The Black students at the University of Wisconsin in the state’s capital have called for a white student to be expelled after she went on a racist rant and posted the video online.
A video of a white student using racial slurs and profanities directed toward Black people recently went viral on multiple social media platforms. One university premed group has identified the student as a sophomore nursing student.
In the video, the woman repeatedly referred to Black people by the N-word and wish harm on them as she was crying.
“I am going to go back and hunt every f****g little n—-r who f****g did me wrong. I literally hate all of them, I’m going to make them pick f*****g cotton in the fields all day long until they die of f****g of thirst…….their bodies are going to dry out because of how much cotton they are picking for me,” the woman said in the video.
The university released a public statement on Monday evening that said it is aware of the video.
“While the university can’t limit what students and employees post to their personal social media accounts and can’t take action against posts that are not unlawful, racist slurs do not represent or reflect UW–Madison values around creating an inclusive community,” the statement said.
The Wisconsin Black Student Union, the African Students Association, Beta Omicron Nupes, Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment, Associated Students of Madison and AHANNA Pre-Health Society, have also issued statements calling for action from the university.
“It is hurtful and absolutely repulsive, though not uncommon, to hear a white student use such hateful language and racial slurs that are disrespectful and degrading to our community,” WBSU said in the statement to the university.
A Change.org petition was created that called for the expulsion of the woman, whose name Atlanta Black Star has not been able to verify. Over 33,000 people have signed the petition.
“What the university can do and has done is declare its opposition to the attitudes that were expressed and the conduct of the student,” university professor of political science and legal studies Howard Schweber said to The Badger Herald.
The Chief Diversity Officer and Deputy Vice Chancellor LaVar Charleston released a statement late Tuesday evening to confirm that they couldn’t expel the student.
“Some have called for the speaker of these racist words to be expelled. Some have called for worse,” Charleston said in the statement. “Simply stated, the law does not allow the university to take punitive action for words like these spoken in private spaces, even when those words are racist and hateful.”
The video joins a series of racially charged events connected to the University of Wisconsin from the past two decades. In 2000, the Madison, Wisconsin, university reportedly digitally edited a photo of a Black student into an admissions brochure to promote more inclusiveness. In 2020, a homecoming video meant to connect different races of students on campus featured mostly white students.
More recently in 2021, the members of the Wisconsin Black Student Union and Wunk Sheek called for the removal of a 42-ton boulder called Chamberlin Rock that was associated with a racial slur from the 1920s, according to the Badger Herald. The school eventually had it removed.
The Associated Students of Madison reportedly released a statement to call for the university to “provide resources to support Black students. empathize with their experiences of marginalization on campus, and work alongside Black students to cultivate a long-term sense of belonging and well-being,” according to the Badger Herald.
“We unequivocally and without restriction denounce the horrific statements made, and we further condemn the ongoing and ever-present culture of exclusion towards the Black community at UW-Madison,” the ASM statement said.
The organization also held an open forum at their meeting on May 3, and a Black town hall meeting was held on campus on May 2 to address issues.
