Racist flyers urging students to “Make America White Again” were discovered early Tuesday morning outside of the University of Michigan’s Stockwell Residence Hall.
Another flyer on a North University Avenue posting wall blared “Anti-Racist is code for Anti-White.”
The discovery of this new round of flyers follows in the wake of a month of anti-racism protests at the University — but also echoes white supremacist messages repeatedly posted around campus almost exactly a year ago. Though the University failed to find a perpetrator in any of the instances, self-professed alt-right Twitter accounts rallied around the flyers.
The new round of flyers displayed the difference in Black student enrollment between the University and Michigan State University, pointing to alleged disparities in IQ levels between Black and white students, stating, “Do the math, Nature is racist, Not ‘the System.’”
A number of University faculty members authored a statement last October debunking myths of correlation between race and mental ability.
“This has never been proven,” the statement reads. “Nevertheless, it is one of the oldest cards in the racist deck.”
This is not the first time residential areas of campus have been targeted. Last year, residence halls were some of the most frequent sites of white supremacist flyering, and earlier last month, Black students in West Quad Residence Hall awoke to racial slurs written on their doors.
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This morning, University President Mark Schlissel lamented the frequency of racist attacks this year alone — from anti-Latino graffiti on the Rock to anti-Black graffiti on local streets to a white man urinating on #BlackLivesMatter messages on the Diag.
“As I’ve said on numerous occasions, racism and bigotry in all its forms have no place at the University of Michigan,” he said. “I denounce these and any expressions of hate at our university.”
University spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen said administrators are aware of the flyers.
An Annual Security Report & Annual Fire Safety Report released by University police noted an increase in bias crime reporting over the past year — two intimidation incidents increased to nine incidents in 2016, ranging from property destruction to assault.
As the incidents accumulate, students continue to express their frustration with the repetitive nature of such racist acts.
In an earlier interview with the Daily, LSA sophomore J’laina Harvey, a Black student, said that although she is trying to focus on school, it is difficult to act like such attacks don’t affect her emotionally.
“Honestly, I’ve been taking it day by day, and I wouldn’t be really surprised if something else happened, so I’m kind of looking out for it but it’s hard to say that it didn’t affect me because it does,” she said. “But I’m trying to not let it distract me from where I want to go, which is be successful in school,” she said. “So, I’m trying not to let it deter me off my plan; however, emotionally, it is something to be concerned about.”
This is a developing story. Check back at michigandaily.com for more updates.