Students of color at Stanford Law School are accusing the institution of being steeped in bias against them, claiming that \u201cracism, bigotry, and the forces of white supremacy\u201d pervade the school.<\/p>\n
A group of student activists made that claim in a recent op-ed that introduced an anti-racism campaign that includes a slogan of \u201cRacism Lives Here, Too.\u201d As part of the campaign, the students put up a series of posters on campus earlier this month that include remarks allegedly made by students and professors that the activists deem as racist and insensitive.<\/p>\n
The \u201cRacism Lives Here, Too\u201d campaign has extended past the Stanford campus with students at Harvard Law School also adopting<\/a> the movement on their own campus.<\/p>\n In an op-ed<\/a> published Feb. 7 by the Stanford Daily<\/em>, the group of students behind the campaign claimed that racism runs rampant at Stanford Law School and suggested their fellow students as well as the school\u2019s administration are largely indifferent to the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wish this was surprising, but the reality is that as law students of color, we deal with racism\u2013 through both overt acts and micro-aggressions, every day,\u201d the op-ed stated.<\/p>\n The students listed a hate note found recently in a classmate\u2019s mailbox and posters put up last year on campus by a white supremacist group as racist acts seen at the school. But the students also argue that the racism they face is \u201cdeath by a thousand proverbial paper-cuts,\u201d pointing to microaggressions they say they are constantly bombarded with.<\/p>\n \u201cWe endure our classmates complimenting our excellent English, or opining on the relative benefits of slavery. We hear our teachers question the legal protections without which we, and those who look like us, would not be walking these halls,\u201d the students wrote in their op-ed.<\/p>\n With a tagline of \u201cSaid at SLS [Stanford Law School],\u201d the posters hung up on campus by student activists seek to highlight offensive comments made by their classmates and instructors.<\/p>\n \u201cMinority students are not as intelligent as white students,\u201d one of the posters reads.<\/p>\n Another poster states: \u201cIf someone is really starving, slavery starts to seem like a great deal. You get free food and shelter and only have to give up a few rights.\u201d<\/p>\n Other posters include alleged comments such as \u201cI have trouble with Chinese names. I am much better with German or Italian names\u201d and \u201cWhy should we pay for the education of an illegal\u2019s children?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope you\u2019ll see these messages as an opportunity to reflect internally and reach out to those in your life who confront these issues daily. We hope\u2013 earnestly\u2013 that this is the beginning, not the end, of a much bigger conversation and change,\u201d the student activists said of the posters.<\/p>\n The students assert the law school\u2019s curriculum doesn\u2019t adequately cover race and that the administration\u2019s response to racist incidents has usually been \u201creactive, not systemic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s stunning that you can graduate with a Stanford Law degree and completely avoid discussions of race and structural inequalities in your three years here,\u201d the students\u2019 op-ed said.<\/p>\n Stanford Law School did not respond to The College Fix<\/em>\u2019s request for comment regarding the student\u2019s accusation of racism on campus. Student activists also did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n One Stanford student is pushing back against the claims of racism within the law school. In a column published in The Stanford Review<\/em>, a conservative student newspaper, Philip Eykamp said the student activists should focus on overt racist acts rather than exposing microaggressions.<\/p>\n Eykamp says the activists\u2019 campaign \u201cwill only encourage currently minimal racial divisions to grow into precisely the resentful, noxious environment they claim to be fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0Stanford bans men from the gym twice a week<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n IMAGE: Twitter screenshot<\/p>\n