That doesn’t stop Occupy UMich from proudly displaying a quote from him on their Tumblr page. And that doesn’t stop hundreds of students from wearing his iconic profile on their t-shirts, often without a clue to who Che really was.
It is very ironic that on a campus that stresses individual expression and diversity, there are groups and individuals that both openly and blindly support a man that killed his friends if they didn’t reject democratic ideas. He is directly quoted from his diary endorsing groupthink, saying, “Youth should learn to think and act as a mass. It is criminal to think as individuals!” His very goal was to, “make individualism disappear from the nation!”
So let me get this straight. Student protesters and activists, who rely on free speech rights, are supporting a man who squashed free expression, and killed those who exercised it against him.
Furthermore, Che was a blatant racist, writing in his diary that “The black is indolent and a dreamer; spending his meager wage on frivolity or drink.” He then went on to say that the European race was superior.
More evil than his words are his actions. Under Che’s direction, from 1959 to 1960, the new government carried out firing squad executions of at least 1,118 people. Guevara himself presided over a prison where hundreds of the executions took place, and under the direction of Che, Cuba saw a rise of forced labor camps filled with anyone else who resisted his revolution or disagreed with his ideals.
Che was a murderer, a racist, and there is evidence to suggest he was a homophobe too. On Thursday, October 9th, the day of Che’s execution, Young Americans for Freedom is holding a ‘No More Che Day’ to celebrate the demise of the evil leftist icon. I challenge the left and all students to join us and reject Che and his ideals.
