UCLA police are investigating racist, sexist signs found on campus this week that defamed Asian women.
On Tuesday, a student found a sign that read “asian women R Honkie white-boy worshiping Whores” attached to a Vietnamese Student Union sign.
On Wednesday, another student found the handwritten phrase “Asian Women are White-Boy Worshiping Sluts” in the women’s bathroom of the library basement.
The student who found the second message was Antonette Sadile, the community outreach programmer for the Asian Pacific Coalition.
“I thought [Tuesday’s incident] was a more personal attack,” Sadile told campus paper The Daily Bruin. “But this is a bigger impact. It is really scary. I didn’t feel safe.”
Campus police said they could not comment on whether the two incidents were related, but UCLA spokesman Steve Ritea issued a statement to CBS.
“We share the students’ anger and sadness and condemn this incident.” He also called the occurrence isolated and it insisted that it had nothing to do with other racially-charged incidents reported on campus.
However, it is the pattern of racial slurs that worries Roman Nguyen, president of the Vietnamese Student Union.
“It shows this is what some people actually think,” Nguyen told the campus paper.
The Vietnamese Student Union held a rally in front of Kerckhoff Hall at noon on Thursday to discuss this week’s and prior incidents of racism. The Asian Pacific Coalition also plans to host a forum on Dec. 5 to discuss the recent climate on campus and cultural sensitivity.
Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Janina Montero spoke at the rally, saying that she was outraged by the vandalism, and added that she feels the acts do not represent what UCLA should stand for as a community.
“(The administration wants) to express support and concern,” Montero said, “I want to make sure that all the students here, regardless of their ethnicity, background or situation, know that this is unacceptable.”
Earlier this year, Latino UCLA students living in an off-campus apartment woke up to find the following racial graifitti written in black marker across their door: “you rude ignorant spic c*nts,” “dirty Meximelt b*tches,” and “go eat some re-fried beans and shut up.”
The incidents follow an infamous racist rant called “Asians in the Library” posted to YouTube in 2011 by UCLA student Alexandra Wallace.
Asians make up the largest ethnic group at UCLA, comprising 34 percent of the school’s undergraduate students, according to school statistics.
