The March 2nd discovery of a KKK-style hood on a public statue at UC San Diego marks the sixth incident in a recent rash of events in the UCSD community many students are referring to as hate speech.

Beginning with the “Compton Cookout” party hosted by a UCSD fraternity, and followed by a student-produced TV show that mocked the party’s protesters, racial tensions began boiling at UCSD several weeks ago. When a search of the TV stations yielded a piece of cardboard referring to the party as the “Compton Lynching,” the Black Student Union began rallying.

The BSU issued 32 demands of the University to improve racial tensions, including a safe space for black students on campus. Over 1,000 students and faculty attended a teach-in the next day.

Several days later, a noose was found hanging in the UCSD library, prompting an immediate rally on campus that culminated in students occupying Chancellor Marye Anne Fox’s office. An anonymous student left roses around the library, symbolizing solidarity and dignity.  The student who hung the noose has since come forward and accepted suspension for the incident. Officials are currently saying the incident will be processed as a crime “with intent to terrorize.”

Tuesday night, a UCSD statue was found wearing a KKK-style hood fashioned out of a pillow case while holding a rose.

Police dusted the statue for fingerprints and DNA evidence, and the incident is being “aggressively investigated” as a hate crime, according to the University website.

Hate incidents have also occurred recently at UC Davis. Last week, the LGBT student center was vandalized with spray painted epithets. Earlier in the semester, a swastika was carved into the dorm room door of a Jewish student.

In the past weeks, thousands of students have rallied and held sit-ins and teach-ins at UCSD, UCLA and UC Irvine in response to the series of UCSD incidents.


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