(NAME-MCE) Noose on the Csu Fullerton campus

[Flores, Susana]

 I wanted to share this deplorable act which took place yesterday on the CSUF campus. No public statement has been made on the pat of the administration.


http://www.dailytitan.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=a05fd4f4-e341-4343-9422-9922df2de34e
Con Cariño,

Susana Y. Flores, PhD
assistant professor
CSU Fullerton
P.O. Box 6868
Fullerton, CA 92834
(714)278-7507

Rally Against Hate Promotes Tolerance and Awareness
Despite hanging nooses discovered earlier in the day, the second annual event continues its fight against prejudice and hate speech
By: Kevin Manahan
Posted: 11/8/07
Hanging nooses did not keep student organizations from holding the second annual Rally Against Hate on Wednesday in the Quad. The rally pushed forward with guest speakers, open mic dialogues and opportunities for students to vent their own experiences with hate.

Five nooses were found just before 9 a.m. by Lisa Tom, the rally's coordinator and the cultural affairs director for the Association of Intercultural Awareness. The nooses were spray painted orange and found hanging on the rally's Clothesline Project, a presentation that was designed to be a testimony for students who have experienced any kind of prejudice.

"The nooses are the message of someone who wanted to let us know about how they feel about this rally," said co-advisor Anthony Ragazzo, who also serves as the ASI advisor for AICA. "Someone anonymously and cowardly left those last night. One can only imagine why they would do that."

Yen-Ling Shek, co-advisor for the rally and coordinator of the Multicultural Leadership Center, filed a police report on the incident. Event organizers left the nooses up briefly for people to see.

"I thought it was strange because I thought this [rally] was against hatred, and the nooses show that hate is still present," said undeclared sophomore Natalie Lopez.

Ragazzo addressed the crowd about the incident, emphasizing that hate can happen even on this campus despite what people's general perceptions that prejudice does not happen at CSUF.

Awareness, tolerance and being proactive against hate were all key messages for this year's rally. Tom said the rally was first held last year as a reactionary event following a hate crime that occurred just off campus. A CSUF student attacked two women, including another CSUF student, who he believed were lesbians.

Instead of having a rally in response to one specific incident, Shek said they wanted to make the rally an annual event to encourage students to take more initiative against hate because it can happen anywhere and anytime.

"The main message this year is to educate, to not be silent, and to empower people to take action so that we don't have to be reactive," Shek said. "This is a much more proactive approach."

Tom said planning for the rally began at the beginning of the semester. Many member organizations of AICA, a council of 22 cultural organizations on campus, contributed shirts to the Clothesline Project with testimonial messages of prejudice written on them. They also worked to spread awareness about the rally to their respective communities on campus.

Other highlights of the rally included the Wall of Prejudice and the Wall of Hope. Students were encouraged to write any hate words or experiences they have had with hate on the Wall of Prejudice. At the end of the rally, students were invited to grab parts of the Wall and tear it apart as a symbol of destroying an embodiment of hate.

"I feel like it's important to contribute to the wall," said senior theater major Rosy Amaya, one of the students who wrote on the Wall of Prejudice. "Nobody's going to benefit from an idea that only exists in my head."

The Wall of Hope was designed to let students pledge their commitments to stop prejudice. Junior political science major Sedfrey Linsangan, a member of the South Pacific Islander Cultural Association, said the Wall of Prejudice lets students write down even little things they can do to battle hate.

In addition to an open mic session that allowed students to share experiences, poetry and even anti-hate raps, off-campus speakers were invited to speak as well. Shazia Kamal of the Muslim Public Affairs Council talked about working to stop the fear and ignorance that have incited hate toward Muslims after September 11.

"People have to be aware of not just hate crimes and hate incidents that are affecting communities, but also be aware that they affect people who are thought to be of those communities," Shazia said after her speech. "Perception is a huge factor when hate crimes are committed."

Musician Randi Driscoll, whose song "What Matters" was used as the official benefit single for the Matthew Shepard Foundation, also performed several songs at the rally.

A resource fair was held throughout the rally featuring both CSUF and off-campus cultural organizations. A workshop by Orange County Human Relations on addressing prejudice and hate speech was also offered following the rally.

Although she has not experienced blatant prejudice on campus, Tom said it is not uncommon for people to discriminate unintentionally.

"As a queer person myself, I'll overhear someone saying, 'Oh, that's so gay' or comments like that," Tom said. "Most of my friends' encounters have been with people that are pretty open-minded, and I haven't had that much direct experience [with prejudice] on this campus, but that doesn't mean to say that it's not out there."

Tom said the rally is important to make students realize the broad reach of hate crimes and the impact their actions can have.

"These things do happen and they happen here, so we want to address those prejudices," Tom said. "Some people may not even know that a comment that they say is prejudiced or racist. That's part of [the rally], raising awareness."


Con Cariño,

Susana Y. Flores, PhD
assistant professor
CSU Fullerton
P.O. Box 6868
Fullerton, CA 92834
(714)278-7507

-----Original Message-----
From: name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org [mailto:name-mce-bounces at nameorg.org] On Behalf Of Anselmo Villanueva
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2007 7:47 PM
To: name-mce at nameorg.org
Subject: (NAME-MCE) New Report: Frequently Requested Statistics onImmigrants in the United States



Surf to this website for complete report and related information:

http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?id=649

New Report: Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants in the United States By Aaron Terrazas, Jeanne Batalova, and Velma Fan

Migration Policy Institute  October 2007

This report provides answers to many of the most frequently asked questions about the United States' immigrant population by bringing together resources from the Migration Policy Institute, the U.S.
Census Bureau's American Community Survey and Decennial Census, U.S.
Departments of Homeland Security and State, and Mexico's National Population Council. The report includes information about current and historical numbers and shares demographic, educational, and linguistic characteristics; workforce characteristics; geographic distribution as well as data related to the Mexican foreign born and unauthorized immigrants.

_______________________________________________
This is a mailing of the National Association for Multicultural Education -
(NAME) Listserv list - www.nameorg.org. The materials included reflect diverse perspectives of NAME Listserv participants and do not necessarily reflect a position of the National Association for Multicultural Education. If you would like to subscribe (or unsubscribe)to this listserv go to http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org. You can read all past postings in the archives at http://mail.nameorg.org/pipermail/name-mce_nameorg.org/



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