Video of incoming TCU freshman using racial slur prompts online backlash
Video of an incoming Texas Christian University freshman using a racial slur surfaced on social media over the weekend, prompting many to call for TCU to revoke his admission into the school.
The video was posted on Instagram and Twitter on Sunday. In it, a teenage boy sits on a couch and is watching the TV show “Supernatural.” A person off screen says to him, “You’re racist as (expletive).” The boy gestures at the TV and laughingly says, “He’s a (racial slur). He can’t be an angel. God didn’t make any (racial slur) angels.”
By Tuesday, the video had been viewed 57,000 times on Twitter.
The person who used the slur did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On his Twitter account, he posted the following in response to the video:
“By now you have seen the video of me using inappropriate language when I was 14 or 15 years old. I’m embarrassed and ashamed. I was a stupid young kid; and that’s not who I am today; but I understand that my words were harmful,” he tweeted. “I apologize for my words and behavior, and I’ll be taking all steps I can to try and make it right.”
TCU issued a statement about the video on Twitter.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. These actions do not represent the values that TCU upholds. We have shared this video with the appropriate staff members,” TCU tweeted.
In an emailed statement to the Star-Telegram on Tuesday afternoon, the university said the language used in the video “is appalling and undermines TCU’s values,” and the matter was turned over to the Offices of Admission and Campus Life for review and appropriate action.
The university said it cannot publicly discuss a student’s record or disciplinary action, but is committed to creating “a respectful and inclusive environment for all community members and is actively implementing diversity, equity and inclusion strategies.”
A person who tweeted the video called for the person in the video to be expelled.
“We fully expect him to no longer be a student. Generations of Black students and other students of color have suffered enough,” the poster tweeted in response to TCU’s statement. “And let’s be clear, he probably won’t unlearn this at TCU. The best way for the university to grow is to keep racists out in the first place.”
The Coalition for University Justice & Equity, a student-led initiative at TCU, posted an email the group sent to Chancellor Victor J. Boschini in which it asks for action to be taken against the person in the video.
The group sent a list of demands to university leadership in February, asking for reforms to curb racism on campus. In demand number seven on the list, the group asked the university to enforce a zero-tolerance policy against hate speech.
“This video is a prime example as to what hate speech is,” the coalition said in the email to Boschini.
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 1:37 PM.
