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Several students gathered Sunday to raise awareness about the South African movement | Page 2
The Chronicle T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
MONDAY, OCTOBER 26 2015
WWW.DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVENTH YEAR, ISSUE 38
‘This is not a micro-aggression—this is an aggression’ Duke community responds to vandalism of Black Lives Matter flyer
Carolyn Chang | The Chronicle BSA President Henry Washington told onlookers Friday that he would not let the vandalism of a Black Lives Matter flyer with a racial slur affect his Duke experience.
Samantha Neal and Amrith Ramkumar The Chronicle Approximately 100 students gathered on the steps of the Duke Chapel Friday afternoon in response to a Black Lives Matter flyer in White Lecture Hall that was vandalized with racial slurs. Junior Henry Washington, president of Black Student Alliance, gave a speech emphasizing the need to take this event in stride and as a reminder to remain fervent in demanding equality. The defaced poster— which advertised a talk to be given next Wednesday by Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the #BlackLivesMatter movement— was present at the event. Although many expressed anger on social media outlets like
Facebook as news of the vandalism spread throughout the afternoon, Washington took a more positive route in his message. “Standing here in all of my anger and radical, unapologetic blackness, what I have decided to do here before you is to smile,” Washington said. “I have decided that the cowardice and tomfoolery of an anonymous troll will not affect my experience.” Washington also noted the need to continue conversations about race, gender and sexuality in daily life. “It is not enough to sit idly by while black lives continue not to matter,” Washington said. Washington said he was pleased to see the amount of student support on short notice and hopes that next week’s events will continue the conversation.
“I’m always pleased to see such a large gathering of people in the service of this message,” Washington said. “It’s really affirming to me to see that not the entire campus necessarily buys into racist stereotypes and ideologies that produce this kind of thing and keep it happening over and over again.” Keizra Mecklai, president of Duke Student Government, attended the gathering and said that more must be done to solve the issue of racism on campus. On April 1, students gathered after the discovery of a noose on campus, mobilizing near the West Campus bus stop before marching to the tree on the Bryan Center plaza in which the noose was hung. Last semester, there were also reports that drunken white male students had chanted a
racist song at a black female Duke student on East Campus. “I really hope the campus will respond to this and recognize that there are fundamental inequalities in the way that we treat certain racial groups on campus, certain students on campus,” Mecklai said. “These moments of racism aren’t isolated incidents. They’re real and they affect students and we need to be doing something about them and be active about that at all times.” Earlier in the afternoon before the gathering, Sue Wasiolek, associate vice president of student affairs and dean of students, said that the flyer had been taken down early in the afternoon and that she See VANDALISM on Page 4