Outrage was sparked at Mercer University on Monday night after flyers advocating that November and December be dedicated as “White History Months” were posted in residence halls across the Macon, Georgia, campus.
Complaining about the lack of white student groups on the campus, the flyer that was put up by an anonymous person read:
“There are African American societies, black student organizations, and Indian heritage associations; however, there is not one white society of engineers, white student organization, or Caucasian heritage association. Why? Because if there are, various individuals will say this is racism.”
Mercer University students reacted to the controversial flyer in an on-campus rally condemning the actions of the unknown perpetrator, with one student calling it a “divisive,” and another saying it’s “teenage nonsense.”
The flyer, which also read, “Since there is too much white history to squeeze into one month, we will settle for two,” was also labeled as possibly “some sort of a practical joke” by Mercer student Nicholas Wright, because the person “did not put their name on it.”
Students like Fredrick Woods believe there is an underlying prejudice, saying, “I think it just shows how real racism is in our community and even though we say that we have moved past it and that we are in a state of enlightenment that racism is still real.”
According to WMGT, the university’s president, Bill Underwood, sent out a letter to the community regarding the incident, part of which read:
Last evening, a flyer was anonymously posted in several of our residence halls that demeaned efforts to promote education about people of diverse races and cultures and their contributions to our society. The ignorance reflected in the poster is a reminder of the imperative of these efforts.
As a community committed to intellectual freedom, we seek to enrich the mind and spirit by promoting and facilitating an open and rigorous search for understanding. Thoughtful people of good will frequently disagree on how best to move beyond centuries of legal, institutional, and cultural racism in America.
This incident follows the controversial attempt by a student at Towson University who proposed the establishment of a “White Student Union” on the Maryland Campus.
