By Daisy Luther
The campus of Evergreen State College isn’t as idyllic as it looks. It’s a bastion of anti-white racism that has been taken over by angry students roaming the campus armed with baseball bats. And the unrest promises to escalate as a group of self-proclaimed Nazis stirs the pot.
The result of this will only be a further polarization between the races.
The whole event began when a group of students, aided and abetted by a professor, decided that the campus should have “A Day without White People” to protest “institutional racism.” (source)
Because, you know, banning someone from coming to school or work because of the color of their skin isn’t racism as long as the banned people are white.
Even a progressive professor thought it was too much, and he let everyone know it by first sending the letter below calling it “an act of oppression” and then appearing on Fox News to further condemn the act.
https://twitter.com/TweetGamewashed/status/867881332809936896
This did not go over well with the students behaving badly.
Students furiously demanded Weinstein’s resignation or, barring him leaving voluntarily, that he be fired. (source)
And by furious, I mean this:
And this:
They were pretty mad about the video, too, and made the following demand:
“We demand that the video created for Day of Absence and Day of Presence that was stolen by white supremacists and edited to expose and ridicule the students and staff be taken down by the administration by this Friday.”
Next steps:
Based on conversations with the Attorney General’s office, the most likely course of action requires an investigation. We commit to launching an extensive forensic investigation of the theft of this video and to determining who stole it from the student. If that investigation yields a suspect, we will seek criminal charges against the individual in consultation with the Attorney General. (source)
Here are the rest of their demands.
Then the Evergreen State College president capitulated to nearly all the demands.
They’ve found a sympathetic ear in Evergreen State College President George Bridges, who has caved to every demand, even excusing them from their homework and praising them for their “courage.”
Bridges said that the college will not discipline the students for their protests, the college will expand police training, establish an “expanded equity and multicultural center,” and force school faculty to undergo additional cultural sensitivity training. The school also agreed to hire coordinators for transgender and gay students as well as a liaison for undocumented students.
The only demands that the school did not follow through on was firing Weinstein and two other campus officials.
“We are grateful to the courageous students who have voiced their concerns,” Bridges said.
“We have heard from students very clearly that they experience racism on campus that interferes with their education. We acknowledge that the status quo isn’t acceptable. We don’t know all the answers,” he explained. “We want to come together with you to learn from your experience, to build solutions, and to take action. We are grateful for this catalyst to expedite the work to which we are jointly committed.” (source)
(You can read his full statement here.)
But students still weren’t happy.
As tensions escalated, Professor Weinstein, the guy who refused to participate in the Day of Absence, had to stay away for a week for his own safety. (source) The campus had to be evacuated and closed down for three days due to “threats.” (source)
One of those threats is student “protesters,” who have been allegedly “patrolling” with baseball bats and hitting people that they don’t feel should be there. Interestingly, quite a few of the patrollers seem to be white.
Credible reports protestors w/ bats roaming campus for 2 days. People hit, won't report. @heathereheying students & I warned @GovInslee 5/25 pic.twitter.com/soH4djQigc
— Bret Weinstein (@BretWeinstein) June 5, 2017
A memo was released by a college administrator, Vice President for Student Affairs Wendy Endress, telling them they couldn’t have bats, which lends some credence to the allegation above.
Dear RAD Students,
We are aware of a small group of students coordinating a community patrol of housing and campus. We acknowledge and understand the fear and concerns that are motivating these actions. We also understand that these students are seeking to provide an alternative source of safety from external entities as well as those community members who they distrust.
Community patrols can be a useful tool for helping people to feel safe, however the use of bats or similar instruments is not productive. Some members of this group have been observed carrying batons and/or bats. Carrying bats is causing many to feel unsafe and intimidated. The bats must be put away immediately in order to protect all involved. Non-students participating in this activity are advised to leave campus. (source)
And now, it’s like Godwin’s law in real life.
How long do you think extreme racial tension like this could go on without a response from the other extreme?
How long do you think racial tension like that at #Evergreen could go on without a response from the other extreme?Click To TweetI’m not sure what they teach there, although according to the Daily Caller, it’s stuff like this:
Courses titled “Awakening the Dreamer, Pursuing the Dream,” “Afrofuturism,” “Growing, Creating, and Understanding Color,” and “Countertextual Ecologies: Gastropoetics” can be found in its fall 2017- spring 2018 Course Catalogue. (source)
What the heck are Afrofuturism and Gastropoetics?
I digress. What they need to be learning is physics, because the laws of basic physics apply, even at Evergreen State College. Especially this one:
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
And this includes racism.Click To TweetWhat is that reaction at Evergreen State College?
Now the neo-Nazis and counterprotesters are getting ready to join in.
It’s like Godwin’s law left the internet and appeared in real life. It’s not really a law, but more of an adage. “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler approaches.”
