It’s almost as if these racists think it’s impossible to be “funny” or “cute” or “original” without being ... racist. And there was nothing funny, cute or original about an anti-Semitic Valentine’s Day card that was produced during a Republican-group meeting on the campus of Central Michigan University and then given to a pair of students by a member of said group.
According to the Washington Post, members of the College Republicans insist that the incident was an unsanctioned mistake and that the card had been in a bag that was handed to the students Wednesday night.
The group apologized for the “very inappropriate” card, which showed a picture of Adolf Hilter with the words “my love 4 u burns like 6,000 jews.”
Central Michigan University President George Ross said that campus leaders met Thursday morning “to review the situation and determine next steps,” the Post notes.
“Such hurtful, offensive language, while protected by the First Amendment, is unacceptable and is not consistent with our values and standards,” Ross said in a statement.
“We caution against concluding that the action is representative of the entire student organization or its members and remind all that threatening others as a result of such an incident can have legal consequences,” he added. “We once again urge each of our students, faculty and staff to be beacons of peace, respect, inclusivity and civility—to be role models of integrity, dignity and leadership.”
In their own statement, College Republicans at the school distanced themselves from the card, saying that the incident occurred at a meeting in which “each member decorated a bag and other members placed valentines inside of others’ bags.”
“Unfortunately, a very inappropriate card was placed into a bag without other members’ knowledge. A bag was then given away to students sitting in Anspach [Hall], once again without members’ knowledge of its contents,” the statement continued. “The College Republicans as an organization did not distribute this valentine. We in no way condone this type of rhetoric or anti-Semitism. We apologize for any offense, and want students to know that we do not tolerate this sort of behavior.”
The president of the group, Mackenzie Flynn, said that the bags were meant to be given to members. One of the members had printed out some Valentine’s Day memes, one of which referenced the Holocaust, and put them inside the bags.
However, one of the bags made its way to two students who were not in the club. From there, an image of the card was shared on social media.
“While still not appropriate, I want to clear up that they did not create it themselves,” Flynn told student newspaper Central Michigan Life.