UCPD investigate racial, sexist slurs found on bathroom stall door
By Erin Donnelly
Nov. 28, 2012 9:51 p.m.
Editor’s note: We have decided to run in our article the exact wording of the racial and sexist slurs in this incident. Given the nature of these slurs, the editorial staff were faced with the question of whether it was appropriate for the student newspaper to repeat these slurs and potentially perpetuate their use. The editorial decision was made to write them as they occurred in order to report accurately and thoroughly on the incident.
University police are investigating racial and sexist slurs, similar to those posted on a Vietnamese Student Union sign earlier this week, that were found written on the door of a bathroom stall in Powell Library Wednesday.
Second-year psychobiology student Antonette Sadile saw the handwritten phrase “Asian Women are White-Boy Worshipping Sluts” in the women’s bathroom of the library basement Wednesday afternoon, she said.
Sadile, who is the community outreach programmer for the Asian Pacific Coalition, called UCPD about the incident about an hour later.
Police have filed an official report and are investigating the vandalism, said UCPD Capt. Manny Garza.
The writing was still on the door of the bathroom as of 7 p.m. Wednesday.
A similar occurrence was reported to police on Tuesday, when a student found a piece of paper that read “asian women R Honkie white-boy worshipping Whores,” attached to a Vietnamese Student Union sign on the fourth floor of Kerckhoff Hall.
“I thought (Tuesday’s incident) was a more personal attack,” Sadile said. “But this is a bigger impact. It is really scary, I didn’t feel safe.”
Police said they could not comment on whether the two incidents were related.
The Vietnamese Student Union released a statement Wednesday morning condemning Tuesday’s incident.
Group members said they were offended because they feel the paper attached to the sign depicted Asian women as submissive and inferior to white men, according to the statement.
Roman Nguyen, president of the Vietnamese Student Union, said he thought the second set of hate speech showed that offenses against minorities are not isolated incidents on campus.
“It shows this is what some people actually think,” said Nguyen, a fifth-year international development studies student.
The Vietnamese Student Union plans to hold a rally today in front of Kerckhoff Hall to discuss what it views as problems with campus climate, Nguyen said.
The rally stems from the incidents this week, but will also focus on an issue of recurring incidents of hate speech toward minority communities at UCLA, including racist and sexist slurs written on the apartment door of Latino students in February.
The Asian Pacific Coalition also plans to host a forum on Dec. 5 to discuss the issue of campus climate further, according to the statement. The forum will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. in the basement of the Student Activities Center.
[UPDATED at 5 p.m. Thursday: The graffiti in the bathroom stall had been removed as of Thursday morning.]
