A college president condemned “hate” after a message surfaced telling white girls to take off their hoop earrings, but took care to avoid condemning the original message.
The president of Pitzer College, Melvin L. Oliver, responded to the message, “White Girl, Take OFF Your Hoops!!!” in emails obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. [RELATED: Latina Students At Absurdly Expensive College: White Girls Must Stop Wearing HOOP EARRINGS Now]
“As a place of higher education, we strongly cherish and defend intellectual curiosity, productive discourse and opposing views that may broaden our perspectives as global citizens,” wrote Oliver. “However, when speech resorts to hate, violence and threats, we will not tolerate these acts nor the perpetrators of these actions.”
“Coverage in a local publication of a recent posting on the free wall has ignited a cycle of violent hate speech that threatens the safety and well-being of every member of our community,” said Oliver. “Some students are experiencing harassment and death threats.”
Oliver told Pitzer students to report those spreading violence, “hate” and threats to the Pitzer Office of Student Affairs and the Claremont Police Department.
Pitzer students had previously instructed white girls not to culturally appropriate hoop earrings via the email server. One student, Jacquelyn Aguilera, lists six scenarios in which students should “take off those earrings.” [RELATED: Latina University Student Calls On White Students To Pay For Her Spring Break]
“Hoop earrings have been a part of many different cultures throughout history,” noted student Alexander Hinshaw. “When does wearing them offend? Is it hoops with winged eye makeup, or hoops with lip liner or just hoops that are appropriation of culture?”
Another student, Emily Wolfram, responded that “trying to nitpick” about what does and does not constitute cultural appropriation “is a sign you haven’t really heard the message.”
Student Roz Naimi emailed an Instagram post comparing white feminists to TV’s Spongebob Squarepants, a cartoon character.
“I’m just feeling confused about the limits of this cultural appropriation and what I can do to prevent offending/causing any damage to any group of people!” said student Madeline Weiss, noting that she only recently saw the “white girl, take OFF your hoops!!!” painting.
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