Cal Poly Pomona Prof Receives Letter Threatening Obama
This story was written by Andrea Waitrovich, The Poly Post
After receiving an anonymous letter that was perceived as a threat against President-Elect Barack Obama, Cal Poly Pomona political science professor Renford Reese contacted the FBI last week.The typewritten letter was sent in response to a commentary by Reese that was published in The Poly Post and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.The commentary pointed out the historical significance of electing an African-American for president."It was a thinly masked threat It was provocative," said Reese. "[It bluntly stated], 'you are happy now, but not for long. Then we will be happy.'"Reese doesn't believe the threat was made in direct response to his commentary."I think the person could have just read the title and it could have been a reaction to what actually happened. He didn't mention me or specifically anything about the article," said Reese. "It was just the fact I had written an article about Obama. It was not a rational rebuttal to what I have written."Though Obama's victory has instilled optimism in many Americans, racial hate crimes and threats against the President-Elect's life have surfaced across the country since the election.It was reported that a few hours after Obama's victory was announced, an African-American teenager was brutally attacked by a group of white teenagers in New York. The attackers allegedly yelled "Obama" during the assault.In Tennessee, two neo-Nazi skinheads were convicted of plotting to assassinate Obama. The skinheads had also planned to shoot or decapitate close to 100 African-Americans.Whether in concurrence with Reese's commentary or not, many students said these threats are a sad reminder that racial intolerance is still prevalent in our society."It is disturbing because at a time like this, we have made so much progress. But this just reminds us of how small the steps we have taken [are]," said Raudel Fernandez, a fourth-year political science student.
"There is a racial definition. Possibly because they feel they need to protect status quo. For example, [if] somebody's resources are threatened by an outside force, they feel the need to protect it."Nando Fernandes, a third-year mechanical engineering student, said that despite the racial impact of the election, many will remain indifferent to Obama."Just because Obama is the first African-American president doesn't mean racism will disappear. Obviously, people are upset and mad that he won," said Fernandes.These racial tensions have some students believing that assassination attempts will be made on Obama while he is in office.Rafael Gutierrez, a third-year mechanical engineering student who voted for Obama, does not believe the President-Elect will make it through his first term."There are so many radical people who want to assassinate him," said Gutierrez.Despite the reports of increased hate crimes and perceived threats to Obama's life, other students still believe the President-Elect will still prevail mentally and physically."People need to become tolerant of others and change. [Obama] got elected, so live with it," said Jennyfer Sanchez, a second-year landscape architect. "Some are intimidated by change, but you have to start to live with it."