(ATLANTA, GA, 12/10/2024) – The Georgia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-GA), Georgia Muslim Voter Project, and Jewish Voice for Peace – Atlanta released a statement after Chancellor Sonny Perdue made disturbing comments at the UGA Biennial Institute for Georgia Legislators.
SEE: Georgia chancellor says protest crackdown attracted out-of-state students
Statement:
Today, speaking to the Georgia legislature, lobbyists, press, and advocates, Chancellor Sonny Perdue smeared students who advocate for Palestine as “Hamas protesters” and praised brutality towards them as a recruiting tool for Georgia colleges.
No serious person actually thinks these American college students are in touch with militants across the ocean. This rhetoric is a blatant effort to discredit young people who stood in the long American tradition of peaceful protest to voice their opposition to a genocide.
Chancellor Perdue’s comments show clear racism against Palestinians, as well as a concerning disregard for Georgia students’ constitutionally protected right to protest, advocate, and organize on campus. As the Chancellor of the University System of Georgia, he represents over 360,000 students — and we strongly condemn the idea that police brutality, condemned by officials, faculty, advocates, and students alike, as well as the repression of campus protest, is something the University System of Georgia should take as points of pride.
At the University of Georgia, the very campus where Chancellor Perdue spoke, students were violently arrested for a peaceful protest, and banned from campus through an unprecedented process that attracted widespread condemnation. This aggressive response, along with consistent discrimination against Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students, prompted a federal civil rights complaint against UGA that is still ongoing. Far from something to be proud of, such extreme responses send a clear message that USG campuses are unsafe for Palestinian, Black, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian students.
The University System of Georgia has effectively communicated to students that it will only respect their constitutional rights if it is popular. That is not the point of constitutional rights. The University System of Georgia has a responsibility to protect students’ and their rights, including the rights of free speech and assembly. Chancellor Perdue’s comments are unacceptable, and we hope he and the rest of the Board of Regents will reflect on the First Amendment.
CAIR-Georgia’s mission is to protect civil rights, promote justice, empower American Muslims, and enhance the understanding of Islam.
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CONTACT: Azka Mahmood, CAIR-Georgia Executive Director, [email protected], Nazia Khanzada, Communications Manager CAIR-Georgia, [email protected], Marisa Pyle, JVP-Atlanta, [email protected]