Last Thursday, James Allsup, president of the WSU College Republicans, wrote a guest column in the Daily Evergreen stating that “conservative-leaning students, at WSU and across the country, are tired of being bullied” and were “tired of being called ‘racists’ for saying we need to build a border wall.”

To argue that he and conservative students are being bullied is the height of irony – a claim to which they are hardly entitled.

White privilege is real, color-blind racism is real, and to argue otherwise is to perpetuate a self-deception of epic proportions. To James, I would say that this attitude will not “Make WSU (or America) Great Again.”

I assure you that the real bully is the man who called Mexicans rapists and killers; the man who ridiculed prisoners of war, veterans, women, the disabled, Native Americans, Muslims, Mexicans, African Americans and his own workers.

The real bully is Donald Trump. The College Republicans have the right to free speech, even to express their hateful rhetoric.

But we, as the marginalized and underrepresented communities at WSU, will not stand for this abuse.

Open your eyes, James, and realize that you are part of the problem. You stated in The Spokesman-Review that you “don’t think race is an issue in immigration” – then what is?

The wall is more than just a metaphor for white supremacy and xenophobia – it also represents a very real, undeniable symbol of America’s beliefs about who should and can be citizens in this country.

James Allsup and the rest of the College Republicans should work an entire summer in the fields of California before passing judgment on who is worthy of staying here. They should be willing to do the work that others like themselves are unwilling to do and, historically, are more than happy to allow immigrants to do.

Better yet, let’s just hope conservatives recognize that they feed themselves with food grown and cultivated on the backs of undocumented immigrants while also criticizing the very same people who keep their bellies full. If that isn’t hypocritical, I don’t know what is.