To Campus, Local, and National Peace Groups:
I write you in solidarity. This is a call to action in
response to recent
attacks at Yale University on the right to dissent. My name
is Katherine Lo.
I am a sophomore at Yale, where I have been the recent victim
of an attack
on free speech and dissent. Several weeks ago I hung an
upside-down American
flag outside my window to express my dissent and distress
with the war the
US government is waging on the Iraqi people and the wars it
has waged and is
waging economically, politically, militaristically, and
culturally on
other countries and peoples.
Within twenty-four hours of hanging this flag from a window
which faces the
main campus, on the night of April 27, several males
carrying a 2x4 entered
my dorm suite without permission and then attempted to break
into my
bedroom, which was locked. After about ten minutes, they
left the following
note on my message board: "I love kicking the Muslims
ass bitches ass! They
should all die with Mohammad. We as Americans should destroy
them and launch
so many missiles their mothers don't produce healthy
offspring. Fuck Iraqi
Saddam following fucks. I hate you, GO AMERICA."
The hatred and violence contained in this action and this
note, clearly
meant to intimidate and terrorize, are so horrifying that it
is hard for me
to fathom that people are capable of such malevolence. But
this same hatred
and racism is prevalent in the very policies of the US
government, the blind
patriotism of many Americans, and the deeply sickening
aspect of the
dominant culture that has led some Americans to believe that
an Iraqi life
is somehow worth less than an American life.
At the same time, the implications of this crime on the
right to free speech
and dissent are many and frightening. What is happening to
this society,
this country, when nonviolent and peaceful expression is
confronted with
rage, hatred, and violence? How can the Bush administration
ignore global
opinion and call a historical global movement consisting of
tens of millions
of peace supporters a focus group? How can the corporate
media only report
certain images and stories and omit others? How can the
systems of
militarism and corporate globalization cause so much
suffering and injustice
and come away with profit, utterly unaccountable? There is
something
seriously and fundamentally wrong here.
WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED. Not by 2x4s, not by force, not by
ugly words, not
by hatred, violence, domination, racism, sexism, militarism,
neoliberalism,
fascism, imperialism, ethnocentrism, and all forms of
oppression. We will
not be silenced. Please hang upside-down American flags on
your campus and
in your community as a show of solidarity with the recent
events at Yale.
Please spread the word in your community, and forward this
on to other
campus and community groups you know.
Following is a list of similar racially and hate-motivated
incidents at Yale
as of the publishing of the original flag incident; links to
the Yale Daily
News coverage of the incident; and a link to the Yale Herald
website for
upcoming coverage. Similar attempts may be happening on
campuses and in
communities across the country. We have to stand up for our
right to free
speech, dissent, and personal safety.
Solidarity and Peace,
Katherine Lo
Katherine.Lo@yale.edu
As of Thursday night, April 10, 2003:
The following is a list, possibly incomplete, of violent
events that have
occurred on the Yale campus in the past 36 hours. Please
circulate widely.
1) Wednesday morning - Publishing of an article on Katherine
Lo, whose suite
was entered by three men armed with a 2x4 after she
displayed an American
flag upside-down outside her dorm room window. They
attempted to enter her
room, which was locked, and left the following note: "I
love kicking the
Muslims ass bitches ass! They should all die with Mohammad.
We as Americans
should destroy them and launch so many
missiles their mothers don't produce healthy offspring. Fuck
Iraqi Saddam
following fucks. I hate you, GO AMERICA."
2) Wednesday evening - A group of undergraduates
participated in a silent,
non-violent vigil-type action in the University's dining
halls to mourn the
loss of Iraqi civilians in the current conflict. Raphael
Soifer, a
participant, was followed out of Davenport and spit on by a
white male.
3) Wednesday evening - Multiple anonymous, racist and
threatening posts made
on the YDN online forum in response to the article on
Katherine Lo. The YDN
online forum was shut down later that evening.
4) Wednesday 9:45PM-10:15PM - Perhaps in response to signed
posts on the YDN
online forum regarding life attending Yale and racism from
an
African-American student, the following note was left on the
door of the
Afro-American Cultural Center: "I hope you protesters
and your children are
killed in the next terrorist attack. Signed Fuck
You."
5) Wednesday night/Thursday morning - Undergraduates decided
to fly American
flags upside-down outside their windows as a sign of
dissent, distress, and
solidarity with Katherine Lo. Undergraduate Laura Hess' name
appeared in the
YDN as helping to coordinate this action. Her suite was
illegally entered
and the flag reversed to hang right-side-up.
6) Thursday morning - Undergraduates put up an art
installation, permitted
by the President's Office, on Cross Campus. The work
included 22 American
flags representing the 22 failed US attempts of military
intervention in the
name of democracy. One flag, in the center, was hung
upside-down. A group of
husky white males confronted the activists involved,
demanding to see the
permit. After being shown the permit, the group proceeded to
rip down the
flags anyway, destroying the group's property.
7) Thursday morning - Between 11:30 AM and 12:30 PM, the
flag hung
upside-down outside the window of undergraduate Julia
Gonzales was ripped
down and stolen.
This may only be a partial list. If you know of more
incidents that have not
been reported, please add them to this compilation.
Yale Daily News:
April 9: http://www.yaledailynews.com/default.asp?issueid=1158
April 10: http://www.yaledailynews.com/default.asp?issueid=1159
April 11: http://www.yaledailynews.com/default.asp?issueid=1160
Yale Herald:
April 11: http://www.yaleherald.com/