San Jose State Administrators Defend Racially Charged Bullying Response

Going away to college is an exciting and scary time, but no young student should have to endure what one San Jose State University student did: racially-charged bullying at the hands of his own roommates. Every roommate has disagreements, but the University found that the black student suffered hate crimes committed by his white roommates. The student, an 18-year-old freshman, endured racial slurs written on his dorm floor, being barricaded in his room by roommates, and had a bike lock secured around his neck and locked.

While there does not appear to be a question of the culpability of the white roommates, questions have been raised about the response of San Jose State. The racially-diverse university in San Jose, California was the subject of a recent independent report that sought to determine whether SJSU responded promptly enough to the hate crimes. Black student groups seem to have the general opinion that more could have been done, and sooner, to deter or punish the perpetrators.

San Jose State representatives have claimed that the victim’s desire to keep the hate crimes private hampered any investigation, but one faculty member countered this response with the argument that SJSU is using victim-blaming to absolve themselves of any guilt. San Jose State claims that once resident advisers became aware of the crimes, they alerted authorities immediately, but student advocacy groups claim that the perpetrators’ behaviors, such as hanging a Confederate flag outside of their window, were so obvious as to alert attention much sooner. The university claims that the resident adviser of the floor asked them to remove the flag, as it was obscuring others’ windows, but that they were unaware that a black student lived in that room as well.

The independent fact-finding report appears to absolve the university of any wrongdoing, but it remains to be seen whether San Jose State will be off the hook for this incident. The university has created a special task force to determine whether this or other incidents have been handled appropriately. San Jose State students have complained that the university should be more accommodating to minority students and not wait for crimes like this to happen before taking action.

As for the four hate crime-committing students? They have been suspended from SJSU and charged with misdemeanor hate crime and battery charges. It is unclear whether they will be extended admission at SJSU in the future.

Via Yahoo