On September 7th, 2022, the New York Times posted an article titled The Safe Space That Became a Viral Nightmare; a name that doesn’t truly do the story justice. Immediately I noticed the irony in the entire situation — the violence and abuse that students of color, especially Tekola, a non-binary Black person, faced, including undeserved punishment from their university, when compared to their white peers, with whom it seemed an entire nation stood behind.
…the violence and abuse that students of color, especially Tekola, a non-binary Black person, faced…
“Black transgender and gender non-conforming people face some of the highest levels of discrimination of all transgender people,” according to Injustice at Every Turn, a sub-research article based from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey
For a brief refresh on the story: Arizona State University, a system with over 70,000 students (and over 130,000 students between all campuses and programs), with the push of minority students, established a multicultural area they called the “Multicultural Communities of Excellence space.” This multicultural space was meant to serve as a place on campus for students of color and other minorities (whether that be ethnic, queer, etc) to feel comfortable and centered when typically they would not be. The space was large, with full glass windows and a sign indicating its status (although the article notes that the signs might not be very effective or noticeable).
On September 23rd, 2021, Araya, a Black student, was hosting a Black Graduate Student Association study session in the multicultural center when two white men entered the space. Araya shared with the New York Times that she felt as if the men were mocking her: laughing, turning their stickers towards her (one which proudly stated “Police Lives Matter” in comparison to a sticker on Araya’s laptop, “Black Lives Matter”), nodding towards her, and etc.
Araya, being alone at this point, snapped a photo of the men and sent it to Tekola, aforementioned, and Qureshi, a Pakistani-American woman. At the time, Tekola and Qureshi were attending a meeting with school officials regarding maintaining the space. Tekola shared the message with the officials, who offered to send a “Situational Response Team.” By the time Tekola and Qureshi reached the Multicultural Communities space, however, no such team had arrived. After a bit of discussion, Qureshi volunteered to talk to the two men.
By the time Tekola and Qureshi reached the Multicultural Communities space, however, no such team had arrived.
The New York Times article seems to focus especially on Chase Beckerman, one of the two men, while not discussing Garett Niles, who had been the one to truly engage with Qureshi and Tekola. Perhaps that is because Beckerman was willing to chat with the Times; regardless, the article paints Beckerman as an unwilling bystander, confused about the situation at hand and meaning no harm while Tekola, who had been the primary voice in the video, “harassed” him and his friend. This ignores three important facts:
1. The space was clearly, regardless of the writer’s opinion, indicated as a multicultural center; Tekola had been one of the founding members of the center, which had faced multiple setbacks due to controversy and abuse from Arizona State University. If these two white men were laughing at, pointing towards, and etc, Araya, then they were clearly in knowledge of this fact and continued into the space anyways.
2. The interaction came at a university where abusive and racist groups and people have been allowed to coexist and spread hate; as stated in the article:
Members also pointed out moments of racism and harassment at the university: a religious-right activist protesting while wearing a T-shirt that read “Muslims Will Rape You;” anti-immigrant and neo-Nazi fliers plastered around campus; a student group called College Republicans United whose members were caught sharing racist, homophobic and antisemitic messages online. (That group, still an official student organization, last year tweeted a Thanksgiving meme referring to Native Americans as ‘undocumented immigrants’ who ‘refuse to learn local language’ and ‘still get food assistance.’)
Tekola’s response to the appearance of two White men who seemed to be harassing their friend in a multicultural space, especially following so much prior hate, was not uncalled for.3. Tekola’s position as a Black transgender student allowed them many more vulnerable identites to be attacked than Niles (who compared his experience being confronted by Tekola to “Black people during the ‘times of racism'”) or Beckerman.
The article claims repeatedly that Beckerman feared for his future as a doctor, including his ability to enter and remain in medical school with such an event as this attached to his name. Beckerman’s fears, which have not come to fruition, are incomparable next to what Tekola has experienced: murder threats, rape threats, verbal and physical harassment, fatphobic comments, and extreme racism to the point of being sent photographs of murdered Black people. Tekola and Qureshi both faced physical harassment from multiple groups, even being offered a police escort, which they rejected in reference to a former police officer’s website, which had posted threatening and derogatory statements about them both. Meanwhile, Beckerman continued his, while now more publicized, life working at a hospital. While Tekola faced threats of being removed from their university, both Niles and Beckerman studied and continued life as they had prior to the video.
Just one Google search of “ASU Tekola” returns handfuls of results with titles skewering the situation in racist and transphobic ways: painting Tekola and their friends as “woke ASU students” or “Black Students punished for attacking White Students…” The articles more often than not misgender them, belittle them, and spread rapid misinformation; it seems that few notice the extreme power imbalance in the situation itself, or even the situation’s reality. One article, A Look at the Impact of ASU Multicultural Spaces on Students, shares one of the few views supporting Tekola and their friends through interviews with other ASU students. Wendy Ruiz, a Latina ASU student, said:
“I felt very uncomfortable just because on Instagram, the two girls were shown in the wrong and the two men were the victim. I definitely disagree because these two white men purposefully came into a multicultural space and purposefully put their propaganda that makes students of color uncomfortable because of the issues they face in real life.”
Wendy Ruiz, a student at ASU, shared her belief that Tekola and their friends were improperly targeted in media during an interview with AZ Big Media.
When it comes to situations involving people of color, especially transgender people of color, it is important to take into consideration the power imbalances, inherent racism, and evident transphobia in articles and in media. It is important to take publicized information with a grain of salt, and even more important to do your own research with the knowledge of these inherent truths in mind.