UWEC Hmong students respond to racist "problems" sign

A couple of weeks ago, I shared this note that was posted in a dorm bathrooom stall by someone who obviously had some "problems" with her Hmong floor-mates at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

I recently heard from he resident assistant on the floor where the sign was posted. After waiting a month to see whether and how school officials would react, she and her peers decided to write a public statement to the university administration and the greater UWEC community.

Here's the letter:

this dorm mate has hmong "problems"

In the age of racist tweets and Facebook updates, people get lazy. You have to give some credit to the person who makes a good old-fashioned hand-written sign to communicate their passive-aggressive racial prejudice.

For example, this sign that was posted in a dorm bathroom stall at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, on a floor with many Hmong residents.

The author's got Hmong Problems. Note the us-versus-them distinction between Hmong and American -- as if someone who is Hmong couldn't possibly be American, because "American," of course, really means white.

Sure, a crappy sign is seemingly not as bad as hate violence or an outright racial slur, but situations like this usually give way to bigger ignorant bullshit. And it happens all the time on campuses around the country.