The University of Michigan removed several racist flyers posted on campus today.
One flier explained “Why White Women Shouldn’t Date Black Men.” Others told white people to stop “apologizing” and “living in fear” and “be white.”
“Messages of racial, ethnic or religious discrimination have no place at the University of Michigan,” President Mark Schlissel said in a written statement. “Targeted attacks against groups of people serve only to tear apart our university community,” he said.
U of M communications director Rick Fitzgerald says students found several flyers in different buildings on campus. He says free speech is welcome on campus, but it must be respectful.
“We want this campus to be a place where our students and the entire university community can feel welcome and included, and come together and sometimes struggle with difficult topics,” Fitzgerald said.
Anti-Islamic messages surfaced at the University of Michigan last spring.
The fliers on the Ann Arbor campus come one week after racial slurs were spray-painted on campus at nearby Eastern Michigan University.
“I suspect the kind of divisive language that’s used in part through this presidential campaign could be fostering some of that,” Fitzgerald said.
U of M encourages people to report these types of incidents to the university’s “Bias Response Team.”
