Facebook Takes Down Page Touting 'White Student Union' At UC Berkeley
BERKELEY (KPIX 5) – A Facebook page calling itself the "UC Berkeley White Student Union" has been taken down by the social network.
Students first spotted the page Friday. The site claimed the goal was to "unapologetically provide a safe space for white students to air their true feelings..." about the "challenges European-American students on college campuses face."
"I think it's just people who are racist, or don't realize they are racist," said Nikola Kendis, a student at UC Berkeley.
Kendis said minority student unions provide support for students facing systemic oppressions, something she says white students do not face.
"That's not a thing. There's no oppression. Like, what?" Kendis said. "No, I don't need protection from a white student union."
And yet the pages have been popping up all over Facebook, at least 30 pages for several universities in the past few days alone.
Students said the pages make a mockery of the Black Lives Matter movement.
"I'm not gonna lie. I was a little pissed off at first. But I'm not surprised," said Ridwin Mohamednur, also a student at UC Berkeley. "I mean, a lot of folks are tired of hearing about black issues, the Black Lives Matter problems."
Chancellor Nicholas Dirks responded with a statement on Monday, saying, "While UC Berkeley honors First Amendment rights, we do not endorse this attempt to create conflict and make light of the efforts of activists locally and nationally."
Facebook removed the page because the site's creator had a fake user profile. The chancellor's office said the page was likely created by someone outside the university.