Dear Chapel Hill SDS-

We at UCLA stand in solidarity with all the protesters who came out to demonstrate against Tom Tancredo and the racist, white-supremacist views that he represents. In the wake of the protest, you all have come under attack for "stifling free speech." This baseless charge is familiar to us at UCLA: about 2 years ago we staged a similar protest against Carl Braun, the leader of California's Minutemen, a group of racist and anti-immigrant vigilantes that intimidates, harasses, and attacks immigrants (and those suspected of being immigrants) along the US/Mexico Border.

When hundreds of people came out in support of immigrant rights and against racism, the campus police canceled the event. The organizers of the protest were criticized by the right just as you are being attacked now, for "stifling the free speech" of people who come to our community in order to advocate the continued oppression, abuse, detention, and relocation of entire groups of people defined by nationality and race. The "right to free speech" in the U.S. Constitution is not a right to be free from opposition to one's views. It is a right to speak free of government interference. If someone is prevented from speaking at an event because their opinions are so offensive, insulting, and hostile to the whole community, they have only themselves to blame. Such protests are true examples of free speech, not the "stifling" of it. We salute everyone who came out to oppose Tancredo, and hope that if he is foolish enough to return that he will be met with an even bigger response.

• National Day Labor Organizing Network Solidarity Statement
• LUCHA Solidarity statement
• Solidarity from Tuscaloosa SDS
• Solidarity from University of Central Florida SDS
• Solidarity Statement from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition (MIRAc)
• FIST Statement: Support UNC Students Against Anti-Immigrant Tancredo
• Statement from United Students Against Sweatshops
• Solidarity from SDS at University of Minnesota
• UNC Asheville's HOLA statement of solidarity
• Chapel Hill Prison Books Collective Statement
• Statement from Palante Action Network, Durham NC
• An Open Letter to Chancellor Holden Thorp
• Solidarity from Tuscon, Arizona
• Solidarity from Students Creating Radical Change in New York
• Solidarity with students & immigrants at UNC

Former congressman Tom Tancredo was invited to speak at UNC on April 14 by Youth for Western Civilization, a newly-formed white supremacist organization on campus. Many student organizations, including Students for a Democratic Society, organized protests and alternative responses to the event. The violence and extreme force used by the campus police against the demonstrators caused an escalation that led to the event being shut down.

Over 200 people, including multiple student and community organizations, used a diversity of tactics to protest Tancredo, who is a symbol of hate, racism, and the scapegoating of immigrants. Some organizations wanted to challenge Tancredo through debate at the event; others, including SDS, marched from the Pit to Bingham Hall to protest outside the event; still others wanted to shut down the event entirely. It is extremely unfortunate that a lack of coordination between the different tactics employed led to the Carolina Hispanic Association and others’ dissent being silenced.

SDS was part of the march to Bingham Hall. Some members also sat quietly in the audience to challenge Tancredo with questions at the end of the event. We are proud to see that so many people came out to participate in the demonstrations. At the same time, it is regrettable that police violence led to an escalation which prevented many individuals and organizations from expressing their dissent towards Tancredo through speaking at the event.

There have been many accounts of what happened outside; some are based in fact while others are wildly speculative and untrue.

As participants of the outside protest, these are our accounts of what happened:

WHEN: Thursday March 26, at 11:45am
WHERE: The Pit (Rain Location, Carolina Union)
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=75729300239&ref=ts

Demanding transparency and accountability, UNC community to protest education cuts and layoffs
Students, faculty, and workers to demonstrate at Board of Trustees meeting Thursday

Chapel Hill, NC - A broad coalition of students, faculty, and university workers will protest the Board of Trustees meeting Thursday, March 26, in opposition to planned layoffs, cuts to programs and services, and increases in tuition. On March 19, Chancellor Thorp instructed all campus departments to make permanent budget cuts of at least 5%, which will have deep impacts on student services across campus, class sizes and availability, and will result in dozens of workers losing their jobs and hundreds more positions being left unfilled, which will put a huge strain on already overworked employees of the university. The protest will demand transparency and community involvement in decisions relating to the budget crisis, and that the University uphold its standards as a public institution by serving all members of our community - not corporate entities. The protesters will convene in the Pit at 11:45am (Rain location in lobby of the Carolina Union), then march to the Board of Trustees meeting at the Carolina Inn.

SDS is part of the coalition forming to fight the budget cuts and defend education access and the rights of workers at UNC.

