I walked onto my campus to see this today.
I came down a set of stairs, to see this before me. My heart stopped in my chest, I stopped talking mid sentence. I was paralyzed with fear. I could only see the bold red swastika, I couldn’t read the signs.
How could they just display a notorious hate symbol – the Nazi swastika – out in the open like that?
I was very abruptly reminded I am Jewish and this is not a safe place for me.
In before “it’s a Buddhist symbol” – it’s red and not facing the right way.
That’s a Nazi Swastika.I want it to be known that the University of South Carolina did not stop this. Multiple students, myself included, came forward, expressing feeling unsafe, or distaste and disgust and asked for its removal. The university defended their ability to fly a hate symbol that strikes fear and memories of horror into minority students – because they weren’t really Nazis, they were protestors arguing for “free speech” and “anti-censorship”.
Nevermind that I panicked as I was led away by a friend. Nevermind that I was reminded I could very easily be at risk. Nevermind that I felt scared and unsafe and worried for other Jewish students. Nevermind that I confronted them and explained how uncomfortable and scared it made me – how I told them I’d met Neo-Nazis face to face – how my own extended family had been murdered in the Holocaust – that they would never understand that fear.
What the University of South Carolina doesn’t realize is, they have set a very scary precedent.
It’s okay if you fly a hate flag, or have a hate symbol as your icon. So long as you don’t actually *say* ‘wow I hate Jews’ you’re fine, it’s your “freedom”;
What this means is, any antisemite, any Neo-Nazi or Nazi-sympathizer, can now proudly display a swastika… so long as they don’t actually SAY they’re a Nazi.
What this means is, this campus just became a whole lot less safe for Jews.
Now we have to work twice as hard to stay safe.Share this. Let it be known that USC officials let them fly this for the duration of their time on Greene Street, the main street of our campus.
@jewish-privilege @littlegoythings @tikkunolamorgtfo and other jumblr blogs: please help me get this noticed. My university did not listen to me.