University police announced Tuesday they were investigating a
possible hate incident that occurred in an Asian American studies
class last week.
The investigation began after Vu Long Trinh, a teaching
assistant in Asian American Studies 20, told police that petitions
students in his class signed Thursday supporting the removal of
Taco Bell had been vandalized with ethnic slurs and derogatory
remarks.
Nancy Greenstein, UCPD’s director of police community
services, said the vandalism was being investigated as a hate
incident instead of a hate crime because there was no indication
the alleged perpetrator was going to harm any of the students.
A speaker supporting the removal of Taco Bell had come to the
class Thursday to make a presentation before asking students to
sign postcard petitions against the fast-food chain, Trinh wrote in
an e-mail.
At the end of class, a student noticed that on 10 of the
postcards had been written racist, prejudiced and homophobic slurs,
including “We need to go to Africa and catch more
slaves,” and “We need more KKK,” the e-mail
said.
Trinh said he was worried his class may no longer be the
same.
“Students might not know what to expect in the class. They
might be afraid to speak up, (afraid that) they might become a
target on someone’s list,” Trinh said.
Trinh said he was also worried for his students’ safety
because they wrote their addresses on the postcards, something the
perpetrator had access to.
Students in the class were informed of the vandalism Tuesday and
some said they were shocked and upset.
“This is an ethnic studies class and you would think that
people would be more aware and would be more conscious, would have
the decency, have the humanity, not to say something like
that,” said Darryl Molina, a fourth-year Asian American
studies student. “It’s not a laughing matter,
it’s not funny.”