A video showing a White second-year student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison using racial slurs was circulated widely on social media. Other individuals can be heard laughing at the rant in the background.
The Wisconsin Black Student Union said in a statement to the campus community that the video “is hurtful and absolutely repulsive, though not uncommon, to hear a white student use such hateful language and racial slurs that are disrespectful and degrading to our community.”
Some students demanded that the student in the video be expelled. When this post was written more than 58,000 people had signed an online petition demanding the student be expelled. But the university said that free speech protections prevailed in this instance. “While the university can’t limit what students and employees post to their personal social media accounts and can’t take action against posts that are not unlawful, racist slurs do not represent or reflect UW–Madison values around creating an inclusive community,” the university said in a statement.