The Stranger, a Seattle-based alternative newspaper and website, reported:
Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group, posted a video of members descending onto the Olympia campus at night to post racist flyers on school buildings. Some of the posters read “BLACK LIVES DON’T MATTER” while others sought to recruit members. (source)
Here’s another one of their posters:
This is a terrible response to a terrible situation that’s bound to escalate the tensions to a full-on battle in the streets.
Now that the Neo-Nazis are threatening #EvergreenCollege it's like Godwin's Law in real life.Click To TweetEquality will never be achieved through subjugation and superiority, no matter which group is the one doing the oppressing. But, forcible oppression will always result in a violent backlash, and this situation is no different.
The violent unrest is accelerating.
Just this week, SHTFplan reported on the items that were confiscated from “protesters” in Portland, Oregon.
On Sunday, members of a Pro-Trump free speech rally, as well as Antifa
counterprotestersthugs, converged in Portland’s business district. Fortunately no one was seriously injured, and the police managed to form a barrier between the two groups. However, based on some of the weapons that the Portland Police Department confiscated, it’s obvious that the event could have been far more violent……it appears that members of both sides of this protest came to the event with weapons and makeshift shields. Unfortunately, the streets of America are looking more and more like a battlefield as time goes on. (source)
Here’s a photo of the things that were confiscated:
It certainly looks like we’re watching the beginning of the next Civil War. Are you prepared for the kind of unrest that is headed our way? (This article can help.) It’s essential to be ready to protect yourself in the midst of the chaos
Meanwhile, in a stroke of epic cognitive dissonance, Salon Magazine scoffs at those who worry about “violent leftist rampages.” (Be sure to read the comments for an extra dose of delusional opinions.) I guess it makes them feel safer. Because if you pretend it doesn’t exist, and you mock the people who are aware of reality, then it doesn’t exist, right?
OK let’s summarize:: black students want all white people to vacate the college for an entire day in order to show how important black people are. white students are like, “what?” and white jew guy professor sends an email basically stating, “i belong here and i have work to do.” black students are outraged and mount a protest complete with signs “down with whitey!” “<- what he said!" etc!"
then some black "protesters" are caught up on a roof with bricks and rocks about to throw them down on unsuspecting whitey's heads. by this time whiteys have had enough of this nonsense and when they respond they are labelled as "neo-nazis". wow. don't y'alls have some homework to do?
shouldn't y'alls be studying for final exams?
I used the term “neo-Nazi” based on the counterprotesters’ own signs.
And don’t forget, they got excused from homework and exams by the president of the college. THIS is their education, apparently.
No one at the school had bricks or were on the roof waiting to throw them. Not even sure where you got that info, is it even in the article? The photo in this article of the weapons are from the Portland rally, confiscated both from Antifa counter protesters and some fringe supporters of the Patriot Prayer group.
dearest EVA,
i first read this story at a different site, which stated “weapons were confiscated including bricks by black guys on a roof”.
imagine my surprise when i came to this very article and see a PHOTO OF WEAPONS CONFISCATED INCLUDING BRICKS. what! oh maybe those bricks were being carried by unsuspecting whiteys just in case some random bad guys might mount a day of rage.
ya right. hey EVA, just because lack guys don’t want to do their homework doesn’t give them the right to kill “evil whiteys” with bricks. and hammers.
One: you should read my other comments; two: many of the Antifa counterprotesters are white; three: the rally in Portland and the counterprotests are completely unrelated to the Evergreen bs (Evergreen is in Olympia, WA), and had been planned long before anything ever happened at Evergreen; four: you’re yucky.
hello honey bear! (EVA)
i don’t care about y’alls other comments on another site.
this is about your college. hmm. y’alls people of color got on the roof with bricks to throw onto the heads of other peoples. (probably of a different color).what!
OOPS! colored people throwing bricks onto the heads of people who are pigmented challenged? wow just y’alls wait until my entire squadron of harley davidson scary guys roll up on y’alls. WHAT!
I’m black.
Let the resolution of this problem begin by firing the college president! This is America! What idiot would condone a day w/o a certain race when they, whomever, have just as much right to be there as anyone else…and they also paid tuition to be there!! How dare them! They are going as far as they are allowed, without interference of law enforcement!
This is a sleazy and cheap imitation of the sit ins of the Civil Rights Movement. Yet, the dialogue that was center of the Movement was non violence, peaceful protest! SADLY, this is all these kids know. They don’t have the skills to build something that is for the peace and good for all, they just know to act fools to “protest”! The irony is that they are accusing of discrimination while they actively practice it!
Lastly, there has been some talk here in the Seattle area of privatizing Evergreen and letting them fund their on BS!!! It’s obvious they aren’t being educated to any functional degree! Oh, and most importantly, I would have finals beginning next week! After all, isn’t that the reason you enrolled?
