A student, who came under attack for being a “white, cis male” by an ASU PhD student, Chase Beckerman, announced on social media in an apology of sorts that he is cooperating with University officials in an investigation of the matter.
.@ASU_CRU > .@ASUCollegeGOP pic.twitter.com/RlFzYF4gdN
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) September 26, 2021
https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1441534569853841409
At issue is a video that has gone viral of two women, undergraduate student Mastaani Qureshi and graduate student Sarra Tekola, attacking the two young male students for studying in what the women claim was space meant for “marginalized and oppressed peoples.”
🚨 This insanity is happening on college campuses pic.twitter.com/BrVxICZYqP
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) September 24, 2021
https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1441202362073239553
Sarra’s father, Fasil Tekola, fled to the U.S.A. as the Ethiopian government fell in a violent communist takeover, and now Sarra, a member of the communist-leaning Black Lives Matter, is gaining attention for her racist attack on fellow ASU students and making no apologies.
Sarra’s attack on two white male students, who were studying in what she claimed was the University’s Multicultural Center went viral on TikTok, bring the graduate student’s anti-American activity into sharp focus.
According to AZ Free News, “The room in question was the ASU Tempe Campus’s Student Success Center in the Student Pavilion, room 321. It has not officially been designated as a multicultural center – ASU says that efforts for such a center are underway, but the university hasn’t indicated where or when the center will be established.”
Yet, Sarra, an awardee of the distinguished Ford Foundation Fellowship, demanded the two young male students leave her space.
Sarra, the co-minister of activism for Black Lives Matter (BLM) Phoenix Metro, was arrested last October and charged with obstructing a public thoroughfare, hindering prosecution, resisting arrest, possession of marijuana and aggravated assault on a police officer. She and another member of the Multicultural Solidarity Coalition (MSC), took offense at a bumper sticker one of the young men had on his computer that read, “Blue Lives Matter.”
Sarra and her fellow female MSC member told the two young men students to leave the room and “shut the f*** up” repeatedly. The accuse the young students of promoting murderers and white supremacy by supporting police. The two women claim that white people did not have a culture and therefore could not remain in the “multicultural” space.
While Tekola’s claim that space was designated as the multicultural center has no basis in fact, other claims she has made over time appear to be based on a stretched truth.
Sarra describes herself as a first-generation college student, when in fact she is the daughter of Fasil and Susan Tekola. Fasil attended college in Ethiopia before fleeing the violent revolution and Susan, a union member and vocal advocate for socialized medicine had been a Registered Nurse until at least 2016. Currently, the State of Washington requires registered nurses to have bachelor’s degrees.
Sarra grew up, according to The Grist, in Maple Valley, WA. The community is described by Niche.com as “one of the best places to live in Washington. Living in Maple Valley offers residents a sparse suburban feel and most residents own their homes. In Maple Valley there are a lot of parks. … The public schools in Maple Valley are highly rated.” The median income in Maple Valley in 2019 was $57,063. By comparison, the median income in ASU’s hometown, Tempe, AZ, is $30,221.
It wasn’t long ago that Sarra considered herself privileged. She told The Grist that “as an American citizen, I have such a privilege to protest and to stand up for what I believe in without fear of death like my father had.”
Contrary to Sarra’s claims that her father was a “climate refugee,” he told The Grist, that he fled from violence.
From The Grist:
“Before his world was thrown into turmoil, Fasil Tekola lived a comfortable life in Ethiopia’s capitol city, Addis Ababa. Born into a wealthy family, his father a colonel, he was one of only a few kids who drove their own cars to school.”
The communists rounded up Fasil Fasil and “men of all ages, targeting the educated and wealthy, and gunned them down. Known today as the Red Terror, the genocide claimed more than 10,000 lives in Addis Ababa alone.
Tekola was 19 years old. He and other students were rounded up and jailed. But because his father was a well-known community leader and had left the military in the years preceding the war, he was later released. Two of his friends were not so lucky. After hearing about their murders, Tekola and a friend decided to flee the country.
Their escape began a journey that would send Tekola bouncing across the world in search of asylum. After years of traveling, he’d end up literally a half a world away in Seattle.
Tekola attended college briefly, studying wildlife range management, and took an interest in environmental work. He left the university after a year and worked for a short time with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), helping to address problems with desertification in African communities.
He first came to the U.S. in 1980, with an American girlfriend he’d met while she taught English in Kenya. Tekola and Debby married in 1981 so he could get U.S. citizenship. He has lived here ever since.
Sarra told The Grist that her father’s story was the “inspiration” to do the work she is doing.
That work includes calling for reparations, protesting and in March 2020, she was scheduled to defend her PhD prospectus: Climate Change and Colonialism: Exploring Decoloniality as a Response to Climate Change.”
In her prospectus, Sarra “seeks to explore Western society’s inability to substantively address climate change, and what I have termed as modernity’s pathology….. After building a case for Western society’s responsibility for climate change, I will draw on radical psychology to examine why many of modern society’s Western leaders tend to deny or ignore climate change and related systemic issues….. I will do so using a decolonial methodology as well as grounded theory. Methods for all three deliverables include a critical argumentative literature review, autoethnography, ethnography, art-based methods, a documentary and qualitative interviews.”
A Gofundme campaign was created by the “Libs of Tik Tok” account owner according to the Daily Caller, “after several people wondered how to help the students who were harassed, especially since one of the boys said he works 60 hours a week. The fundraiser had raised almost $3,000 from nearly 150 individual donors before it was shut down.”
The Daily Caller reports that the “Libs of Tik Tok” were advised by GoFundMe “that the fundraiser violated their “prohibited conduct policy” and was taken down. All funds raised will be returned to the original donors.”
Chase Beckerman’s statement:
“Each of us has a right to our own beliefs and to express them through constructive and non-threatening discourse. I do not know the experiences of those who confronted me, and I am devastated that this misunderstanding is being highlighted by others in a way that perpetuates the continued racial divide in this country. I hope that what transpired can instead be a springboard for a constructive and collaborative discussion about issues that have for too long divided us so that we can all come together as instruments for meaningful change.
I support the people of all colors, creeds, and religions and support those who want to end racial and social injustice.
I am a student. My only desire is to study hard, work hard, and complete my studies at Arizona State University. I am cooperating with the University’s investigation into this incident and I have faith in that process.
Any further inquiries concerning this matter as it pertains to me should be directed to my representative, Craig A. Morgan. re on our way. He can be reached at cmorgan@shermanhoward.com and 480-332-6321.”