After racist, anti-Chinese graffiti appeared on University of Wisconsin-Madison’s campus earlier this week, the university on Thursday issued a statement saying racist behaviors “are not tolerated” at the institution, reported Wisconsin State Journal.
The graffiti targeted people from or perceived to be from China and East Asia, and blamed China for the coronavirus, calling it “#CHINESEVIRUS.”
“It’s important to remember: No one person, country, or ethnicity created this pandemic — disease does not discriminate,” the university statement said. “We want to be clear that racist behaviors or stereotyping of any kind are not tolerated at UW–Madison — no matter if we are online, passing others in public, or quarantined at home.”
At a virtual town hall called Thursday, university officials said recent graffiti prompted 25 bias incident reports. And this semester, as many as 81 such reports have been filed, more than half of which allege discrimination against Asian or international students.
