Yet another instance in the now-ceaseless flurry of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the U.S.: Some Nazi asshole posted swastika-emblazoned flyers at the library at Texas State University at San Marcos that read, “White man, are you sick and tired of the Jews destroying your country through mass immigration and degeneracy.” This is now the fourth time since Donald Trump’s election that this kind of shit has appeared on campus. But the really disturbing part is that the school has no plans to address it, according to spokesman Matt Flores:
President Denise Trauth does not plan to make a statement regarding the fliers, Flores said, adding that she's made it "quite clear" the nature of the handouts, and the ones before them, go against the "core values of what it's like to be a Bobcat." [...]
Trauth said she expected students to express their opinions with "civility and in a collegial manner."
Well, hey, look how civil these Nazis were! They didn’t go and, like, scream at anyone. They just posted their flyers on a wall. So collegial! Amazingly, the same university spokesman said, "I don't know that you can stop it.” You can certainly start by issuing clear denunciations of this kind of hate speech. Just because you can’t put an instant end to hatred doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to fight it. To the contrary: If you don’t, it’ll only spread.
But it sounds like Texas State has little interest in protecting its students from anti-Semitism in the first place. The student who found the flyers didn’t report them to her school—she instead spoke to the press:
[May] Olvera, who still feels safe on campus, said she didn't bother reaching out to university officials due to how they have handled similar problems.
"They seem to act like it's a waste of their time, so I think that students themselves are better equipped to deal with these things as a community rather than have the school attempt to handle it," she said.
The university's utter lack of a response just proves Olvera right. It’s horrifying when Donald Trump refuses to take anti-Semitism seriously, but the rest of the country ought to know better. When a school entrusted with the care and well-being of thousands of pupils follows Trump’s lead, that’s just terrifying.
