The White Students’ union made me feel unsafe and I’m glad they’re gone

Over these past months, there have been racial tensions on college campuses across the country.

The University of Missouri hit the national headlines after their President Tim Wolfe was forced to resign following his failure to effectively combat protests from African American students.

Wolfe’s resignation, however, did not come about without controversy.

Missouri’s Student Body President Payton Head, who is black, had to endure a racial slur thrown at him prior to the whole controversy surrounding Wolfe. This was followed by a college athlete boycott threat, wherein the entire Missouri football team demanded Wolfe to resign from his post.

While this and other events were uncovering around campuses across the country, a group from UIUC decided to create a Facebook page called the “White Student Union.” This group targeted specific #BlackLivesMatter protesters on campus and compared them to “terrorists.”

A Facebook page that claimed to work against “anti white” values

Furthermore, the page encouraged its followers to “Send in pictures of any black protestors,” so they could “know who the anti-whites are.”

The first aspect of that particular post that astounded me was how the radical group labelled these black protestors as “anti-whites”.

When one hears these two words they normally think of individuals who are against the very existence of whites in society. However, the beliefs and ideas of the #BlackLivesMatter movement are poles apart from groups that would label themselves as anti-whites.

The supporters of the #BlackLivesMatter movement believe in social justice, basic human rights, anti-violence and equality. None of these qualities seem to equate to an anti-white mentality. Hence, it is unclear and contentious as to how this mysterious group was able to make such a bizarre connection. It also seem ironic that the group termed these black protestors as terrorists when it was actually the group itself that was making public threats and attacks against specific individuals.

It was reassuring to hear that the UIUC Interim Chancellor Barbara J. Wilson and Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs Rene Romano worked with Facebook to take down the controversial page, although other versions of the page still do exist.

Romano also issued a statement condemning the group’s actions and stated that the page violated Facebook’s own standards. Although questions related to the White Student Union’s First Amendment Rights were raised by both the group and others, the removal of the group is justifiable since it not only violates Facebook’s own standards but also threatens the safety of students of color on campus. Furthermore, it goes against the anti-discrimination standards that the University stands for and strives to administer within the community.

These sorts of activities force the students of color on campus to question their safety and freedom.

“I felt extremely unsafe. I wanted to leave campus immediately and go home. It felt like I was living in a highly dangerous environment where anything could compromise my safety at any moment,” an African American student who requested to remain anonymous said.

“I have always called this campus my home away from home, especially because I’m an international student who lives 6000 miles away. This is the first time I ever had to question my safety on campus,” another person of color who also requested to remain anonymous said.

UIUC’s Department of African American Studies building

Those against the removal of the Facebook page may argue that the White Student Union has the right to exist just as much as other groups on campus that associate themselves with a certain race. I completely agree with this right to exist. The administrators at the University even stated that the owners of the page, if identified, would not be punished, which is fair as it defends their right to free speech.

However, the group does not have the right to continue to exist if it is compromising the safety of other students on campus. College campuses entail an open platform where students have the opportunity to voice their ideas and opinions without endangering other people’s right to a safe environment.

The White Student Union failed to advance in conjunction with this right and was punished accordingly.