https://twitter.com/ahammsportsgeek/status/925739946719305728
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Black student whose car was scrawled with racist graffiti says he has withdrawn from Kansas State University as a result of the incident.
The Riley County Police Department says the car was defaced off-campus early Wednesday morning and they are investigating. Police released the name of the owner of the car but The Associated Press is not using it because the student is leaving the school.
The car was covered with a racial slur against Blacks and messages that included “Go Home,” ”Date your own kind,” and “Die.”
The student who owns the car told the Kansas City Star in an interview that the vandalism and resulting social media attention has made it impossible for him to go anywhere in Manhattan, the home of the university. He said that he does not want the attention, has withdrawn from the university and will return to his home in California.
“I was not raised to discriminate,” he said. He called the vandalism “sad, hurtful and disappointing.”
Repeated messages left by the AP with university officials for comment were not returned Wednesday.
President Richard Myers posted a statement Tuesday on the university’s Facebook page that did not directly mention the latest incident but called for greater diversity and inclusion efforts.
“I encourage all of to come together with greater empathy, a greater concern for one another, and a greater understanding of how others see us,” the statement says.
Police are looking at whether the vandalism should be investigated as a hate crime, Hali Rowland, public information officer for Riley County Police, told The Star.
The graffiti is the latest in a string of such incidents at the school.
Last month, an anti-gay slur was found outside the university student union. In September, white supremacist fliers were found on campus. And in May, a noose was found hanging from a campus tree.
