Georgetown students protest racist Minutemen co-founder

Agents of racism and xenophobia again met resistance on campus as Minuteman founder Chris Simcox delivered his

Photos: Roger Scott

anti-immigrant message at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 1.

Hundreds of students and activists gathered in Georgetown’s Red Square to protest the university’s invitation to have Simcox to speak on the campus. Simcox founded the Minutemen Project with Jim Gilchrist in 2004. He is currently the leader of another anti-immigrant hate group, the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps. Both groups advocate intimidation and violence against working-class Mexican immigrants under the guise of patriotically “securing the border.”

The protest, led by GU Students United Against Racism and supported by the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, focused on the need for students to counter racist, anti-immigrant hatred that often gets presented by the media and right wing establishment as legitimate “free speech.”

Speakers and the rally included students from Georgetown, Howard and Columbia Universities, as well as

Georgetown faculty and local union leaders. Student protesters condemned the Georgetown’s Lecture Fund, which invited and paid Simcox to speak, saying that their campus was not a forum for extremist bigots who claim that Mexican immigrants are murderers, rapists and drug dealers.

Tight security in and around the auditorium allowed Simcox to deliver his message of hate. University brass tried hard to avoid an incident similar to the one that occurred last month when Columbia University students took the stage to protest Gilchrist speaking on their campus.

As Simcox spoke, however, the shouts and speeches of the protest outside could be heard throughout the auditorium. They were loud reminders that Georgetown students and the residents of Washington, D.C. will not tolerate hate speech on their campus and in their community.