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Submission: MSA engages in identity politics with San Bernardino solidarity rally

By Daily Bruin Staff

Dec. 7, 2015 1:43 p.m.

On Thursday the Muslim Student Association, or MSA, at UCLA held a “Solidarity Rally” in response to a horrific mass shooting on Wednesday that left 14 dead and at least 21 wounded in San Bernardino, California. However, the purpose of this rally was not to commemorate the victims. Instead, the rally – which took place just 24 hours after the attack – was an attempt to reframe the shooting to fit a particular political narrative in which the MSA portrayed Muslim students as victims.

According to the original Facebook page for the event, the MSA planned this rally “in preemptive defense against Islamophobic incidents fueled by the recent San Bernardino shooting.” Neither the attackers – who were Muslim – nor the victims were mentioned in this original description. For a group to gather in defense of their community is one thing. But to hijack and distort the reality of this shooting to recast themselves as victims is nothing short of brazen disrespect for the real victims and their families.

Although the description was later updated to include language condemning the murders, this afterthought was a disingenuous attempt to mask the selfish intentions of the MSA, who attempted to exploit this tragedy to convince others of their victimhood.

The only conceivably appropriate event that the MSA – or any group – could have held would have been a vigil to remember and honor the victims of this attack. Instead, the MSA revealed themselves as political opportunists in their attempt to capitalize on the San Bernardino massacre for their own gain. Their updated event description states that the rally would involve a discussion of “ways in which UCLA students can support their fellow Muslim peers.” This is not to say that the MSA cannot work with fellow students to support their community. But the MSA – no matter how much they want to believe that they are – are not the victims of Wednesday’s attack, and organizing a rally to claim otherwise while ignoring the real victims was unacceptable.

The MSA’s actions are representative of a larger trend by groups at universities across the United States that increasingly choose to engage in this brand of “identity politics.” Such toxic ideology has apparently eroded the moral judgment of the MSA, evidenced by their intentional plan to use tragedy for self-promotion, before even considering to condemn the attackers or honor the victims.

This event should serve as a wake-up call for the UCLA student body regarding the dangers of the identity-obsessed discourse which seems to dominate political life at UCLA. Only through a collective and deliberate effort can the UCLA community create a much-needed shift away from virulent identity politics, and return to the free and academic exchange of ideas that should define a university.

To the MSA: I hope that you can appreciate the magnitude of this tragedy, and how it has affected so many others before yourselves. This was their day, not yours.

Nusbaum graduated from UCLA in 2015 and is a teaching assistant in the life sciences.

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