https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/03/why-george-washington-university-must-oppose-chinese-communist-oppression/
It seems like a no-brainer, but on one American campus, critics of a campaign against a tyrannical regime charge racism.
I n early February, posters criticizing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for their subjugation of the Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Hong Kongers emerged on the campus of George Washington University. The posters, put up anonymously and highlighting the CCP’s reprehensible actions, soon turned controversial.
Student groups complained to university president Mark Wrighton that the posters were offensive and depicted racist caricatures. In a leaked email, Wrighton responded by saying that he too was “personally offended” by the posters. This email received significant press coverage, leading to a statement from Wrigthon in which he clarified his prior ignorance of the posters’ true meaning and reaffirmed his and the university’s commitment to free speech.
Throughout this time, I, along with a number of other students and student groups, have been pressuring the university to divest all of its endowment holdings from companies that enable the CCP’s genocide and persecution of the Uyghur people. Without the exposure of this initial email, we would never have known the extent of the uphill battle we face with the administration.
Universities are supposed to be forums of open and free exchanges of ideas and opinions. On too many campuses across the country, we’re seeing free speech and expression discouraged and even stifled.