In my afternoon course today, my lovely
fellow-Dearbornite classmate turned to me during a break to share a photo of
two chalk drawings that dominated the epicenter of the campus footpath.
One message used the brass block M – the
M -- to spell out "Trump 2016." Just below it, in equally large
letters: "#StopIslam."
While I am deeply troubled by everything that is
Donald Trump, I respect the creative use of this stupidly coveted letter of the
Wolverines. I feel deeply uncomfortable about the idea that anyone
anywhere supports a man running on an explicitly violent, sexist, racist
platform, but I'm not necessarily going to demand that his name is removed from
this dominating position in the walkway.
However. #StopIslam. No. Just no.
So, I called Campus Operations, and I told them
about the hashtag chalk writing. I explained that I found it extremely
offensive and troubling, and I requested that someone rinse off that chalk.
Campus Operations basic response to me: No.
Just no.
The woman to whom I spoke kindly explained that it
was their policy to not remove any of the chalk writing unless it includes
profanity, so that writing will just have to stay there until the next
rainfall.
By the time I had made the call, some wise,
justice-minded person that had passed before my friends and me had smudged out
the word "stop." But, like a healing wound, I could still see the
damage that had previously been done. I felt that all traces of it should
be eradicated. I felt that there should be a resounding campus response
that that's not what we are about.
Let me just be clear that I am perfectly aware of the counterargument to
the chalk removal. I know that the First
Amendment to the US Constitution protects freedom of speech and freedom of
religion, side by side. I need not give
my elementary analysis of constitutional law here. And, again, I will hold
myself back from ranting about a nation with viable presidential hopefuls who promote
oppression.
But, what I want to dig my heels in about for a moment is the University
of Michigan and its supposed commitment to “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” While I mostly understand why that perfectly
kind woman at Campus Operations would not scrub down the diag, I still feel
that intentionally, institutionally washing it away was the right thing to
do. I feel like it was a moment when the
university could take a stance that this campus does not tolerate that sort of exclusion, that it acknowledges the
inequities that exist for the Muslim American community, and that it wants to
promote a welcoming environment for a diverse community of students.
My classmate who initially shared the photo with me is a Muslim. And, in that moment of eye contact after we
both looked at the image, I could feel her disappointment and alienation. I could feel the frustration from 900 similar
experiences of discrimination that she had confronted previously. And, I couldn’t help but think (…though not
for the first time…) that this whole “leaders and best/Michigan difference”
rhetoric is a croc of shit.
Today, perhaps, I will call another UM department to file my
complaint. And, when I get around to
buying some sidewalk chalk of my own, I will have a different message to write
on the diag:
#StopChristianPrivilege
#Understandwhiteprivilege
#AcknowledgeOppression
