CARBONDALE, Ill. (AP) — Racial tension on the Southern Illinois University
in Carbondale campus is high after a series of recent incidents that
include an anonymous video posted on YouTube that called for the
lynching and beating of black students.
The
video drew condemnation from the university's leader, and YouTube
removed it Monday for violating the company's policies on hate speech.
In an email to students Sunday night, interim Chancellor Brad Colwell
asked students to not distribute the two-minute video, which features
altered dialogue from the animated film "A Bug's Life" and a speaker
wearing a Guy Fawkes mask who promotes campus violence. The unidentified
speaker, whose voice is distorted, attributes the "SIUC White is Right"
video to the campus' Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. The fraternity denied
involvement in a statement issued by its national office in
Indianapolis.
"Individuals
who use the power of social media to spread hate and fear must not be
allowed to be the voice of our community," Colwell wrote in his email to
students.
Colwell threatened unspecified legal action against the video's creator, though campus spokeswoman Rae Goldsmith said the university doesn't know who is behind it.
"We have no reason to believe the fraternity is responsible," she said.
The video follows a black student's complaint that student supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
used a racial slur and said black students should "go back to Africa"
at a recent Carbondale campus residence hall forum. The school is
investigating that incident, which prompted another open letter from
Colwell, in which he called on students to uphold "values of respect for
individuals, diversity and inclusion."
In
between the two Colwell letters, someone drew a swastika on a residence
hall chalkboard next to a message to "Build That Wall," an apparent
reference to Trump's calls to curtail illegal immigration from Mexico.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to an AP request for comment Monday.
http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/SIU-Carbondale-chancellor-condemns-racist-video-7317362.php
No comments:
Post a Comment
Spammers, stay out. Only political and video game discussion here.