The Young Conservatives of Texas planned to hold a “Catch an
Illegal Immigrant” game on campus this past week, but the Chapter Chairman,
Lorenzo Garcia, ended up canceling the event because of safety concerns for
their volunteers. The event was scheduled to occur on Wednesday, November 20,
and it would have involved people walking around wearing shirts that said “illegal
immigrant” on them. If someone was to “catch” one of these volunteers they
would have to bring them over to the Young Conservatives table in order to
receive a $25 gift card as a reward.
As soon as the event was created there was instant backlash
by thousands of students. A Facebook event protesting the game was created mere
hours later with a plan to meet at the UT Tower at noon on Wednesday, wearing
shirts that said “undocumented” on them. An approximate 500 people attended the
protest, with speakers like America Ferrera and students who spoke of what it
was like to be an undocumented immigrant on campus.
I do not understand what kind of conversation the Young
Conservatives were trying to create by holding such a dehumanizing and racist
event on campus. There are approximately 65,000 undocumented students that
graduate from high schools in the U.S. each, and about 600 of those students
were reported to be in attendance at UT in 2012. Many of these students came to
the U.S. at a very young age, without having much choice in the matter. These students
went to school with us, grew up with us, are friends with us, so what is it
that makes them so unworthy of living and receiving a higher education other
than the fact that they do not have a paper to prove that they “belong” here.
Observation:
There were more than 500 formal complaints submitted regarding the game, more
than for any single event on campus.
I was really confused as to how the YCT thought they were going to encourage open and constructive conversation around an important issue by hosting such a blatantly discriminatory event. Starting a conversation is one thing, but what they planned to to was simply hateful. I'm glad that so many people were able to join together and stand up against the YCT.
ReplyDeleteI am very glad that the game was cancelled, and even happier that the protest that occurred did not focus on the YCT (they don't need any more attention than they already received) but on the rights of undocumented people.
ReplyDeleteThis game was an outrage. However, it was encouraging to see how many students spoke out against it. I think that says a little bit about the progress the University has made.
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