TO THE EDITOR:
A new student group called Youth for Western Civilization recently helped bring former U.S. Treasurer Bay Buchanan to UNC to speak against the celebration of multiculturalism and current immigration practices.
The student group is one chapter of a national Youth for Western Civilization movement.
According to the group's Web site" its goal is to ""educate"" organize and train activists on campuses across the nation to create a subculture that will promote the survival of Western Civilization and pride in Western heritage.""
The statement goes on to decry multiculturalism and what they call ""a poisonous and bigoted left-wing campus climate.""
I recognize the significance of Western culture" which is inherently multicultural but do not support the subjugation of other peoples or cultures. Although the group purports to celebrate Western civilization there is nothing about Shakespeare Renaissance Painting or Transcendentalism on its Web page and its entire focus on our campus has been anti-immigrant. I'll leave it to you to decide what its real intentions are.
Civil discourse is essential and we respect the right of this organization and others to have strong opinions. However Youth for Western Civilization's language makes it clear that they are more interested in derision than dialogue.
Please consider signing the No Space for Hate petition: www.ipetitions.com/petition/nospaceforhate.
Let this be an opportunity for all of us to think critically about the language that we use to describe others and ourselves and to become more informed about issues of diversity.
Patrick Toomey
Sophomore
Coalition Against Hate