Late Sunday evening, the Facebook feeds of many UF students became inundated with cries of outrage and disbelief over the purported existence of an exciting, new student organization: the University of Florida White Students Union! With a profile picture proudly showing off Century Tower and a cover photo showing the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence, the page for this totally real and not at all fictitious group claims on its "About" page that it represents "a place to celebrate the very beautiful European culture," and wants to "encourage you to preserve your heritage by sharing it and discussing its future."
Now, we’ll be the first to admit racism can be an insidious, subtle force that can be difficult to discern, but… you know what? No. This is a pretty blatantly racist Facebook page.
Between claiming Native Americans didn’t fight hard enough to keep America to themselves and white people have no public place to express Eurocentric culture, the admin or admins behind the page made no secret of their white-superiority complex. Reasonable human beings commented on the page and argued with them, dumb arguments ensued, and you know the rest.
We’re not in the business of self-promotion here at the Alligator, but we’re not going to deny many of us thought something was rotten in the city of Gainesville. Lo and behold, new reports have revealed such pages have been popping up at various colleges all week, and next to none of them have any affiliation whatsoever with the colleges they identify with; the pages serve no purpose other than to troll and irritate people who have social lives beyond their keyboards.
On one hand, this is great news: It’s reassuring to know any students at UF who may be racist are keeping it to themselves, rather than setting off on any misguided quests to preserve white supremacy. On the other hand, that doesn’t change the fact that many good-intentioned students took the bait, hook, line and sinker.
The phrase "don’t feed the trolls" didn’t emerge from a vacuum; there are several good reasons as to why one should tread carefully when arguing with seemingly indefensible positions on the Internet. If you’re arguing with someone who seems adamant about raising awareness regarding the existential threats facing people with white skin, there is a considerable possibility they take that train of thought even less seriously than you do. But seriously, don’t feed the trolls.
It is a very good thing Wednesday marks the beginning of our Thanksgiving Break. It represents a time when we will be thinking about anything BUT the rare bouts of awfulness we occasionally encounter here at UF. Regardless of any controversies surrounding the holiday (because what ISN’T controversial or offensive in this day and age?), take the holiday as an opportunity to rest and cherish your loved ones. Don’t waste it on trolls and hilariously inept racist dogma.
