In a historically unprecedented display of solidarity, the UWindsor Student body has moved together to speak out and condemn the anti-Black discrimination of the UWindsor administration. Specifically, a template statement drafted by ExposeUWindsor has been circulated and endorsed by over 42 different student groups. Many groups have released similar versions of the statement adding unique perspectives of their own:
The statements of the UWindsor student body center the negative experiences of Black lives on UWindsor campus by touching on various incidents and talking points related to the anti-Blackness within the UWindsor administration– both present and ongoing. Specifically, students touched on the following topics (as quoted from the template of the statement):
1. UWindsor President’s Evasive and Hypocritical Statement:
On June 2nd, 2020, President Robert Gordon issued a statement concerning the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minessota Police Office Derek Chauvin. The statement touches on various failures of Robert’s statement including his failure to categorize the incident as an instance of anti-Black racism, his failure to categorize the incident as a murder or condemn the actions of the officer, his failure to engage the overarching topic of Black-targetted police brutality or any other recent cases of Black death, and lastly, his failure to address the numerous past and ongoing instances of unresolved anti-Black racism and over-policing of Black on Uwindsor campus. The statement can be seen below:
2. Over Policing of Black Students
Through various Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act requests submitted to the Windsor Police Service, data obtained suggests that Black students on campus are approximately 8 times more likely to be reported as possible suspects in a crime investigation than their white peers. This– amongst other apparent statistical disparities– is referenced by the statements of the UWindsor student Body.
3. Passa Passa Beatings/Arrests of Black Students
The UWindsor student body also referred to the matter of the 2008 Passa Passa party at the UWindsor’s campus pub, where 25 armed police and SWAT officers with police dogs in tow beat down and violently arrested Black students on campus without cause; this along with the continuous mislabeling of Jordan Afolabi as “aggressive” and “dangerous” by UWindsor admin are only two examples that illustrate the pervasive pattern of over-policing, surveilling, and blaming of Black students for Windsor police interventions and brutality.
4. Uwindsor’s Abuse of Jordan Afolabi
As has been heavily documented in various articles on this webpage, the statements of the UWindsor body address the ongoing extra-judicial sanctioning of Black UWindsor law student Jordan Afolabi– who despite being found innocently acting in self-defence from the attack of a rogue non-Black student by both the University’s 3rd party investigation as well as the criminal courts– continues to be banned from multiple campus buildings by the University while his attacker has faced absolutely no repercussions from the administration. This is despite multiple witness statements being made corroborating Jordan’s claim that the student attacked him. Additionally, in his efforts to raise these grievances with the administration, multiple admin members have filed false statements with the police concerning his conduct in their offices during their visits. Had Jordan not recorded these conversations, it is highly unlikely that the truth of the admin member’s behaviours would have come to light. The statements of the UWindsor student body emphasized that Jordan’s situation is NOT an isolated case and go further to center and validate the experiences of all Black students on campus who may not have “proof” of the actual victimization they have faced.
Jordan Afolabi on UWindsor campus
In addition to the individual statements, ExposeUWindsor has compiled a central statement signed by each student group contributor. The central statement with the full details can be seen below:
The UWindsor Student body’s display of solidarity has drawn attention from the media and was briefly referenced last night in CBC’s special. The segment can be seen below:
Thank you to all those who signed onto this statement. A particular thanks goes to individuals such as Josh Lamers, Princess Doe, Fardovza Kusow, Natasha Daley, Jhanel Dundas, Ebony Evans, and Seher Ali whose intellectual labour, expansive work, organizing force, ethic, and contributions have been absolutely crucial not only to this campaign but to the wider goal of Black liberation and re-construction of Black life in Canada. The particular Black radical ethic and tradition carried on by organizers such as Josh Lamers and Princess Doe has created the foundation and precedent for all such work.
We thank you all.
More to come.
#ExposeUwindsor #UwindsorDeservesBetter #DanieliArbex #RyanFlannagan #DouglasKneale #CharleneRoe #BlackInPostSec #JosephYakow #BlackInPostSec
