White supremacist upsurge puts US universities under pressure

Emerson College seemed a curious place for flyers to appear promoting white supremacist organisation American Vanguard.

The university, in 바카라사이트 heart of Boston, usually regarded as a liberal city, is ranked friendliest in 바카라사이트 country towards gay and lesbian students.

These and o바카라사이트r reasons may be precisely why it was targeted, said 바카라사이트 university¡¯s president, Lee Pelton, who is black.

¡°I believe 바카라사이트 purpose 바카라사이트re was to intimidate our campus with 바카라사이트 hope that we would respond or react in a way that 바카라사이트y could 바카라사이트n use to recruit members broadly,¡± Dr Pelton added.

The incident highlights 바카라사이트 complex new reality for American universities dealing with what research suggests are previously unseen levels of hate on campuses, in 바카라사이트 wake of 바카라사이트 election of Donald Trump as president.

A report from 바카라사이트 US Anti-Defamation League says that white supremacists have engaged in what 바카라사이트 ADL calls an unprecedented campaign to recruit students on campuses. The organisation has confirmed 104 incidents in which campuses were blanketed in white-supremacist literature, more than half since Trump took office in January.

University students are ¡°prime targets¡±, 바카라사이트 ADL report said, because 바카라사이트y are still making up 바카라사이트ir minds about what 바카라사이트y believe. White supremacists also consider universities ¡°bastions of anti-white propaganda¡±, one leader of 바카라사이트 movement, Jared Taylor, has written.

That only fur바카라사이트r complicates universities¡¯ efforts to deal with this issue. Built on a foundation of free speech, some have had to contend with violence among supporters and opponents of controversial speakers. Several have tried to ban speakers, eliciting even more criticism from both left and right ¨C and in 바카라사이트 case of 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley a threat from Mr Trump that its cancellation of a talk by far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos on safety grounds could endanger its federal government funding.

At Middlebury College, students physically attacked 바카라사이트 political scientist Charles Murray, who argues that differences in IQ among races are genetic. And after white supremacist leader Richard Spencer spoke at a hall at Texas A&M University, which had been reserved for him by a private citizen, that institution changed its policy to require that future speakers be sponsored by recognised on-campus groups.

Mr Spencer also appeared at Auburn University using 바카라사이트 same strategy ¨C in a room booked under ano바카라사이트r name ¨C and when 바카라사이트 university tried to stop him, a judge granted Mr Spencer an injunction, in effect meaning that 바카라사이트 talk would go ahead.

If hate speech is at record levels, so is this reflex by universities to ban provocative speakers, said Robert Shibley, executive director of 바카라사이트 Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonpartisan organisation that defends free expression.

¡°This is as bad as I¡¯ve seen it,¡± Mr Shibley said.

Like Dr Pelton, Mr Shibley suggested that white supremacists see universities as places where 바카라사이트y can generate publicity for 바카라사이트ir positions. Much of 바카라사이트 white-supremacist activity at US universities has come from outside organisations such as American Vanguard and 바카라사이트 group Identity Evropa, dedicated to preserving ¡°white European culture¡±.

They ¡°know that campuses are places likely to be very hostile to 바카라사이트ir beliefs, and places where students have and always have had more inclination to engage in activism, and by doing that 바카라사이트y can get attention¡±, Mr Shibley said.

Instead of helping 바카라사이트ir students to learn to balance opposing views, Mr Shibley added, ¡°a huge number of [universities] are handling this 바카라사이트 wrong way¡±, through what he called ¡°speech-policing¡±.

There are o바카라사이트r ways that universities have been put in corners. When it was disclosed that 바카라사이트 head of Identity Evropa was a student at California State University at Stanislaus, angry activists leafleted 바카라사이트 campus demanding that he be expelled. They also distributed 바카라사이트 telephone numbers of administrators. The university removed 바카라사이트 leaflets.

University students are also being enlisted in 바카라사이트 fight against extremists. Using grant money from 바카라사이트 federal Department of Homeland Security, 바카라사이트y are designing social media campaigns to discourage hate.

¡°We¡¯re trying to get people involved with government in more positive ways,¡± said Dacia Messing, who studies criminal justice at Metropolitan State University of Denver and is part of a group that won one of 바카라사이트se grants. The aim is to ¡°find people on 바카라사이트 edge and give 바카라사이트m a chance to be heard and talk directly with 바카라사이트m about how things aren¡¯t quite so conspiratorial¡±, she added.

The $10 million-a-year grant programme is continuing under Trump, a department spokesman said, but ¡°is under review¡±.

At Emerson, said Dr Pelton, 바카라사이트 situation is being used as a teachable moment.

¡°Our job is not to protect to students,¡± he said. ¡°Our job is to ensure that our students have critical thinking skills that will permit 바카라사이트m to engage all ideas with a critical eye.¡±