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Swastikas deface U.C.‘s African American residence

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Message: If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/19052/full/19052/swastikas-deface-u-c-s-african-american-residence/ Swastikas deface U.C.‘s African American residence Friday, January 3, 2003 | by JOE ESKENAZI A "sanctuary" for African American students at U.C. Berkeley is feeling less comfortable after it was plastered with Nazi and white supremacist graffiti in the early morning hours of Dec. 24. It is not known who spray-painted swastikas and an encircled cross—the symbol of the white supremacist group Aryan Nation—on the university's African American Theme House. "That's a horrible thing to wake up to on Christmas Eve. Anyone walking out in front of the house will see this. It's very ugly and full of hatred," said Felicia Moore-Jordan, the cooperative's house manager and a U.C. Berkeley junior. "This house is a sanctuary for all students, but particularly African American students. For them to target this house is horrible, as you can imagine." Since the outbreak of the intifada, Berkeley has seen an influx of anti-Israel incidents and anti-Semitic graffiti, with slogans such as "Palestinian blood on our hands," "F—-Israel" and "Kill Jews" scrawled on sidewalks, streets and buildings. Last spring a cinder block was tossed through the front door of Berkeley Hillel and anti-Semitic graffiti was left on the center's recycling cans. It is still unknown who vandalized the Bancroft Way property. At around that time, recalls Moore-Jordan, someone kicked down the African American house's green, black, red and gold sign. That was the most overt attack on the house since it moved to its current location in the mid-'90s and received hate mail. "In terms of anti-Semitic incidents, Berkeley has seen about the sharpest increase of just about anyone this year. [But] I can't really say what's going on in terms of hate crimes generally," said Jonathan Bernstein, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. "It's hard sometimes to know what the motivation is. A lot of times it's people trying to get attention; sometimes people really do have hardcore, hateful beliefs. And in this case, it's particularly difficult because they left nothing other than their hateful symbols. I think what this shows is that there are still plenty of people who hate, and we can't assume this only happens somewhere else. It's occurring quite a bit here in the Bay Area." Bernstein spoke to residents of the theme house and offered assistance in obtaining speakers, should they wish to sponsor an anti-hate rally when students return to campus later this month. The theme house is the home of 21 students, the majority of whom are black. A house down the street belonging to a white family and a Volkswagen were also defaced, yet police are unsure why. Coming in the midst of U.C. Berkeley's lengthy winter recess, the incident was quite a shock to the theme house's neighbors on quiet Prospect Street, not far from Memorial Stadium. "One of our neighbors, who is Jewish, saw it and said she was outraged about it. She couldn't believe it happened," said Moore-Jordan. "Black students and all students here should not be susceptible to this." Similar racist graffiti featuring swastikas and Aryan Nation crosses was discovered later last week on a garage about four blocks west of the African American Theme House. Moore-Jordan said she is well aware of the many anti-Semitic graffiti incidents, and coupled with the defacing of the African American Theme House, Berkeley may have a significant problem on its hands. "This happened to the Jewish community as well. We need to stand up to put pressure on [the police] to find out about this," she said. "This affects the whole community."

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