A racist video on social media directed at Black members of the Eastern Washington University and Cheney communities prompted sweeping responses from EWU staff and student organizations Monday.
The video, which was posted on a public Snapchat story over the weekend, appeared to be a recording of a private message sent to a person of color. It involved two females and a male repeating racial slurs and making references to slavery.
“I don’t really know how to describe it besides saying that it was just pure racism. Telling a group of colored people ‘oh yeah, I hate those N-words’ — hard E-R — ‘in Cheney,’ like dang, what did we do?” Samara McElroy, president of the Black Student Union, said. “It was just ignorant, grown folk — who know better — not even trying to be funny, but showing their true colors.”
Multiple students reported the video to university leadership Sunday morning, said Dean of Students Sam Armstrong-Ash.
As of Tuesday, a university investigation into the individuals behind the video remains open. It’s unclear if those in the video were students at EWU, and investigators have not released their names.
If the three individuals in the video are determined to be EWU students, possible consequences following an investigation could range from warnings to suspension, according to email correspondence with EWU Title IX coordinator Annika Scharosch.
Armstrong-Ash said that there are some indications that the individuals may attend University of Idaho, which has been contacted by EWU administration.
UI administration is “working to learn more about the situation and to identify the people in the video or those who posted the content,” wrote UI spokesperson Jodi Walker in a statement to The Easterner.
The incident is only the most recent in what Armstrong-Ash called a nation-wide uptick in hate speech.
Last year, an individual in front of the Pence Union Building called multiple students a racial slurs before being arrested for disorderly conduct and threats to bomb. A separate incident involved a slur written on the mirror of a dance studio being used by the Black Student Union.
Maria Sarmiento, a club officer in the Asian Student Association and incoming EWU student, identified herself as one of the first to report the video to the university on Sunday.
“Personally, I appreciate the quick response,” Sarmiento said. “But I would also like something to be done about it. This is my first year here, and this is not leaving a great first impression.”
Armstrong-Ash said that the university’s response to learning of the video was to communicate with the reporting individuals, followed by a campus-wide email from EWU President Shari McMahan Monday morning.
McMahan’s email stated that “Eastern Washington University stands firmly against hate speech, racism, and discrimination in any form.” This sentiment was mirrored in a number of follow up videos and text statements posted on Instagram by staff in departments across campus, including the Multicultural Center, Housing and Residential Life, and the Office of Diversity Equity and Inclusion.
“I think that the Executive Leadership Team really said, ‘this isn’t good enough,” said Armstrong-Ash. “‘So we can do this piece over here, but we actually really need to call on every pocket of campus to do their work, because what we are seeing is a manifestation of people thinking it’s okay in the culture — and it’s not okay in the culture.’”
Oftentimes, students don’t speak up when they experience racist interactions, said Sarimento and fellow Asian Student Association board member Chanel Gonzales.
“It’s scary because you never know if they’re gonna believe you,” Sarimento said. “Are they gonna take me seriously? Am I even worth that?”
McElroy said that oftentimes, people “just don’t understand the significance of their words.”
“I don’t care if it was a million years ago. That word was used to dehumanize my ancestors,” she said. “Calling people that — like where they lay their head, where they walk around and go to school — that’s a threat. We don’t feel safe.”
Having student outreach via the staff in different pockets of campus is vital for creating wider cultural shifts, Lea Jarnagin, vice president for EWU Student Affairs, said.
“It comes down to humanizing an environment to the degree that if somebody wanted to do or say something, they may think twice about whether it would be accepted in the environment, or would it be responded to and reacted to in a way that would be uncomfortable enough for them … that they’re like, ‘yeah, this is not the place I’m going to do that,’” Jarnagin said.
While she appreciates the quick response from the school and that they have learned from past incidents, McElroy said she still wants to see genuine change from administration.
“We all write statements and then a few weeks later it dies down and we don’t continue to hit on the head of the issue we need to address,” McElroy said. “It’s always reactionary to a specific event and it’s not like, no, let’s focus on this year round.”
Scharosch asks that anyone with information on the identities of the students in the video either file a report here or send an email to [email protected].
