Professor discovers hate speech on door

Kayla Webley
2005-02-18
The Daily

The word "faggot," scrawled across his office door in black felt marker, greeted David Silver, assistant professorin communication, as he arrived to work yesterday morning.

"I am very vocal for the rights of all humans ... if that makes me a target for hate crimes then it is not going to make me stop," said Silver, who teaches an introductory communications class this quarter. "My first reaction was to share with my students that this kind of speech is not tolerated."

This is not the first time Silver has been confronted with hate speech. Earlier this quarter, the same word was carved into the door with a pen.

"[My girlfriend] said to me, 'What are you going to do,'" Silver said. "I said, 'Give a better lecture.'"

Silver has been "flooded" with e-mails of support from students and faculty, including a sign reading, "teacher, ally, role model, friend," now posted on his office door.

"It's frustrating to know that something like this happened on our campus," said Leoule Goshu, director of the ASUW Gay Bisexual Lesbian Transgender (GBLT) commission. "I don't understand the motives behind someone who ... would say something so hateful and dehumanizing to a faculty or staff member who has contributed so much to this University."

In addition to the hate speech, an advertisement for tonight's campus drag show -- sponsored by the UW's GBLT commission -- was torn down.

"They can tear it down, but I can put another one back up," said Silver, pressing another poster to the wall neighboring his office.

Silver said he felt the incident could have been related to the posting of the advertisement or due to an article published in The Daily last week, which named him as a co-professor in a GBLT media studies course next quarter.

"The silver lining on the cloud is this is exactly what the GBLT media studies course is going to educate people on," he said.

Silver said he hoped the incident would facilitate more discussion about the topic.

"Instead of being silent we need to start having public discourse about this. Hopefully this will lead to people saying, 'this is not okay and this is not tolerated,'" he said.

Silver said the message "threw him for a loop," but was nothing compared to things others face on a daily basis.

"Racial minorities, sexual minorities and women in general have very real hate words and hate crimes inflicted upon them every day."

Silver said the incident is representative of the future progress that needs to be made on campus.

"We, like all campuses, have a lot of work to do on issues of diversity, but we're making strides towards that," he said.

Gerald Baldasty, chair of the department of communication, is looking into what -- if any -- further action will be taken, according to Silver.