NAACP LA speaks out on UCSD Injustice

NAACP NEWS




Leon Jenkins Contact : Vacie Thomas

President, Los Angeles NAACP 310-397-1171



PRESS RELEASE
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO

WILL NOT COMMIT TO SANCTIONING, OR PUNISHING THOSE WHO ENGAGED IN RACIST AND DISCRIMINATORY ACTS AGAINST AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS
It has come to the attention of the Southern California community that members of the University of California San Diego’s IFC mostly PIKE Fraternity over the President Day holiday weekend threw a racially incendiary party in dishonor of Black History month, aka “Compton Cookout.” This event was intended and did expose the true feeling of a group of people, who either are racist, who acted out their beliefs, or people who say they are not racist, but engaged in acts that were racist.
However, the acts and actions of these individual students is not as applauding to the broader African-American community than: (1) Where this incident took place, which was at the University of California San Diego, and (2) The response of the University Officials and its faculty. This is so because universities are general places of tolerance, enlightenment, and social acceptance. Further the UCs are public universities supported by taxpayers, and should reflect the melting pot of people, who make up the diverse State of California.

Secondly, when racist acts are tolerated in our public and private schools, and university by our young students and adults there should be a higher sense of urgency to arrest such acts and actions, because no school or university should be seen as condoning, tolerating, or acquiescing in racist conduct, since these are our learning institutions, and one of the primary tenets of education is the display and teaching of equality for all persons.

The University president and faculty by not expressing that sanctions would be imposed on individuals engaging in these racist acts and actions send a less than clear message that such future reckless or intentional behavior will not be tolerated, which may embolden the perpetrators, and future perpetrators beliefs that they will not suffer any serious consequences concerning acts of discrimination and racism, which may cause such actors to act out their racist tendencies in the future.
This is so frightening because the entire San Diego campus has approximately 450 African-American students out of a student population of 22,500. This makes an already bad campus climate for African-American students even more frightening. Without a stronger stance by the university president and its faculty the University of California San Diego is expressly telling California that African-Americans are not welcome there.