This past Thursday, Chancellor Thorp instructed all campus departments to make permanent budget cuts of at least 5%, which will have deep impacts on student services across campus, class sizes and availability, and will result in dozens of workers losing their jobs and hundred more positions being left unfilled, forcing one person to do a job two, three, or four people would ordinarily do-- unless we stand up and do something about it!

Students, workers, and faculty are organizing against the budget cuts. Please join us at our next meeting on Tuesday, March 24, at 7pm in Saunders 220 if you are interested in getting involved! Contact us at budgetcuts@unc.edu for more info!

Members of UNC-Chapel Hill Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) will mark the 6th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq with a display on Polk Place about the skyrocketing costs of the war Thursday.

The display will be comprised of 2,000 flags, each representing 20 million dollars of taxpayer money.

These flags will be used to highlight the disparity between the $36.7 billion that North Carolina taxpayers have spent on the War in Iraq and the November 2008 corporate bailout on the one hand and the $3 billion they have spent on college scholarships since March 2003 on the other. 

Of the 2,000 flags, 1,847 will be needed to represent the 36.7 billion spent on the War and the corporate bailout, compared to only 153 flags for the money spent on college scholarships over the past six years.

That's a disparity of more than $12 spent on war and corporate greed for every one dollar spent on making college educations available for all North Carolinians.

SDS plans to have the display ready by 8 a.m. on Thursday. Members of the group will be on hand throughout the day to talk about the costs of the war with students and other community members passing through Polk Place.

For more information about UNC SDS, visit http://chapelhillsds.org/node/12.

Join SDS for a screening of The Weather Underground on Thursday, February 12 at 7pm in Bingham 317.

The Weather Underground tells the story of the radical leftist organization that "waged a low-level war against the U.S. government throughout much of the 1970s, bombing the Capitol building, breaking Timothy Leary out of prison, and evading one of the largest FBI manhunts in history."  This documentary, which was released in 2002, was nominated for an academy award and has inspired much debate about the state of activism and resistance today.

The screening will be followed by a brief discussion of the Weather Underground and the original SDS.  We will reflect on Weatherman's decision to use violence and some of the similarities and differences between the situation in the 1970s and today.

You can view a trailer and read more about the film here:
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2432434457/

To re-cap:
The Weather Undeground
Thursday, February 12, 7pm
Bingham 317.
For more information about UNC SDS, please visit: http://chapelhillsds.org/node/12

Or email unc.sds@gmail.com

The recent crisis in Gaza ignited a wave of protest across the country and in our community against the U.S.-funded Israeli assault on the people of Palestine. Even with the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel only days ago, IDF troops continue to occupy the Gaza strip, the blockade and closure of tunnels and border crossings into Gaza continues, and Israel is still refusing to allow desperately needed aid workers in. The U.S./Israeli siege on Gaza killed more than 1300 Palestinians, has left more than 500,000 homeless, 400,000 remain without access to running water and other basic necessities, and these figures will surely rise as the true scope of the destruction is realized. And despite the ceasefire in Gaza, the occupation of Palestine continues.

First, on Friday, January 23, at 4pm, UNC Chapel Hill Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) is organizing a press conference and rally at Rep. David Price's Chapel Hill office located at 88 Vilcom Center. We are outraged at Price's recent vote in favor of House Resolution 34, condoning Israel's attacks on Gaza and giving them a blank check to continue the massacre. It is only with the support of U.S. economic, military, and political aid that the siege on Gaza could happen and that the occupation is able to continue. We demand that David Price take a strong stance against the continued occupation of Palestine and let the people's voice be heard!

Please RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=59798837640

A delegation of students and community members will visit David Price's office at 88 Vilcom Circle, Chapel Hill NC at 9:00 AM on January 16 to express outrage at Representative Price's vote for House Resolution 34 ("Recognizing Israel's right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza, reaffirming the United States' strong support for Israel, and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process"). The resolution is a shameful expression of U.S. support for Israeli crimes in Gaza. The protestors will demand that Representative Price do everything in his power to work towards an unconditional Israeli ceasefire and immediate withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza.

If you would like to join us, please arrive a few minutes early. For more information, contact Hannah at 865-621-2973 or Scott at 919-794-1429.

WHO: Outraged students and community members

WHEN: Jan 16, 9:00 AM

WHERE: Congressman David Price's office, 88 Vilcom Circle, Chapel Hill NC

WHAT: Protest over David Price's support for Israeli massacres in Gaza