Northwestern Program Responds To 'Hateful,' Racist Vandalism Of Evanston Library Books

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Nov 25, 2016 6:19PM

Northwestern University's Middle Eastern studies program is decrying the "hateful" vandalism of Evanston Public Library books about Islam. The vandalism was discovered earlier this week when the program, known as MENA, hosted one of a series of collaborative events on Islam and history with the library. The Monday lecture was titled "Is the Quran a 'good book?'" and hosted by Yale professor Zareena Grewal.

In a statement, MENA Director Brian Edwards described the library and police response to what happened in more detail, and how the racist defacements affect his community. Edwards writes that it is still unclear to police investigating the crime whether it was motivated by the university-sponsored lecture and when exactly it happened, but it was likely sometime earlier this month.

The books were defaced with "Swastikas, the “n” word, and homophobic slurs against the Muslim Prophet," he wrote. He said community members have reacted with a mixture of sadness and surprise, in part because of Evanston's reputation as a liberal small city just north of Chicago.

"On behalf of MENA: Middle East and North African Studies at Northwestern University, I denounce these acts of hatred by an anonymous perpetrator. They are hurtful to all members of our community, whatever their religion," Edwards writes. "The use of the swastika recalls the extermination of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, the persecution of homosexuals by the Nazis, and the racial violence against African Americans under the name of White Nationalism, which has adopted the iconography of the Nazis."

Edwards speculates that the incident has garnered local and national attention in part because of the presidential election: "Part of what propelled the story, undoubtedly, is that it took place in the context of a spate of racially-inflected violence and intimidation against Muslims and other ethnic, racial, and religious minorities in the wake of the presidential election two weeks ago."

"In the last two weeks, hate speech and crimes have escalated dramatically, both locally and nationally," Edwards says. "According to FBI statistics, and as reported widely, hate crimes against Muslims in America surged 67 percent during 2015. On the very day of our event, the Pew Research Center reported that anti-Muslim assaults had reached 9/11-era levels."

The full statement: