Social Justice Warriors at Occidental College tear down 9/11 tribute

CODE: Oxy
September 11 at 4:25pm ·
To Whom It May Concern,
We are writing to you regarding the distress many students experienced when walking through the quad on September 10th around 5:00 PM. On a campus that proclaims itself time and again to be diverse, equitable and safe for all of its students, the display of American flags covering the entire Academic Quad disproved that proclamation. When we became aware of the purpose of this display, to memorialize 9/11, we were concerned by the complete disregard for the various peoples affected by this history.
As students of color, this symbol of the American flag is particularly triggering for many different reasons. For us, this flag is a symbol of institutionalized violence (genocide, rape, slavery, colonialism, etc.) against people of color, domestically as well as globally. Additionally, if the goal of the memorial is to commemorate the lives lost during 9/11, the singular nature of the American flag fails to account for the diversity of lives lost on that day.
Historically, the American flag and subsequent American nationalist symbols, have been polarizing and marginalizing to people of color living within the United States. This has been most recently exemplified in Colin Kaepernick’s protest of the American national anthem.
When this institution allows thousands of American flags to be placed in the center of campus it speaks volumes to the students that have lived their lives under the oppression of this flag. From Native students whose land was stolen to undocumented students who live in fear of deportation to Black students who see their communities destroyed by state sanctioned murder, this school is saying your fear and trauma do not matter here.
In addition, many students were confused and inquiring about what the purpose of the flags in the Academic quad was. This indicated to us that the message of “commemoration” was lost and absent in the use of the flags. This is not to say that the American flag is inherently comparable to the violence that has occurred under its silhouette, but to state that it is an ineffective memorial for what has happened to the people of the world in the past fifteen years. This is not a critique of desiring to remember the fallen, this is a critique of failing to comprehend who, or what, has been lost. To this end, we wanted to provide more information and more context in order to center the actual lives and individuals affected by 9/11 rather than a simply placing a symbol of one nation.
In an effort to broaden the memorial, signs and a poem (attached below) were posted throughout the quad to more deeply remember the events that occurred on 9/11 as well as the lives that were lost within and outside of the United states as a result of those attacks. The main sign reads, “R.I.P the 2,996 Americans who died in 9/11. R.I.P the 1,455,590 innocent Iraqis who died during the U.S. invasion for something they didn’t do.” This sign puts into context that more than just Americans died on September 11th. Additionally, we placed tweets from these articles,

http://www.latimes.com/…/la-na-nn-after-september-11-hashta…

http://fusion.net/…/after-september-11-hashtag-discriminati…,

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/after-september-11-victims_…

https://mic.com/…/heartbreaking-posts-by-muslim-americans-s…

to highlight the experiences of Muslim Americans whose lives have been severely changed for the worst in the aftermath of 9/11. It is extremely important to note that Eid al-Adha begins on September 11 this year. By placing these flags on this day shows a complete lack of thought, care or understanding of the students that are still living with the rising Islamophobia in the aftermath of 9/11.
We sign this in solidarity with each student on this campus, each member of the United States community and those in the global community that have experienced oppression under the guise of American patriotism.

"Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called 'trigger warnings,' we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual 'safe spaces' where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own," the letter said.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:I still like the University of Chicago's statement to their incoming freshman class this past summer:

"Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called 'trigger warnings,' we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual 'safe spaces' where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own," the letter said.

let's hear it for free speech..

NigelUno wrote:

Robert J Sakimano wrote:I still like the University of Chicago's statement to their incoming freshman class this past summer:



let's hear it for free speech..

They don't even have a football team.

tGreenWay wrote:Goddamnit, CB, you should've issued a trigger warning before posting all of this angry rhetoric. I feel threatened.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:Goddamnit, CB, you should've issued a trigger warning before posting all of this angry rhetoric. I feel threatened.

are you proposing that we move to have him banned?

if so, you have my support.. we can't have people running around just saying whatever they wanna say.. next thing you know, they'll start removing tags from mattresses and we'll have sheer bedlam.

tGreenWay wrote:

Robert J Sakimano wrote:are you proposing that we move to have him banned?

if so, you have my support.. we can't have people running around just saying whatever they wanna say.. next thing you know, they'll start removing tags from mattresses and we'll have sheer bedlam.

Where's the petition to ban CB? I wanna sign that puppy.

tGreenWay wrote:Goddamnit, CB, you should've issued a trigger warning before posting all of this angry rhetoric. I feel threatened.

Robert J Sakimano wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:

Where's the petition to ban CB? I wanna sign that puppy.

I don't know..

I know when my reckless demonstration of free speech was so offensive, that a few people had to decide on something.. then there was a vote.. and maybe only gerontologists could vote for my expulsion.. or something.

I don't really know.. I just know that I want CB gone. My trigger warnings are growing weary.

DWags wrote:

tGreenWay wrote:Goddamnit, CB, you should've issued a trigger warning before posting all of this angry rhetoric. I feel threatened.

You know, I'm banning you. You're too snow flakeyish

CORNER BLITZ wrote:

Rocinante wrote:Part of me, being from my generation, and a veteran, wants to say fuck these people. It's disrespectful to the memory of the victims and to the flag. Another part of me wants borders to go away permanently and thinks flags and other constructs of nationalism are just another method of control. So... meh.

Rocinante wrote:Part of me, being from my generation, and a veteran, wants to say fuck these people. It's disrespectful to the memory of the victims and to the flag. Another part of me wants borders to go away permanently and thinks flags and other constructs of nationalism are just another method of control. So... meh.

CORNER BLITZ wrote:

Robert J Sakimano wrote:

CORNER BLITZ wrote: