On University of Chicago Asian Students' Rally to Demand More Police in Response to Dennis Zheng Incident.
University of Chicago students demand better campus security after graduate killed
by: WGN Web Desk
Posted: Updated:
CHICAGO — Some University of Chicago students say they don’t feel safe after the murder of a graduate near campus. Student protesters marched on campus demanding better security procedures, …
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I was once a student there. My first apartment was a block away from where Dennis Zheng was shot. I still am, but was much more ignorant about the history of police and racism in the states back then. If the incident had happened then, I could have been one of protesting Asian students without really thinking of its meaning. I couldn't have imagined what the more police presence would have mean, because a) the police in the U.S. is not like the police in any other countries, and b) just think how intensely CRT is contested in this country. The history of American police or even the history of slavery and racism hasn't been really taught here, therefore, not at all in foreign countries. If you are a student who just wants to focus on finishing the degree as fast as possible to go back your home, you don't pay attention to the wider picture outside of the ivory tower, and you could be easily persuaded by a simplified false narrative.
But they are not the all. There are many international students who are not like that. There are lots of Asian students who are categorically against the anti-DefundPolice narrative.
As far as I observe discussions happening in the Hyde Park neighborhood community, some parts of which overlap with UC community, some parts not, (That is another twisted reality in Hyde Park. For example, look at the disparities between the Lab school vs CPS schools in the neighborhood), quite a few people are cautious about anti-DefundPolice narratives even after the series of violent incidents. Since the McDonald's incident in September, CPD and UCPD have increased the police deployment and now we have a massive police presence already. The fact that they couldn't prevent this tragedy, besides more other shooting and violent incidents, convinces people that more police wouldn’t have prevented this at all. Community members are talking about diverting police funds to economic programs, mental health support and other necessary programs could do something.
What we need is the meaningful conversations, instead of labeling and isolating the international students, in which they can learn the living experiences of racial, social, and economic injustice.
I am so grateful to be able to get connected with great Asian friends like who are willing to educate me, guide me, and think and act with me. Let's keep talking and acting for a better future.