If you haven't seen it already, there is a flyer circulating Columbia's campus, created and distributed by the Clear Party in lieu of CCSC elections. Read further for an image and some of the e-mails that have been circulating in response to this flyer:

Hey lovely people,

Some of you might have found out about this already, but there's a flyer for the student council campaign of the clear party that reads "Two Asian girls at the same time". Since finding out about it from eagle eye Vivian, I've gotten increasingly irritated.

So far, a few people have contacted this group about the issue of this flyer. I was talking to Sam Stanton, and she thinks it's a ripe time to get CCSC to mandate some type of anti-oppression training for all its members, or as many as possible. Something could be done with the elections board as well. (This comes out of the fact that somehow, someone involved with CCSC didn't get the fact that this flyer was offensive.) Nhu-Y says we should involve the administration, ppl the councils look up to. All things to talk about...


I suggested to Sam that we use the time right before the APAAM meeting on Wednesday to discuss things to do. So, 10pm, Lerner 5th floor? What do people think? Hopefully something worth pulling off before the end of the year?

If you haven't seen it, it's hanging in Hamilton right now between floors 5 and 6 in the west staircase I think.

David

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Hello folks,

I am e-mailing you guys to express my deep concern over a flyer from your party that I saw in Hamilton. I noticed a flyer that said "Two Asian Girls At The Same Time". I understand that you guys must have thought that was funny, but it is really upsetting. Not only is it a play off of a racist fetishization of Asian women that directly corresponds with the effeminization and invisibility of Asian men, as well as American imperialism, but it is also a heterosexist and patriarchal male fantasy that has contributed to the invisibility of Queer women. As a Queer woman of color I find this deeply offensive.

I wanted to e-mail you guys before I took any other actions, so that this issue could be resolved with maturity and expediency. I am asking that you please take down all of those flyers immediately. I also think it would be appropriate to release an apology. Please let me know what you decide to do as soon as possible.

Thank you

Samantha Stanton

Columbia College, Class of 2009

It's been a while since we've posted any hate crime-related entries, since Columbia and Barnard are quite boring this year. My good friend Monna (and co-presenter at this weekend's NAASCon, shameless plug) forwarded an article about some homophobic and racial slurs uttered at a Macalester water polo game. The alleged targets are Bobbi Gass '10 and Jeff Yamashita '11:

At the start of the game, according to Gass, a player spoke to him, possibly in relation to the rainbow painted on his cheek saying '"Don't let [Monmouth player] number 10 guard you. He's gay.'"

Yamashita scored six of Macalester's seven goals in the team's eventual 8-7 loss. After Yamashita scored two goals in the second quarter, one Monmouth player "says to another teammate, 'fucking chink,' and the other guy smirked," Yamashita's teammate Nathan Young '11 said. "I whispered to Jeff, 'Did he really say that?' We were both shocked."

...

In the break between the third and fourth quarter, the Monmouth player's conduct allegedly took an even uglier turn. "The guy calls me out and says 'Hey, No. 10' and then makes a slanting-eye gesture with his hands," Yamashita said. Numerous spectators witnessed the gesture, many expressing disbelief at what they had seen.

Not only did the Monmouth coach refuse to apologize when the Macalester coach confronted him, but he also said that the Macalester players were being rude. Later, when the Monmouth players walked by, one said sarcastically, "Yeah, we're all racists."

Yamashita is currently seeking three goals: "a formal apology to himself and Macalester, changes in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's policies on racial slurs and harassment, and an effective resolution in a Monmouth racial harassment case against their player."

Sorry, Monmouth, but this isn't even remotely funny like the Spain thing. At least Spain was sort of making chink eyes out of jest. And to think that I went to your school for Yearbook camp! Disgusting.