We call on Chancellor Yang to publicly condemn the defacing of our campus in the strongest terms possible. This is hate speech directed against the whole campus community and particularly students of color, women, Muslims, immigrant, undocumented, and LGBTQ students. These aggressions also echo the hate speech, scapegoating, and violent attacks directed towards these and other vulnerable communities more broadly in the United States during this electoral season. They clearly require an unequivocal repudiation at the highest level of our campus and the University of California. All members of our community have a right to learn and to work in an environment free from harassment and intimidation.
To Chancellor Henry Yang:
We, the undersigned faculty, are shocked and outraged over the racist, sexist, xenophobic and homophobic messages scribbled around the UCSB campus on the evening of March 30. These and similar events are generating a climate of fear, violence and insecurity in our community. They must not go unanswered. The chalked messages included:
- “Torture Muslims”
- “Mohammed F…ked Children”
- “Build a Wall”/”Deport Them All and “Leave the Tacos”
- “Black Lies Matter”
- “You are alone…Have Fear”
- “The Hunting Ground is Full of Lies”
- “1 in 4 Women are Not Raped”
- “Sodomy = AIDS, Repent”
We call on Chancellor Yang to publicly condemn the defacing of our campus in the strongest terms possible. This is hate speech directed against the whole campus community and particularly students of color, women, Muslims, immigrant, undocumented, and LGBTQ students. These aggressions also echo the hate speech, scapegoating, and violent attacks directed towards these and other vulnerable communities more broadly in the United States during this electoral season. They clearly require an unequivocal repudiation at the highest level of our campus and the University of California. All members of our community have a right to learn and to work in an environment free from harassment and intimidation.
We call on the Chancellor’s office to convene a town hall meeting so that the community may come together to condemn these acts of hatred and to show solidarity with students and all members of the community who were threatened by these messages. The University administration, starting with the Chancellor himself, should be present and preside over said meeting. The perpetrators must know that they are condemned, isolated and marginalized by the University as an institution from the highest level.
Finally, we call on the Chancellor to issue and broadly distribute a statement that repudiates these aggressions and to disseminate this statement to the entire University community. The Chancellor’s office should avail itself to students, faculty and staff whose safety, dignity, and security have been threatened by these heinous acts, and should respond in writing and in a timely fashion to any proposals they present for improving the campus climate for students of color, women, Muslim, immigrant, undocumented, and LGBTQ students.
