Over the weekend, we all watched as white supremacists marched across the University of Virginia campus spreading hate and violence in Charlottesville.
We have seen smaller scale incidents here in Seattle, where hate groups have marched in Seattle and been given multiple warnings by Seattle Police, while communities of color and counter-protesters have peacefully protested and been pepper sprayed and arrested. We’ve seen on the Seattle campus on Inauguration Day how the safety of those spouting hate is protected by the UW Administration under a “free speech” argument, while counter-protesters are treated with violence. We strongly condemn these and all other instances of hate and violence that promote anti-black racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism, and are united in resisting any threat to our community, particularly threats directed at those who belong to marginalized groups.
Early Monday morning UW President Ana Mari Cauce put out the following statement: “I do not have a roadmap forward, but I do know that we must find that way together. When our hearts are heavy, we find comfort in the collective embrace of community.” We encourage her and all members of the UW community to begin taking actions quickly. Here are some ways to take action as part of UAW 4121:
- Document hate speech on posters/flyers at UW and send to the Hate Watch working group, at hate-watch@uaw4121.org;
- Get involved with the Hate Watch or other anti-oppression working groups;
- Get involved with the bargaining campaign where we will address institutional forms of oppression head on;
- Add your name to join Pramila Jayapal and progressive members of Congress in censuring Trump for his failure to condemn Nazis;
- Learn more about hate groups nationwide here.
In solidarity,
Theresa Aliwarga
Douglas Avella-Castro
Andrea Canini
Anthony Castanza
Ying-Yu Chen
Monica Cortes Viharo
Kristen Garofali
Arshiya Hoseyni Chime
Katya Kolesova
Dylan Mayer
Elizabeth Mills
Chelsea Pagan
David Parsons
Michelle Pham
Shua Sanchez
Viral Shah
Sam Sumpter
Arash Tarkhan
Judy Twedt