GWU Student Suspended, Investigated for Anti-Jewish Hate Crime. Wait, What?
Is school not the right place to learn about the swastika's origins?
DreamstimeIn March, George Washington University suspended a Jewish student and charged him with breaking the law, disorderly conduct, and discrimination. Additionally, administrators forwarded his case to D.C. police as a possible "hate crime" investigation, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
What did this Jewish student do to get himself kicked out of classes and trigger an anti-Jewish hate crime kerfuffle? He tried to start a conversation about the swastika, which actually predates German Nazism and is a symbol of good luck in other cultures. He placed an Indian swastika on a campus bulletin board, and remained nearby to talk about the image with members of his residence hall.
While the student was briefly away, someone spotted the swastika and called the police. The student immediately explained what he was doing, but GWU administrators didn't care about the context.
The university has so far ignored FIRE's assertions that punishing this student is a breach of the free speech guarantees it makes in its code of conduct:
“GWU may not ignore thousands of years of history and effectively forbid all uses of the swastika because it was used by Nazi Germany,” said FIRE Program Officer and attorney Ari Cohn. “It’s ironic that the charges against the student illustrate the very point he was trying to make in the first place—that context is important and there’s much to be learned about the history of the swastika.”
Is school not the right place to learn about the swastika's origins?
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"While the student was briefly away, someone spotted the swastika and called the police"
Really? They called the fucking police? Over a symbol posted on a bulletin board? What the fuck are the police supposed to do about it-- break the bulletin board's spine?
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I laughed a little too hard at this.
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Trigger warning.....trigger warning! Somebody saw Haven Monahan spray paint that swastika and went "SQEEEEEEE"
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You know who else prominently displayed a swastika?
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The A&E channel........
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Mr. Hilter of Minehead?
"Not much fun in Stalingrad."
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Derek Vinyard?
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Higher "education" is done.
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Everyone I know who went to George Washington came out of it ruined--chill laidback stoner turned totalitarian progressive who actively posts on Facebook about how racist libertarians are and who works for the DNC, etc.--so I can't say I'm particularly surprised.
Also, if your first reaction to seeing something you find offensive on a bulletin board is calling the police, well...
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George Washington University is the place to learn new idea and a place where new idea can flow. Students can talk about idea and have open and intelligent discussions about idea which prepares them for a world where idea is pretty much useless.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the original swastika was the reverse of the Nazi swastika--the original had the two crossed "Z" shapes (one vertical, the other horizontal) as "Z"s, whereas the Nazi swastika has them as "S"s. For this reason, the Nazi swastika is often called the "reverse swastika" by symbolists. (I trust I make myself obscure.)
The original swastika with the "Z"s was a Buddhist symbol, and did indeed symbolize good luck and enlightenment..
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Yeah, just look it up on Wikipedia.
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You know who else- Oh, wait, someone already did that.
There's nothing more dangerous than a self-hating Jew.
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Is school not the right place to learn about the swastika's origins? No, it's where you go to foster your fear and moral outrage at facts you don't like. You go online to learn about the Swastika. There are some pretty informative sites out there that use it liberally.