We believe we speak for many when we say we were surprised when we saw flyers that advocated for white nationalism on campus.

To sum up what happened, flyers promoting a white nationalist organization called Identity Evropa were posted throughout campus on Oct. 29. The flyers were swiftly taken down by the University Police Department (UPD), and the campus has not heard anything about the group since then.

After the initial shock, a few questions came to mind. What was the message that this group was trying to convey? Was this a form of hate speech in a way?

When The Cougar Chronicle reached out to the group, we received a description of what Identity Evropa is. “Identity Evropa is a growing movement of people of European heritage in the U.S. standing for the restoration of the American nation.”

Essentially, the group is for people who take pride in their European heritage, is that a crime? Isn’t everyone allowed to take pride in their roots?

One thing that did leave us a little quizzical was the whole “restoration of the American nation” part. What does this mean? What are they doing to “restore” the nation, whatever that means?

UPD and the university said that the flyers were taken down given that the group violated CSUSM’s posting policy. However, President Haynes’ email mentions how the group is considered a hate group by multiple civil rights organizations, is this even necessary to say?

The email itself is titled “A Message from President Haynes Regarding Recent Incidents of Hate and Bias,” so is there more to this issue than just the violation of the policy? Was there hate or bias presented on the flyers?

Another question to ask is if the group hadn’t violated CSUSM’s posting policy, would they still have taken down the posters?

No wrongdoings were committed by the group while the flyers were posted, so no harm, no foul right?

Who is the bad guy, is there a bad guy to begin with? If you would like to respond, send an email to [email protected].