On Jan. 25, an undocumented Chicana/o and Latina/o studies student discovered a racist, xenophobic message penned in black marker on the first floor wall of the Liberal Arts 1 men’s bathroom. The message read: “Wetback lives don’t matter” and was subsequently painted over by Cal State Long Beach staff. An image of the graffiti was circulated on Facebook by student activist organizations such as La Raza Student Association, and the safety of both Latinx and undocumented students was called into question.
In response to this graffiti, President Jane Close Conoley issued an email en masse to all CSULB students and employees addressing the broadcasted slur without actually talking about it. Meaning, graffiti was alluded to, but there was no further discussion on the xenophobic content of the written slur. The slur itself was never addressed. Days before, the CSULB Twitter account posted a photo of the painted-over graffiti with the text: “Hate, you’re not welcome here” over the whitewashed wall. Similarly, the actual slur was left unaddressed. In fact, it seems that many students had no way of knowing that racist hate speech was on the bathroom wall in the LA1 men’s restroom, much less what that racist hate speech actually said.
Which begs the question — is this method of addressing racist acts on campus a legitimately proactive way of addressing racism and its relationship to and within CSULB?
Often times, CSULB is considered such a “liberal” campus that racist acts are often brushed under the rug, and stepped on. When one who is not actively engaged in opposing racism hears that a mosque burnt down in Dallas, Texas, they subconsciously distance themselves from the act, reiterating unto themselves that something so heinous could never exist in their own backyard, let alone their school.
This reaction fails to recognize the systematic nature of racism in and of itself, and the fact that violent acts of racism don’t simply spring out of the ground like daisies. Racism isn’t simply an action — it manifests itself in verbal and physical microaggressions against marginalized groups of people, and too often, people fail to realize that by overlooking racist actions we are silently condoning them.
While I appreciate the recent efforts made by President Conoley to reassure marginalized students of their safety, neglecting to authentically discuss the subject matter essentially works to distance CSULB’s name and reputation from racist, disagreeable actions. This disconnects the student population from the reality of the situation.
The fact of the matter is, like with any other institution, CSULB is not exempt from systematic racism, and the so-called “liberal” status of our campus should not be taken for granted — especially in the midst of a new administration that has been encouraging and inspiring hate speech and hate crimes since the conception of its campaign motto: “Make America Great Again!”
Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, we are reminded that the current democratic state of affairs has been a result of imperialism, occupation, genocide and lethal force against anyone who stands in the way — especially if they are people of color. We are also reminded that the current administration has no intent to break oppressive cultural paradigms and discourse which continues to further marginalize and racialize people — as is evident in the string of questionable, regressive executive orders issued by President Trump within the first week of his presidency.
If CSULB does not encourage the authentic, in-depth discussion of subjects like systematic discrimination, then it’s very likely that microaggressions such as racist graffiti will manifest into much, much more. Racist climates do not spring up like mold in a bathroom.