Dartmouth students accuse school of ‘hypocrisy’ for celebrating MLK but not doing enough to ‘End White Supremacy. And maybe capitalism’
Protesters complain school did not give custodians the day off, fault school for having Board of Trustees composed “almost entirely of Wall Street executives.”
Protest leader says Dartmouth is hypocritical for honoring MLK, but isn’t “truly committed to justice.”
The students who interrupted Dartmouth University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day keynote address have explained that they did so to protest the “hypocrisy” of the school celebrating the holiday without doing enough to “End White Supremacy. And maybe capitalism.”
A press release put out by the protesters Tuesday explains that the demonstration was intended to protest “manifestations of … hypocrisy,” on campus, such as the school hosting MLK Day celebrations without giving custodians the day off.
Monday’s protest, which delayed ABC News correspondent John Quinones’ keynote address, was led by senior and Afro-American Society President Jalil Mustaffa Bishop.
“Dartmouth doesn't do just that one day of celebration, it’s a whole month of programming,” Bishop told Campus Reform in an interview on Wednesday.
“But not being able to show you are truly committed to justice, it’s such a glaring contradiction,” he said.
Other complaints in the release include college president Phil Hanlon’s refusal to “boycott Israeli educational institutions and the fact that the school’s administration does not reflect MLK’s devotion to “a mass redistribution of wealth.”
“Dartmouth’s celebration of MLK, who advocated for the Freedom Budget, which would entail a mass redistribution of wealth, yet its having a Board of Trustees composed almost entirely of Wall Street executives directly contradicts this goal and compromises our educations,” it states.
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