During and certainly after the 2016 presidential election we’ve seen our fair share of people showing their true colors. Racist have been coming out of hiding left and right under the influence of Donald Trump. However, last night after a YouTube video went viral things hit home here at Old Dominion.
The video has been removed from YouTube due to hate speech policies but can still be seen, here, on Twitter. The blatant disrespect of African Americans and their culture that the female in the video shows has caused serious issues for students.
Students feel, not only as though this video is offensive, it is a threat to their safety. As the female waves a gun around words on the screen say ‘kill all n***ers’ her lyrics also advocate for the murder of black people.
“Hang a n***a n***a n***a white power!” is the chorus and opening lyrics to the song.
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While this girl openly expressed her support for Trump and the KKK her views cannot be seen as those of all white people or all Trump supporters. Making such a stereotype would only take us to her level of ignorance. We know all black people are not on welfare nor do all black people live in section 8 such as she said in this video. Therefore, we also must know that not everyone who shares her skin tone or political beliefs has the same racist mindset as her.
The girl, nor her affiliation with ODU, have been identified but she is believed to be a student. This video was such a shock because ODU prides itself on being a diverse university. In a letter to students President John Broderick said,
“There is no place on this campus for hate and divisiveness.”
Minorities have received such harsh and unacceptable treatment recently. HC ODU stands behinds our schools extremely diverse population and agrees that there is no place on this campus for this sort of discrimination. Whether this girl is a student or not the things she said and did in that video are cruel and should never be seen as acceptable.
Our marketing and publicity director, Lindsey Lanham, spoke out about the video saying,
“I think it’s disgusting that people are still so narrow minded. I just hope that every POC at ODU knows that without them we would not be the diverse campus we are. Each one of them is important and appreciated. People like the girl in the video are in the minority here. I just really hope this doesn’t discourage anyone, love will always trump hate.”
This video will certainly not be ignored or forgotten. Students are encouraged, now more than ever, to come together and stand against discrimination. No matter what your background, political affiliation, race, or class we need to unite to fight this discrimination. We are stronger together and this country would not be as great without the input of each and every minority group.
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The university is investigating the video and encourages students with any information to report it to ODU Police at 757-683-4000.