Swastikas and speeches filled with racial slurs greet anyone who
walks through the Kerckhoff Art Gallery this week, where the
Undergraduate Students Association Council has set up an exhibit on
hate crime as part of its Campus Safety Awareness Week.
The exhibit features images and articles depicting and
discussing hate crimes. Incidents referred to in the works range
from Ku Klux Klan cross burnings in the 1930s to more current cases
such as the burning of Israeli and American flags and the scrawling
of the words “Fags-mobile” on the vehicle of an
anti-discrimination campaign.
“Some pictures are really like, “˜Wow,’ like
impressive, shocking,” said Michelle Rios, a first-year
undeclared student who viewed the exhibit, adding that she was
surprised some works were of such recent events.
The idea to organize the exhibit as part of Campus Safety
Awareness Week was conceived by the USAC Cultural Affairs
Commission, said USAC Internal Vice President Gregory Cendana.
“It was a really good idea that we supported,” he
said. “I think it’s a reminder that there are different
experiences that we may not understand. We need to be supportive of
each other.”
Construction-paper footprints on the floor lead from the gallery
entrance to sneakers facing a swastika hung on the wall.
“It reminds me of the Museum of Tolerance, where they have
the exhibits with thousands of shoes,” said Ashley Elrod, a
first-year English student. “It definitely catches the
eye.”
The sneakers connect to the title of the exhibit, “In My
Shoes.” Marivell Caba, USAC Cultural Affairs commissioner and
manager of the gallery, said the title is meant to emphasize
personal perspective ““ viewers literally stand in, or rather
near, someone else’s shoes to experience these issues.
“It goes back to perspectives and points of view that an
individual may experience,” she said. “I wanted to show
that in my exhibition.”
Caba said she strategically selected images from the Internet,
trying to convey the diversity of hate crimes. She used examples
related to such concepts as religion, race and sexual orientation,
as well as local events.
Aaron Vorbau, a philosophy student at UC Davis who saw the
exhibit, said he appreciated the assortment.
“I like that it covers a lot of different areas of hatred,
not just one hatred,” Vorbau said. “I feel like it
exposes the truth of the last 100 years, what’s gone
on.”
Organizers also said they sought to connect past, present and
future.
“We wanted to highlight the historical aspect of how hate
has taken its place in our society today,” said Carlos
Saucedo, a USAC general representative. “We wanted to make
students more aware, and never forget the past instances that have
happened, but also provide optimistic hope … for the
future,”
Caba emphasized the global impact local hate crimes can have,
and that global-scale hate crimes also affect people locally.
She also stressed the role of awareness in bridging
inequality.
“I think it’s important to create awareness and
recognition for those who may be in shoes who are more privileged,
who don’t feel attacked daily for things like sexual
orientation, religious beliefs, political beliefs. Especially when
you’re in a university like UCLA, it’s all about
recognizing challenge, struggles, histories we may not be aware
of,” Caba said.
Caba, Cendana and Saucedo all said hate crime is pertinent to
the overall topic of campus safety. Cendana specified the exhibit
is intended to educate students, in addition to the workshop and
research fairs offered this week.
Cendana cited the recent string of safety-related incidents,
though not hate crimes, as rendering the general Campus Safety
Awareness Week particularly appropriate.
“I think this year, we can look at the Taser incident, the
breaching of Social Security numbers, and different burglaries that
happened in the libraries and residence halls; we need to make sure
the students are aware of what to do in these situations,” he
said.
He said he believes this awareness should extend to hate crimes,
which Caba said is where the exhibit comes in.
“Not everyone may experience hate crimes, but to be
cognizant of campus safety issues such as hate crimes,
they’re less likely to occur when you are educated and aware
of these issues,” Caba said.
A sign bearing the phrase “Don’t hate me because
I’m ____” and personalized by students was also added
yesterday afternoon.
Different people filled in the blank to personalize the quote,
forming a poster, which was then placed in the art gallery so
students can see what people wrote. Students filled in the blanks
with such statements as, “I’m Arab,” “I
love cops!” and “I’m a science major.”
“That’s (been) placed in the art gallery to show we
still live in a society of hope, and we’re still trying to
improve ourselves and be more accepting of one another,”
Saucedo said.
The exhibit will be open in the Kerckhoff Art Gallery until
Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.