Ad might encourage hate group activity

We are writing to you as members of the Racial Incidents Team at IU. As you might know, IU created the team several years ago to respond to reports from students who believe that they have been victims of harassment or discrimination. Our goals include serving as educators, mediators and assistants to victims. We also work to collect data on the numbers and types of incidents that occur. IU also has the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Anti-harassment Team and the newly formed Gender Issues Team, both with similar goals.\nSpecifically, we are writing in response to an advertisement in the IDS on Oct. 11. The ad seemed innocuous enough to not even warrant much study, but upon closer scrutiny, it demonstrated a disturbing intent.\nThe ad, depicting a caricature of the Statue of Liberty, in essence called for individuals, particularly college students, to get involved in a mass anti-immigration movement. The Web sites it listed give viewers the clear message that \"only conflict...\" can result when two or more \"ethnic groups inhabit the same territory.\"\nWhile we do not promote censorship, nor are we inclined to suggest you do the same, it did raise some concerns. We want the readers of the IDS to be informed about the intent of the group which placed this ad in your paper. First and foremost, we were troubled about the possible links to hate groups, concerns that serve as all too painful reminders of our experience just more than one year ago in Bloomington. In a community where we have worked so hard to learn and heal from a very tragic event in our history, we felt that support of such a group creates an environment that is, at minimum, unwelcoming and is, at its worst, encouraging of hate and discrimination toward members of our community who were not born in the United States. \nThank you for the opportunity to voice our opinion. Anyone interested in learning more about any of the teams mentioned above, or seeking information about reporting incidents of discrimination or harassment, can call 855-4463 or write via e-mail to reportit@indiana.edu or sexism@indiana.edu.