Racial Tensions Grow At UCLA Law After Black Student Receives Hate Mail

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/black-voices/



Racial tensions between students at the UCLA School of Law appear to be growing.

Following the release of a student-produced video to raise awareness about the lack of diversity at the law school, reports have surfaced of flyers from black student organizations being pulled down, as well as one student receiving hate mail.

Editor's Note: This story contains racially charged language that some readers may find objectionable.

The blog Above The Law, which reports on the legal industry, received a tip about a student, Alexis Gardner, who got an anonymous note in her mailbox that read, "Stop being a sensitive nigger." The campus administration has responded and an investigation is currently underway. Scroll down to see Gardner's photo of the note (warning: NSFW language).

"We recognize that racial issues exist across the campus, not just in the law school. In fact, just today Chancellor Block issued a special announcement about the need to redouble our diversity efforts in the wake of Proposition 209, which prohibited affirmative action in admissions at any public college or university in California," said dean Rachel Moran in a statement to Above The Law.

Nancy Greenstein, a spokeswoman for UCLA's police department, said the hate mail incident was reported Monday. The note was computer-printed in bold black letters, she said. However, the paper has already been handled by a number of people, making it difficult to determine the note's authorship based on fingerprints.

"When it comes to hate crimes on our campus, we always go the extra mile in the investigation," Greenstein told The Huffington Post.

In addition to the YouTube video, which Gardner appears in, students have also created a petition addressed to Moran. On Monday, Moran responded to the petition by meeting with students.

"I met for an hour and a half with 15 of our students to discuss the issues that were raised in the Change.org petition. I was happy to share that the law school is making progress on a number of fronts to promote diversity and racial tolerance," said Moran in a statement released to HuffPost Tuesday.

Moran's statement went on to say:

However, according to a report about the meeting in student newspaper the Daily Bruin, some students wanted more immediate action.

"Overall I’m feeling dissatisfied and unhappy with how it turned out. She played her political part in meeting with us, but she didn't agree to do anything," Gardner told the Bruin.

The anonymous note isn't the only troubling incident to have occurred at UCLA in recent months. Students have ripped down posters and flyers put up by the Black Law Students Association. Moran responded by sending out a campus-wide email reminding students that UCLA is "dedicated to providing an engaging intellectual environment that is respectful and welcoming to all." Above The Law also notes that tensions previously arose over a November incident in which a number of students wore T-shirts declaring support for Richard Sander, a UCLA professor whose work argues against affirmative action.

Currently, UCLA's law school has just 33 black students. The school has 994 students pursuing their Juris Doctor, and if students who are pursuing their Master of Law degree are included, the total student population is roughly 1,100.

[YOUTUBE]5y3C5KBcCPI[/YOUTUBE]

 

racists being racist.

 

It's concerning that this is happening in a law school, meaning these are our future officers and jurors.

 

Heard this for years this ain't new

 

They are butthurt over 33 Black students...talk about being sensitive.

 

waiting on paniro to say something

 

A university like UCLA is expensive as it is prestigious. Like anyplace or anywhere that has a glorious history, those "traditions" are reflections of the past. That past when there was not a lot of diversity. Just a lot of money changing hands. Money from wealthy bluebloods who were either alumni or just people who like the location. This case is about as passionate as the future cases these students will face after they graduate.

 

Especially funny when you consider the fact that at least 50% of the students in every undergraduate and graduate program at UCLA are Asian.

 

Ucla is a state school fam lol

 

Asians are not black duh

 

From what I'm hearing UCLA is becoming less racially tolerant than it's been in the past. Nothing dramatic, but this isn't a school in the Deep South we're talking about. Southern California is liberal central.

This is what kills me about people who bitch about how wrong affirmative action is.

Less than 4 percent of UCLA's Law School is Black, well below the national percentage of Blacks in the U.S. Yet some professors and students still can't handle it and think it's too many.

Ain't a damn thing changed before affirmative action, after the fact, or if it's eliminated completely.

There are always going to be people inside and outside academia who view you as unqualified with subpar credentials if your skin is the wrong color.:smt078

Just like every school considers gender, economic background, athletics and specific extra-curriculars, and the region of the country an applicant is from when selecting a student class for admission, all affirmative action does is include race as a determining factor.

No one gets into a college or university just because they're a minority.
No one gets into a college or university just because they have excellent grades and a high score on a standardized test.

 

Amen. I would wager far more people get in because they're legacies but I don't hear anyone complaining about that though. Wonder why?

 

I'd choose USC or UCLA any day....

My brother went to UCLA for a full year, hated it because of the racism, then transferred to USC. It almost amazes me that 2 universities so close could be so culturally different......kinda' like DC & Baltimore. lol

My brother said that he experienced so much racial tensions at UCLA's law school that it was unbearable. When he went to USC, not only did he recievce a quality education, but, as he put it, "there was ALOT of snow in the jungle" as well......lol

To put it short, he's now married from 1 of those "snowdrops" in his jungle, and let's just say that I'm surprised he's not on this BMWW site.....lol

 

This is a shame. There was a racial incident last month (scrawling something on the BSA office door) in the undergraduate section at my school as well. Haven't had an experience like that at the law schools yet, but that's probably because it's a much smaller student body, very contained space, and harder to get away with things like that.

 

this story just baffles me...they are going to law school for crying out loud...shouldn't they be studying...they won't find out who did this but what they should do is add a required class on diversity in order to graduate for everyone currently enrolled in the law program

 

UCLA is one of the world's greatest universities and I am very proud to be a Bruin. The most egregious example of racism I ever found on campus was an antisemitic pamphlet left in the hallway of a building. On occasion you'd hear dumb shit in the village surrounding campus, but the university itself is a friendly environment for black people who have their shit together.

And only someone who couldn't handle the academic rigor of UCLA find preference with the University of Second Choice.

 

Gotta love that rivalry. I kind of regret not going to a school that had a real rivalry but I guess when you Husky you don't really have competition. UCONN 2012 suckas

 

Damn straight Dark King UConn 2002 here.

 

Now that's what's up
Damn you were there for a championship. Nice

 

lol...close to white as someone says. so they are tolerated.
need to see if they are legal . let me see your card-paniro
hes not illegal...hes asian- flame