Why this matters for racial justice

Palestinian oppression is not just a distant foreign policy issue. It is connected to how race, power, and state violence work in our own communities. The same logics that render some populations "threats" and others "worthy victims" shape policing, surveillance, and whose pain is believed at home.

This project treats our neighborhood, city, and campus as part of a global racial formation. When local officials stay silent, selectively mourn, or criminalize pro-Palestine advocacy, they reproduce racial hierarchies in which Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim lives are made less grievable and less protected.

By organizing information about what our leaders say, post, and do, sideofhistory aims to make structural patterns visible rather than treating each comment as an isolated "opinion."