Indiana State University has been the topic of racial protesting during this past week. Students took to protest on the Indiana State University campus on Monday. The protests began over the administration’s response to a student’s video which spewed racist comments toward the Black community. Some of us may be wondering how these racist actions are still so prominent in this day and age. However, racist acts have mutated and are unfortunately being reinforced by others’ racist ideologies fueling the fire. What makes it worse is, that this whole situation stems from the Queen- Beyonce’s new country album “Cowboy Carter”.
What Else is New? Social Media Leads to Controversy at Indiana State University
The student originally put the video on a social media platform called YikYak. Indiana State University later identified the student who made the derogatory remarks as a nursing student who attends the university. Beyonce’s country album was released on March 29th and it completely shook up the country music scene. Subsequently, the student found an issue with the wording of the songs and said:
“I know you were raised in the country, or your grandparents were, I guess…but they was picking,” she continued. “They wasn’t planting. Just keep that in mind. They wasn’t making money, they was getting sold for money.”
This statement is a blatant reference to the Southern slave trade.
Racist Actions: The Demand for Accountability and Policy Change
The protesters marched from 1-5 p.m. on the former Lincoln Quad with demands. Moreover, there were four major demands put in place and those included serious repercussions for the student’s behavior and future incidents. The protesters were also seeking an official statement denouncing the video, a zero-tolerance policy regarding hate speech on campus, and lastly, amendments to the university’s Code of Conduct to oppose hate speech and implement repercussions for future incidents.
One of the students named Nadia Lomax, involved in the protest, said their overall goal was to make sure silence regarding racists and hate speech would never be an option. According to the Indiana Statesman, Nadia Lomax stated:
“We’re here to make sure something like this doesn’t get swept under the rug again. The damage that occurs because of that [the lack of university response] is that students are told silence is okay and that they don’t matter”.
University President Makes a Pledge to Inclusivity
Of course, the ISU president, Deborah Curtis had to make a statement in response to the student’s protests. On April 10th, 2024, she said:
“Racism, hate speech, and discrimination of any kind is deplorable and in direct contradiction of Indiana State’s mission, vision and values. The student’s comments in the video in no way represent the ideals and goals of Indiana State University. We are appalled by the sentiments expressed in the video and condemn those comments in the strongest terms”.
Curtis claims to understand the importance of the impact this type of racist video has on Indiana State University’s entire campus community. The student was not named in the school’s statement. However, Curtis says the university is fully aware of the issues of misinformation that gets spread online. Additionally, she has made it clear that under federal law, sensitive information regarding the privacy of the students and such actions that are taken by the university and its employees are able to be shared.
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