On Friday, January 20, a consortium of University of Chicago student organizations plans to host a “teach-in” specifically for students who are BIPOC (black, indigenous, or people of color). “Mobilizing your climate anxiety” will be the topic of discussion.
According to an Environmental Justice Task Force (EJTF) flyer, eight student groups—many of them UChicago registered student organizations—are cohosting the BIPOC-centered event. Students enticed by “FREE FOOD!” will be able to “[f]ind personal connections to environmental justice,” “[m]ove through climate anxiety in community and solidarity,” and “[g]et activated about divestment.”
An EJTF post from January 2022 fittingly characterizes the left-wing organization’s objectives: EJTF demands that UChicago immediately “freeze any new investments in the fossil fuel industry and announce a plan to liquidate current investments within the next five years.” Another post, from September 2020, offers viewers an “intro to environmental racism.”
Aside from EJTF, the BIPOC-centered event’s sponsors are the African and Caribbean Student Association, the Indigenous Students Association, the Korean Student Organization, “El Movimento Estiduantil Chicanx,” the Organization of Latin American Students, the Organization of Black Students, and the South Asian Students Association.
Partitioning students along racial lines is popular among left-wing UChicago groups. In October 2022, the registered student organization UChicago United stoked national controversy by hosting a “Race @ UChicago” discussion open to only people who are black, indigenous, or people of color.
“A BIPOC-ONLY space for honest discussion of navigating race at UChicago between new and old students” was UChicago United’s pitch for the October event.
What Would MLK Have to Say?
Just a few days ago, we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” the eminent pastor said in 1963.
When faced with Martin Luther King’s message of hope and unity, why have UChicago’s most radical left-wing student organizations partitioned our student body along racial lines?
* The views expressed in this article solely represent the views of the author, not the views of the Chicago Thinker.