Thank you for your comment, Lois. It’s a shame that the people being the most outrageous (both the students of Evergreen participating in this and the Neo-Nazis protesting it) are the ones that seem to get the most attention. If the flames weren’t constantly being fanned, I sincerely believe we could be unified.
Great article…
What a collosal waste of time and energy for these college students to get involved with this nonsense. They bring this racial division upon themselves by constantly beating the dead horse of “it’s Whitey’s fault”, seeking to be forever babied and assured that they have a right to never be offended and if they are, for whatever reason, the “offender” will be punished or else.
And what else…demand that every white person on earth constantly apologize for their own existence?
They hate Whites and anyone that doesn’t hate them as much as they do. Pure evil.
A missing voice in this disgraceful fiasco is the taxpayers of the State. They are the ones that paid for the facility and are paying for the majority of the salaries and truth be told, many of the grants and loans these so-called students are taking for granted! In a way, “the chickens are coming home to roost” for how these liberal colleges have been administered and the facualty have “taught” their “students”. I believe this college should be shut down for 2 years, with no provisions made to help transfer students, facualty or administrators. There has to be some kind of consequence to this behavior; by all parties. Nobody makes it in America with this kind of behavior!
Good article. Very grave situation. the antiBLM is on devcon1.
ALL LIVES MATTER
O Blessed Virgin, Mother of the Savior, Scatter the forces of evil so they are not engrossed in darkness but can come to Light! amen, amen. † LOCUTIONS to the WORLD 9/29-10/9/13
I am an Evergreen student. I am white. I am female. I am a first generation college student, and I graduated high school over 20 years ago. My family was too poor to even consider putting me through college, so it was not even talked about (I did apply and get accepted to two Washington universities, however). While I am now finally in college pursuing my degree, it is with much struggle. But I am so happy to be here at Evergreen, despite what is currently happening. It really is a great learning experience, if you know how to take advantage of it.
Please don’t discredit an entire school based on the extreme and unwarranted actions of a small percentage of individuals. I need this degree, and I am now worried my school will shut down (I am studying economics, hope to go to grad school after I graduate, will be a junior next fall).
There is a fair amount of misinformation being put out by the media, and this article is no exception. Day of Absence is a tradition at Evergreen that has been around almost as long as the school has. Traditionally students and staff of color will leave campus for a day to attend events discussing racism and oppression, while white students and faculty will do the same on campus. The reason for this is to bring attention to what it might be like in a world without people of color (based on a play of the same name). The event is and always has been voluntary. This year, the faculty organizers “flipped the script” and decided they wanted to have the events for people of color on campus, and have the events for white people off campus. Completely voluntary still. No one was banned from campus. The off campus event for white students could only accommodate around 200, so many white students attended school this day. Including myself. My white professor was there as well. No one gave me a hard time about it. Most classes went on as usual. While I don’t disagree with Mr. Weinsteins email, I feel that it is important to correct this false narrative. What is happening at Evergreen is a bunch of young students who are trying to put the skills they are learning into practice, and it has obviously gotten out of hand.
Thank you for your comment, Eva. I hope that you’ll be able to get your degree and wish you all the success in the world.
Can you comment on the violence that has been occurring after the initial Day of Absence? I would be very interested in your first hand account.
Best wishes,
Daisy
Hi Daisy,
I actually have bot been witness to any of the violence, and have only seen videos, just as you have.
On the day that Bret was confronted by the angry mob, I was in class and no one was really aware of it, aside from a few SJW’s in my class who were looking at their facebook instead of paying attention to the professor. The video of the confrontation that was posted was actually filmed by a white SJW that was against Bret, and he posted it on YouTube. The video that the group refers to in their demands is actually a promotional video that was produced and distributed for the Day of Absense/Day of Presence event, which I guess has been modified and redistribute by an allegedly racist group. I have yet to see that video, just the original.
Following the confrontation of Bret, president George Bridges heard spoke with a small group of the students privately, with a few other administrators to discuss “demands” (again, not a witness to this). The result was a “meeting” at 4 pm that day, where George tried to talk about these demands and how the school planned to respond to them. I did attend about 15 minutes of tbis meeting, but it was weird. White people were told to remain in the hallway until all people of color were inside. Then they were allowed in and told to stay in the back and leave chairs for people of color. George was pretty much yelled at and hardly allowed to get a word in edgewise. It was ridiculous so I left. I had homework anyway. You can see that video online as well, filmed and posted by people in support of the angry mob.
