John Ashcroft Go Home!

On September 12, the UNC Chapel Hill Students for a Democratic Society (UNC-CH SDS) led a protest of over 120 people against John Ashcroft's visit to our campus. We chanted, we rallied, we disrupted his speech and we walked out to say NO to the "war on terror", Ashcroft's racist attacks on immigrants and Arab-Americans, the PATRIOT Act, and his legislative attacks on women's reproductive rights, same-sex marriage and LGBTQ rights. We are opposed to the use of $10,000 of our fees to pay for a speech from this bigot.

The protest was a success, thanks to the participation of the Feminist Students United, the Radical Cheerleaders, the Young Democrats, and dozens of students. Palestine, Colombia and Iraq solidarity activists, among others, spoke at the rally. Uniting together in a common cause, we were able to project our message loud and clear: "John Ashcroft go home! War criminals off our campus!"

We promise to keep exposing the phony "war on terror" for what it really is—a war for empire, from Iraq to Palestine, from Colombia to the Philippines. We vow to fight back against the attacks on our democratic rights. With a broad alliance of progressive students and student organizations, we can build a truly democratic university where heterosexism, homophobia, racism, and national oppression have no place. Protesting reactionaries like John Ashcroft whenever they rear their ugly heads on campus is a good first step to that goal.

UNC Chapel Hill Students for a Democratic Society
September 17, 2006