He
was a homegrown terrorist who was radicalized on the university campus. What is most troubling is this isn't the first incident of hate at
the University of Maryland. This academic year
alone, there have been anti-immigrant chalkings, racist fliers,
threats, and, less than a month ago, there was a noose found inside a
campus fraternity house. But this isn't just a troubling trend at the University of Maryland. There has been an unprecedented spike in racist and hate activity on
campuses since November. Posters at the University of Texas implored
students to report any and all illegal aliens, that America is a White
nation. Another flier, with swastikas, at UCLA read, in part: ``the
hordes of our enemies from the Blacks to the Jews are deserving of
fates of violence.''
Hate watch groups have tracked 150 racist incidents on college
campuses in 33 States since the fall. Just a year ago, it was such a
rarity that no one was even counting. Peddlers of hate are specifically targeting college campuses,
declaring that their time has come, and trying to lure students with
slogans like ``serve your people'' and ``our destiny is ours.'' They
are working to translate their online activism to real-world action,
and young people are prime targets, in part, because they are still
figuring out who they are and what they believe. One would have to be purposefully obtuse to not see a direct line
from the recent elections to the emboldening of these perpetrators
across the country. Longtime White supremacist Jared Taylor described
the November election result as a ``sign of rising White
consciousness'' and that ``now is the time to press our advantage in
every way possible.''
So, today, I am calling on the administration--that has repeatedly
failed to denounce the hate crimes directed at Jews, members of the
LGBT community, or immigrants--to denounce the hate-fueled killing of a
Black soldier, Second Lieutenant Richard Collins. The reaction to Collins' murder is often formulaic. We extend our
condolences and sympathies, call the killing a senseless tragedy, and
proclaim that we won't tolerate these incidents.
Keywords matched
illegal aliens anti-immigrant immigrants