A progressive pro-Palestinian student group at George Washington University is miffed that its politically kindred-spirit organizations are awash in Caucasians.
Students Against Imperialism issued a statement on Thursday complaining about this fact, and demanded other GWU groups “remedy [it] immediately.”
The group’s letter begins by noting leftist students of color feel “consistently excluded” from “organizing spaces and actions” … which leads to “exclusionary […] white social spaces.”
“Right-wing and liberal student groups push agendas that inherently muffle the voices of people of color and perpetuate racism through their implicit support of capitalism and imperialism,” the statement continues. “‘Black and brown bodies’ are not buzzwords to be thrown around. We are people, not props.”
It goes on to complain that “white-centered” activism, such as that regarding climate change, ignores the injustices of the US military, aka “the world’s largest polluter.” In addition, those pertaining to Israel’s “occupation” of Palestinian land also are overlooked, SAI claims, and this “apartheid” situation is non-negotiable.
“Zionism is racism, point-blank, period.” the group says.
SAI lists three demands:
— Five specific progressive student organizations, such as the Progressive Students Union, must “respond with a statement” indicating how they will address the issues raised.
— All (liberal) groups “must work together” to ensure that “marginalized” students feel comfortable in airing their beefs.
— Students of color must be “prioritized” by being placed in leadership roles and made more “visible” on projects. White students must “help distribute the workload” in an “equitable manner.”
Unsurprisingly, the statement’s concluding paragraph is a hodgepodge of “studies” jargon: “[W]e cannot hope to confront and deconstruct other forms of unjustly hierarchical social relations …”
GWU Student Association President Howard Brookins III endorsed SAI’s statement on his Facebook page, writing “GW has a passionate and active community of leftists that is too often dominated by white students […] I stand with the students and their demands made by the GW Left Coalition and call on the GW community to do better.”
The Young America’s Foundation’s Kara Zupkus reacted thusly:
Aside from being absolutely laughable, this demand letter is exactly what GW leftists deserve. Every year, left-leaning student organizations race to see who can become the most radical, far-left caricatures of leftism. They’ve set themselves up for a “woke Olympics,” and now they must reap what they have sowed.
An otherwise supportive GWU student asked on Facebook: “You [SAI] made extremely broad assertions of widespread racism and oppression at GW without showing any proof of it, which given these claims there must be a lot of. Could you please provide some of your evidence of what is occurring within the organizations you named?”
Read the full SAI statement and Zupkus article.
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