BLACK STUDENTS SET TO RALLY THIS TUESDAY
For Immediate Release
Friday February 22nd 2008
BLACK STUDENTS SET TO RALLY THIS TUESDAY
Student Group Board Set on Fire, Anti-racist Material Destroyed
Last week a bulletin board belonging to Ryerson’s East African Students group was set on fire. Material put ablaze included a series of campaigns under the slogans of “United to End Racism,” “Education not Occupation,” “No Justice No Peace,” “Boycott Israeli Apartheid,” and “De-Colonize Ryerson.” Petitions on the board calling for university-based ESL provisions and equitable access to refugee students were also put to flames. Toronto Police have launched an investigation.
This vicious targeting of a politicized black student group tells us this is not an isolated incident, but a symptom of larger systemic issues of racism including Eurocentric curricula, security profiling, streaming, access to resources and lack of diverse representation in faculty. It also brings to light the repression faced by student organizations predominantly comprised of women and “visible minorities” who advocate for social change and political justice.
We are calling on all Black students and our allies to join us for a demonstration this coming Tuesday. We aim to collectively raise our voices in outrage at a life-threatening act of violence directed toward African Students; express our commitment to a united student movement for social justice; and our opposition to systemic racism at Ryerson University.
We are calling for:
1) Public declaration of Ryerson University’s commitment to upholding students’ right to organize
2) Ryerson University’s public condemnation and investigation of this incident
3) A university audit screening for Eurocentric curricula and systemic racism on campus.
JOIN US this Tuesday, February 26 at NOON (1st floor, Outside the Cafeteria)
Sponsoring Organizations:
EAST – East African Students of Toronto at Ryerson
UBSR - United Black Students at Ryerson
RSU – Ryerson Students Union
Mohammed Malik, East African Students of Toronto @ Ryerson,
Heather Kere, Vice-President Education of the Ryerson Students’ Union
or (416) 979-5255 ext. 2318
Next entry: Armed And Dangerous
Previous entry: AU chief urges Kenya political deal