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On October 2nd, the Editorial Board of the Stanford Daily announced that their publication is racist and anti-Black.
"As we begin the new session of the Stanford Daily Editorial Board, we must recognize the continued oppression and anti-Blackness that exists in our nation and in our own Stanford community…The Editorial Board has been complicit in this same racism and anti-Blackness.”
The Stanford Review, an organization which stands firmly against racism and discrimination, calls upon the ASSU to launch a formal investigation into the Stanford Daily. Student funds must not be used to support an openly racist organization.
We further call on anyone at the Daily who self-identifies as a racist to resign their post and make way for those who are less prejudiced. We at the Review, apparently the only remaining major campus publication who have not proclaimed ourselves racist, are more than willing to help the Daily recruit more tolerant replacements.
Such behavior—admitting racism and expecting no consequences—is not without precedent. In September, the President of Princeton University declared that his own university was “racist.” The U.S. Department of Education has since launched an investigation into whether Princeton has misrepresented its compliance with anti-discrimination mandates.
So, does the ASSU plan to investigate the Daily for a similar breach of non-discrimination policies, or of the Fundamental Standard? Is their intolerance an issue for ASSU leaders? We asked them.
The ASSU responded that we actually should “applaud them, since willingness to admit to discrimination is never easy.” Regarding a possible investigation, a spokesperson for the ASSU wrote that, “this will not be the case, since the Daily is independently taking steps toward reducing the discriminatory practices that they independently admitted to.”
The Daily Editorial Board laid out four paltry actions which it will take to rectify their history of “racism and anti-Blackness.” These include attaching a comment form to each Editorial Board piece to be “more responsive” to the community, and “engaging directly with organizations and individuals that can best represent [minority] interests.”
Perhaps by consulting one black person through a Google form or giving an editorial veto to campus activists, the Daily thinks it can solve its own racism? For an organization that could not even get its ASSU funding forms submitted on time, we question whether the Daily can be expected to independently address something so pressing as racial equality. The need for a transparent and thorough process demands ASSU intervention.
Racist institutions have no home on Stanford’s campus, and our student government cannot be complicit in funding them. We demand that the ASSU investigate the Daily and take bold action in defense of racial justice!
