Someone Chalked “Vote Trump” All Over Emory University And It Might Have Been Racially Driven

Students at Emory University in Atlanta woke up to their campus defaced with pro Donald Trump chalkings and graffiti.

According to multiple students, the chalkings were reported all over the campus and are suspected by some to be racially motivated.

According to Emory student Zoe Lampru, some of the chalkings were found on each step leading up to the office of the newly created Centro Latino, which according to its website seeks to “provide inclusion for the Emory community and support the intellectual, personal, leadership and social development of the Latin@/Hispanic community at Emory.”

Showing how widespread the chalkings were on the campus of the small private university, the Tab reports that the graffiti was located on every title surrounding Asbury Circle, another gathering place.

Trump, the front-runner for the Republican Presidential nomination has come to the political fore in part by inflaming racial divisions in the country and by attacking Hispanic Americans, Muslim Americans, disabled Americans and women among other groups.

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Photo Credit: The Tab

Emory is not new to controversy on matters involving race.

The university’s President James Wagner is still not trusted by many minority students according to Lampru because of the 2013 research paper he authored that included a section lauding the Three-Fifths Compromise in the Constitution that relegated slaves to sub-human status for matter of census counting.

Wagner thought the Compromise was a good example of how to work towards incremental change.

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A screenshot of an Instagram video showing the amount of pro Trump chalkings on the stairs leading up to the Centro Latino office on the Emory Campus. Photo Credit: Jonathan Peraza/ Screengrab

LatinAction, a grassroots student activist organization at Emory issued a statement condemning the university for allowing the chalkings to happen.

“Throughout campus, Black and Brown students, and other affected student populations, have spoken out in outrage and distress,” the statement reads in part. “We NEVER get to have a break. We NEVER get an escape from the daily violence and marginalization that we consistently experience on campus.

“And now we are being attacked by the very real danger we feel of a Nazi reincarnate potentially rising to power in this country,” the statement continues. “We are outraged and distressed with this rhetoric and these attacks on minority students at Emory. Therefore, we at LatinAction stand in solidarity with the NAACP and the Black, Latinx, Muslim, Jewish, and disabled communities who are affected and face consequences with Trump as a presidential candidate.”

Read More: Anyone Remember When The University Of Alabama Used Bill Cosby To Help Justify Racial Segregation On Its Campus?

Kainath Merchant is a Emory student who came upon the chalkings this morning on her way to class.

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Photo Credit: The Tab

“At first I didn’t pay much attention to it because students frequently write messages on the ground in chalk to advertise events or organizations, but when I paid closer attention, there were messages that said “TRUMP” or “TRUMP 2016” or “TRUMP FOR PREZ” every five feet,” Merchant said in an interview with RISE NEWS. “They were on benches, sidewalks, and even on every single step going up the the Dobbs University Center. I was so furious I felt myself trembling.”

Lampru said that she was disappointed that the university didn’t respond to the chalkings and believes that it “has selective ways to react” when dealing with racial issues on campus.

“We are angry and determined to bring to light the violence that we experience,” the statement from LatinAction reads. “We are demanding that Emory University speak out and act on this attack on students and the vandalization of our university. We will not be silent. We are here and we deserve to feel safe in this institution of learning that claims to uphold the values of diversity and inclusion. Emory, your call. #EmoryYourInnerRacistIsShowing #StuckIn1836 #EmoryAgainstTrump #EmoryAgainstRacism”

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Cover Photo Credit: The Tab

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About the Author
Rich Robinson is the CEO and publisher of Rise News. He is also a journalist and a native of Miami. Robinson graduated from the University of Alabama and can be followed on Twitter @RichRobMiami.
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