Walking out on Tancredo’s racism

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--Former Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo, a supporter of vicious anti-immigrant policies, returned to the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill campus on April 26, one year after his presence sparked student protests that shut down his speech.

A coalition of student groups came together to organize a protest against his speech, including Students for a Democratic Society, Feminist Students United, the Carolina Hispanic Association, Lambda Fraternity, the Coalition for College Access, Reform Immigration for America, the Black Student Movement and Student Action with Workers.

Over 100 student protesters sat in the auditorium where Tancredo was scheduled to speak. As he took the stage, the students stood in unison and chanted "No human is Illegal," before gathering at the Pit on campus for a speak-out and concert against racism. A minority of Tancredo-supporters were left inside the event.

Tancredo was invited to return by Youth for Western Civilization (YWC), a student club that promotes the "uniqueness" of Western values which they claim are under attack from "multiculturalism." YWC, which calls itself the "West's right-wing youth movement," claims it seeks to "challenge the dogmatic left-wing orthodoxy of American higher education."

After last year's student protest that sparked a debate on freedom of speech, the UNC administration was determined to let Tancredo speak this year. There was a strong police presence at the ticketed event, which forced the student protesters to obtain tickets to the event in order to walk out, leaving the auditorium mostly empty.