Two Louisiana State University students have sparked outrage after dragging a Black baby doll through campus by a rope tied around its neck.
A viral video shows a white woman holding the rope, accompanied by her Black friend, both wearing Class of 2030 T-shirts. The doll trailed behind them as the white student dragged it across sidewalks and into the student union building.
“She had been walking around like this for a while, and not one person stopped her,” said Ebony Gray, the LSU parent who posted the original video on Facebook.
Gray’s daughter recorded the scene on Aug. 19, after the move-in period for LSU’s freshman class and ahead of the school’s official start date of Aug. 24.
ABC affiliate WGNO confirmed that LSU is aware of the incident and an internal investigation is underway. But the university declined to comment, prompting many shocked viewers to speak out.
‘This is What Welcome Week Looks Like Now’
“This [pissed me off] so bad!” Instagram user DAwndra Kirkwood wrote, tagging the university as she shared the video. “WTF! This is what welcome week looks like now for your freshmen?!”
“The symbolism is so blatant it’s not even funny,” replied a commenter. “Sis walking right beside her when, metaphorically, she IS the doll being dragged is honestly just sad.”
As the university stayed silent, the Black student’s mother jumped into the Facebook comment section to apologize on her daughter’s behalf, according to Gray.
In screenshots that Gray and others shared on Facebook, Eunice Pichon identified herself as the woman’s mother and explained that her daughter had received the doll last year. She planned to bring it around campus as a joke, not a racist message.
When Pichon saw the video, she said, “I was appalled and immediately got [on] her a–.” She said her daughter asked a group of students if the doll looked ‘crazy,’ and when they told her yes, she put it away.
Pichon said her daughter “didn’t mean any harm” and considers her white friend “family,” adding that her daughter spoke with the resident advisor and apologized.
Still, many wanted to hear from the other student’s family. “Where is the statement from the other young lady’s parent?” one commenter asked on the New Orleans Room’s Instagram account.
“I’d like to hear how they’re addressing her actions, because that’s the part that sparked this entire situation.”
