The School of Social Work unequivocally supports the statement issued by the Race Equity Caucus of YUFA condemning a recent incident of racist Islamophobic incitement at York University, and urge all members of the York community to do the same
Race Equity Caucus statement:
On this, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Race Equity Caucus (REC) of YUFA condemns a recent incident of racist Islamophobic incitement at York University, an institution with one of the largest populations of Muslim students in the country. An unidentified person wore a Make American Great Again (MAGA) hat to a vigil mourning those 50 Muslims, including children, who were murdered by a white supremacist at the Al-Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand. We, the REC, understand the wearing of the MAGA hat to be a deliberate act of affront and racist hate towards the students, faculty and all those assembled in mourning the lives taken through Islamophobic violence. The MAGA hat is a symbol of white supremacy. This was demonstrated recently by the white youths who mocked Nathan Phillips at the Indigenous Peoples March at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. in January. The person who wore a MAGA hat to a vigil at York University demonstrated a cruel contempt for the mourners and support for Islamophobic violence and death. We call on the York University administration and YUFA to immediately condemn Islamophobic violence and harassment, including the wearing of symbols of white supremacist hatred such as the MAGA hat.