Robert Lucas, a student at Yale University, was recently targeted with antisemitic flyers that read, “Jews like Robert Lucas continue to spew their anti-White hatred toward Whites and insists Whites feel guilty for slavery,” according to Yale Daily News.
Lucas is a graduate student at the Yale School of Management (SOM).
Lucas told Campus Reform the messages were “disturbing and a sickening reminder that antisemitism persists today," adding that he "won’t let it discourage [him] from calling for change.”
In February, Lucas wrote as a guest columnist for the Yale Daily News, urging Yale to rename the street the SOM is located on.
Yale SOM is located on 165 Whitney Avenue, named after Yale alumni Eli Whitney. Whitney is well-known for patenting the cotton gin and for inventing the Colt revolver, "a weapon instrumental in the federal government’s westward expansion and theft of Native land."
Lucas explained to Yale Daily News that despite Whitney hoping the cotton gin would decrease the need for slaves it actually tripled the demand for slaves.
“The Whitney Family’s impact on American history is to be studied, not celebrated. The cotton gin, the Colt revolver and the Whitney family’s business practices do not represent the best of Yale,” Lucas wrote in his op-ed.
Lucas continued, “The University can and must do better. Yale should rethink marketing Eli Whitney for its academic programs and support renaming Whitney Avenue along campus, which includes SOM and Science Hill.”
“The community can and should have input in deciding the ultimate name change,” Lucas emphasized to Campus Reform.
In response to Lucas’ suggestions in his op-ed, antisemitic flyers were found on Whitney Avenue.
"The flyers focus on a theory — often cited by white supremacists — that Jewish people were primarily responsible for slavery in the United States," reports Yale Daily News.
The New Haven Police Department is investigating the case to find out who placed the flyers targeting Lucas with racial slurs.