Rufaro Chisango, a black university student, captures the moment on video she was subject to verbal racial abuse, while hiding in her dorm room (March 5th)
yoo I’m fuming, the way people in the same uni halls as me are chanting “we hate the blacks” outside my bedroom door. Words cannot describe how sad this makes me feel, in this 2018 people think this is still acceptable😤 pic.twitter.com/XUiYqNIWQT
— Ruu (@rufarochisango_) March 7, 2018
The video clip recorded two men shouting “we hate the blacks” along with other racist comments. One women is heard sticking up for the girl shouting “leave her alone”.
The university has launched an urgent investigation into the video, as Nottinghamshire Police confirm that two 18 year-old men have been arrested in connection to the video.
“shocked and appalled”
Nottingham Trent University
Tweets show the Nottingham Trent Uni student complaining about the management of the halls, which she was told the issue will be ‘dealt with’ but nothing happened. Her tweets also show other racist remarks that were said, such as “blacks should go back to picking cotton”.
I told the reception and they said that this will be dealt with Tuesday morning, they took my details and said they would inform me… it’s Wednesday night and they haven’t.
— Ruu (@rufarochisango_) March 7, 2018
Ms Chisango’s tweet has gone viral with 3.65 million views on her video. David Lammy, North London MP, replied to Ms Chisango’s tweet urging her to contact the police and her local MP.
Please contact the Police and your Member of Parliament and cc me in. All my love and solidarity.
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) March 7, 2018
After the video went viral Nottingham Trent tweeted saying “we are investigating this as a matter of urgency. We are taking this extremely seriously and do not tolerate behaviour like this”.
A spokeswoman for the university added she was ‘shocked and appalled’ at the video.
We are shocked and appalled to see the video of racist chanting posted yesterday evening. This kind of vile behaviour will not be tolerated at NTU. Those suspected perpetrators have been suspended immediately pending a full investigation.
— Nottingham Trent Uni (@TrentUni) March 8, 2018
The university said they are working with the accommodation partner to understand why they hadn’t heard about this sooner.
More on racism in universities:
- We can’t ignore racism at university. These stories prove it’s alive and well. https://thetab.com/uk/bristol/2017/02/02/racism-university-national-issue-28213
- Does your university produce racism? https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/oct/31/does-your-university-produce-racism
