The University of Maryland recently experienced a wave of white supremacist fliers littering their campus, and the incident was the third time in as many months that something like this occurred. Other events of similar nature have been reported at other universities across the United States in the recent months as well, which shows a strong uptick in the efforts of the white supremacist movement to recruit college students.
The chemistry department at the University of Maryland was the site of several fliers claiming America is a white nation, and asking that any and all illegal aliens be reported to the proper authorities. Other fliers suggested to carry the torch of the white people, which is a metaphor for hunting down any other race. Fliers like these were found in more than three locations across the campus, according to the student-run newspaper.
It wasn’t only hateful messages that these fliers hoped to convey, but they also included a link to a website for a group known as Vanguard America, a front for the white supremacist movement. When reporters attempted to contact the group about the fliers, they received no response. The other incidents of such fliers appearing on American college campuses were linked to the same group.
Even the most cursory glance at the website for Vanguard America will show that the group has no interest in hiding their white supremacist ideologies. They have a manifesto on their site that goes into great detail regarding their belief in the ‘Aryan’ race as the more powerful on the planet, and they want to bring America to the hands of those people, and only those people. They hope to ‘recapture’ the glory of those that built this nation from the ground, yet they seem to forget that white people were not at all the only contributors to the progression of America.
The local police for the University of Maryland have already stated their intent to search security footage in order to attempt to identify those who placed the fliers. They consider these to be acts of bias and hate, and they will not allow such filth on their campus.
One of the chemistry professors who photographed the fliers before they were removed said that he found the timing to be of particular concern. The fliers were posted during the week of events meant to promote diversity while increasing minority recruitment for the university. These fliers clearly were meant to undermine that idea, so the university wants to be clear they do not agree with these abhorrent views. They don’t want their that message of hate associated with their school, and they will work to prevent these events from happening in the future.
Similar fliers were found on the campus of George Washington University on the same day. According to a statement released by the Anti-Defamation League, over one hundred similar events have occurred since the beginning of this academic year, and more than half have occurred since the start of 2017.
University of Maryland President Wallace Loh said that they totally stand against every form of hate and ignorance, and that the fliers and other white nationalist and white supremacist material found on campuses across the country don’t reflect the values of those schools. Indeed, it is quite detestable that these groups would attempt to use college campuses as grounds for recruiting agents of hate and bigotry. Not only that, but the increase in attempts to garner more support from the younger generation is a play that hasn’t been attempted by the white supremacist movement in quite some time. It’s almost as if something happened recently in the government that opened the door for increased intolerance of others.