On September 8th, four students at Colorado State University (CSU) photographed and shared an image of themselves participating in blackface. The text in the picture read “Wakanda forevaa,” a reference to Marvel’s “Black Panther.” According to a student at CSU, the photo was first shared by the students in the image and sent to their floor group chat. Another student in the group chat took a screenshot of the post and the image began to circulate soon reaching viral status in Instagram.
After the image caught the attention of the school administration the CSU President, Joyse McConell, sent out an email to the students, faculty, and staff of the university stating, “We know that images like this one—whether consciously racist or not—can perpetuate deliberate racism and create a climate that feels deeply hostile.”
Despite acknowledging the matter many students felt aggravated and disappointed in the school administration’s following statement, “Our community members—students, faculty and staff—can generally post whatever they wish to post on their personal online accounts in accordance with their First Amendment rights. This recent post runs counter to our principles of community, but it does not violate any CSU rule or regulation, and the First Amendment prohibits the university from taking any punitive action against those in the photo.”
Soon after students at CSU began participating in peaceful protests. One student called out the administration asking them to take action by writing around the school with chalk. The student’s demands were washed out the next day.
“I was very disappointed with her response as were many other people of color. I think that she hid behind the First Amendment.” Reported Alyssa Sanchez, a student at the university.
Shortly after the school responded with another email laying out some actions the school would be taking to encourage students impacted by the issue to be heard including a diversity symposium to be held from October 14 – 18.
Students have continued to speak up and start conversations. Others students have reported that racial tensions at CSU remain high especially in light of the event but hope that continued dialogue will raise awareness to the divisions in the school. “Incidents like these happen all the time and it’s easy for some people to let them slide, because it has become the norm.” Stated Janeth Rodrigez, another student at the university.
One of the students photographed in the image released a statement regarding the image on September 13 to the Coloradoan. The father of the student, Les Kaplan, owns the building out of which the Coloradoan operates. According to the Coloradian, Kaplan is not affiliated with the Coloradoan and he was not involved in any discussions or decision-making about the news gathering process of Coloradoan journalists. Students at Colorado State University report that the actions of the students actions were not free speech rather hate speech.
For schools going through similar issues, Janeth Rodriguez a student at CSU states, “The best thing you can do is speak out. Sometimes it’s the only thing you can do and keeping quiet won’t do anything. It can be scary, especially when there’s so many people against you. Educating others can be very beneficial as well. Some people are raised to be racist and it’s all they know. For those who aren’t POC it’s important to acknowledge your privilege and ask what you can do in situations like these to make your peers feel welcomed.”
