A twin cities television station reported today about “swastikas” being found on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
Police say they were done in marker on Halloween and were probably just a prank, according to KSTP Eyewitness News 5. Police also said there is no indication specific students were targeted.
The station reported that students were sent an email from the school warning about hate crimes.
Hate crimes aside…here’s what I’m disappointed about: if you watch the video (provided in the link above) the images shown are clearly not swastikas. As anyone with half a brain should know, a Nazi swastika is a clockwise symbol at a 45 degree angle. The ones drawn on the dorm room doors were sloppily rounded and counter-clockwise.
For thousands of years before being adopted as a symbol for the National Socialist Workers Party in unified Germany, the swastika, both clockwise and counter-clockwise, was used by cultures around the world, mainly as a symbol of good luck and balance.
So…if the intent of the malicious markerers was to inspire fear, they failed by not knowing which direction a Nazi swastika faces. Or maybe…they were just wishing the residents good luck.
And, instead of jumping to inform the students of hate crimes…maybe the university should educate themselves and the students on the historical and artistic value of the swastika.
And…the media should do a little more research themselves before jumping the hate gun.
5 Comments
November 20, 2008 at 5:22 am
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November 20, 2008 at 6:45 am
I just have one question? Does anyone else think that those marks on those doors look just like the handy work of a preschooler…? Give me a break, paint over the art work and get back to class !
November 20, 2008 at 8:35 am
Agreed.
November 20, 2008 at 2:58 pm
R you really serious??? Those drawings resembled something out a Kindergarten class, much less a hate crime. I mean get real people. You will know a hate crime when you see one.
November 20, 2008 at 5:11 pm
This is a crime of defacing property. Hate crime, get a life, making much ado about nothing. But that is what the government does to keep the pot boiling. Particular now that the savior will be in the white house.