The Office of Public Safety and Security received three reports on Nov. 1 of flyers reading “It’s okay to be white,” posted on campus which are likely related to a nationwide white supremacy movement.
Each report identified locations along City Avenue, according to Arthur Grover, director of Public Safety and Security. Two flyers were found at Cardinal Avenue and City Avenue, and the third reported flyer was along City Avenue near the Wendy’s restaurant. Grover said multiple flyers were found on campus around this time in 2018.
Gail Benner, public relations director, said in an email to The Hawk that Public Safety was unable to identify the responsible individual, but recent media coverage led the Bias Activity Review Group to determine that the perpetrator was most likely not from the St. Joe’s community.
“The decision was made to not email the community about this activity because the national organization behind this moment [sic] relishes in baiting institutions into a reaction and we didn’t want to give this more steam and feed into their racist hands,” Benner said.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an anti-hate organization, said the flyers are part of a larger trolling campaign created in October 2017 by users of 4chan, an internet discussion forum infamous for its offensive members and association with white supremacy. The initial discussion post promoted putting fliers on college campuses during Halloween night 2017.
Robin Burstein, senior associate regional director at the ADL Philadelphia office, said white supremacists target college campuses because it provides them with an opportunity to gain new members.
“Young new people are essential for the growth and sustainability of any movement,” Burstein said. “College campuses are where young people go to expand their thinking, and they are thinking they will have an opportunity, especially in this political climate.”
According to the ADL, the idea was to create a flier that had an “inoffensive” phrase on it that would be treated as racist by people who viewed it, particularly liberals or members of the media, in order to make them lose credibility in the public eye. Soon after the campaign was created, it was promoted by hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
In November 2018, the flyers were reported on 14 college and university campuses in 12 states, according to the ADL. Also, the organization documented a 7% increase in white supremacy propaganda efforts on college campuses during the 2018-2019 school year compared to prior years.
Burstein said it is essential that all members of the university speak out against acts of hate.
“You want the high levels of the administration and everyone involved in the university to be allies and not bystanders when these things happen,” Burstein said. “And to make sure that campus leadership speaks out against those hateful messages.”
Public Safety also reported, “A St. Joe’s student organization and an administrative office received a racist document mailed from a non-St. Joe’s affiliated individual.” Initial investigations by The Hawk indicate the letter, postmarked Nov. 2, was received by at least half a dozen organizations and individuals on campus, including a professor, University President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., and The Hawk.