That was a Tuesday. The next day flyers were circulated around campus about a “meeting” at 1 pm in the library lobby and all students were encouraged to attend in support of the alleged victims of racism at Evergreen. At this point the rumor mill had run rampant, signs were posted all over campus with things like #exposeevergreen #evergreenisracist #firebret #firestacy (the lead police officer on campus) and a multitude of other things, as well as spray painted on walls and the ground throughout campus. Incidentally, there was also a swastika painted by another group. The angry mob had grown at this point and consisted of a majority of white people who think that fighting for social justice and equity means simply protesting and f*cking sh*t up. This mob proceeded to the library building where they kept the president several administrators against their will for five hours while they “discussed” their issues. Again, I was not there, have only seen the videos. The following day I heard students who had participated being “proud” of what they accomplished. The was a real atmosphere of arrogance from this crowd.
The following days after, I was not on campus, except for work on Friday and Saturday evening, where things seemed peaceful. The next week I had a three day fieldtrip for my program, on the day we were scheduled to come back, the campus was closed due to that phoned in threat of a gunman coming to campus.
I am am older student and live off campus. I have a family to support and a household to run. I am generally only on campus when I have class or need the library. I would say I am pretty out of the loop in regards to the whole campus scene (and I am fine with that). I have not seen this group of people walking around with bats. And yes, there are more white people involved that people of color (these white kids are priveleged and bored). The majority of minority students are embarrassed about this and do not support what is happening at all and many of them really love Evergreen.
One more thing, Daisy. There has not been any actual physical violence on Evergreen that I am aware of, aside from a guy who got water poured on him when he tried to cover up “fire Bret” graffiti.
Although you have a few mistakes in this article, there are some things I wholeheartedly agree with, such as the following:
“Equality will never be achieved through subjugation and superiority, no matter which group is the one doing the oppressing. But, forcible oppression will always result in a violent backlash, and this situation is no different.”
And:
“The result of this will only be a further polarization between the races.”
May I quote you in further communication with the school on this issue?
Of course. Thank you for sharing what you’ve witnessed. I wish you the best of luck with your studies.
Define “skills”
The long version of my oversimplified statement regarding “skills” is this: most of the students here are young. Some have come to evergreen having experienced trauma, some have led pretty priveleged lives. These young adults are at a liberal arts college. They are learning all sorts of new theories regarding oppression, racism, classism, sexism and all the other “isms”, as well as social justice theory. They feel empowered, some may even be feeling this way for the first time in their lives. They have “agency” (the newest buzzword), again, some for the first time. The natural progression for anyone who has learned new “skills”, whatever they may be, and whether useful or not, is to put the skills into practice. These young minds are growing and feeling out the world. Like many young people, they are testing boundaries, and are in an environment where they are relatively safe to do so. The problem here is, rather than the president and administration using this as a learning opportunity to teach these young minds what is and is not appropriate behavior, they caved. They caved because they were cornered. They caved because at the time it probably felt like they had no other choice. They caved because Evergreen has been trying really hard to be inclusive and tge administration was probably doing what they believed was best at the time.
I do not agree with the behavior of these protestors, I do not agree with the response (or lack therof) of the administration, I also do not think that Evergreen is guilty of rampant racism against people of color, or even against white people by non-white people. I do not disagree with Weinsteins’ email, nor do I believe it was racist in any way. I do believe that people of color may have experienced prejuducial treatment by some faculty and some students. I do agree that equity for people of color is important, as is class and gender equity among other things. I do believe that people of color do continue to experience systematic racism in this world and that needs to change. But at the same time, I, as a white student at evergreen, have indeed been the victim of bullying by some (not all, not even close to a majority) people of color, as well as their white social justice warriors, simply because I am white and being white in this current political climate means being a part of the so called “evilness of whiteness”, and speaking out against the bullying risks one being labeled a bigot or racist. It is assumed that I have led a life of privelege simply due to my being white skin, when the opposite is true (grew up in poverty, still living in poverty, single mom, victim of abuse almost my entire life). And there is this mentality on campus that white people just have to shut up and take the abuse, because people of color are justified due to their oppression. This I do not agree with. And I have publicly condemned it on campus (in an open letter, signed by myself and 16 other students)
This is all much more complex than what is being portrayed by the media. Evergreen is not a joke. There are many very talented and dedicated faculty and students here. Liberal arts degrees ARE valued by employers. Yes, a person could come to evergreen and f*ck off the entire time and probably graduate in 5 years. Yes, there are some extremely ridiculous course offerings. But there are also many programs here that are extremely challenging, but it takes some extra work to find those courses. I personally am studying economics, and although we have explored socialism and marxism in my economics courses, neither of my economics professor is a marxist, and both have critiques of all economic theory. I believe that by studying economics here, when I finally earn my masters degree, wherever I end up, I will bring a very unique viewpoint that many economists simply do nor possess.
Wow! I so appreciate the comments and first-hand experience of Eva Webb. She puts things into a perspective so lacking from the regular media!
Thank you, Eva.