A social media video allegedly showing a University of California Berkeley student hurling racial slurs and making offensive remarks against women and African-Americans has sparked outrage across the Bay Area campus.
Now university officials say they’re investigating.
The university of California Berkeley launched an investigation after social media video of an alleged student making racist and sexist remarks. (Photo: @fridgh / Twitter video screenshot)
The now-viral clip, posted to Twitter on Friday, shows a young man from the neck down seated on what appears to be a dorm room bed as he rants about his distaste for Black folks, at one point saying,” I f—–g hate them.”
“I don’t think they should have rights at all,” he says, chuckling. “They’re like women.”
When someone behind the camera asks what makes African-Americans so bad, the student responds, “They’re f—–g black, do I need a reason?” He later uses a slur targeting LGBTQ students.
The video was met with swift backlash from the UC Berkeley community, many of them students who condemned the clip and demanded that those involved be severely punished.
“Honestly [I am] hella f—–g disgusted this piece of sh-t roams our f—–g school,” Twitter user @fridugh, who posted the video, wrote. “What the holy hell at black well halls y’all!!!!!! f-ck these stupid ass mf I’m f—–g vomiting.”
“He’s young and foolish and trying to fit in,” another added. “But no amount of fitting in is going to change a racist’s heart. This young man is doomed to learn the hard way unfortunately.”
Others couldn’t help but take notice of the student’s dark skin, pointing to his possible Indian / East Asian heritage.
“He’s darker then me,” one critic quipped, adding: “he needs to worry about himself as a minority.”
One social media user offered a different solution, saying the offending student “needs to be educated, not kicked out.”
UC Berkeley addressed the incident in a statement Friday, saying that it was aware of the video and taking appropriate action.
“Our Principles of Community are clear, as are our values,” it began. “All identities and individuals are welcome at Berkeley. We condemn all forms of hatred, bias, racism, bigotry and discrimination.”
“Offensive words cause harm and hurt,” the university added. “The administration has an unwavering commitment to working with every member of the campus community to confront these challenges and foster a true sense of belonging for all.”
The university hasn’t identified the students involved or the punishments they might face, citing privacy laws.
(Photo: Reddit screenshot)
Amid the backlash, a Reddit user by the name of ” u/throwaway-berkeley” posted a statement claiming to be behind the offending video, which he said was filmed “when we weren’t in the clearest of minds.”
“I just want to say that we are very sorry for what had happened,” the lengthy post read. “We recorded that originally as a joke and we impulsively posted it online. However, we quickly realized the problems and damages that this could have potentially caused, so I immediately took it down. I know that you are angry and mad at us, but we never truly meant the words that was said in the video.”
The Reddit user expressed remorse over the incident and said he and the others involved had come clean to a resident assistant (RA) at their dorm.
“I just ask that you would forgive us and please do not spread our personal information online,” he added. “Neither of us meant anything said in the video and we deeply regret even recording that video in the first place.”
Watch more in the video below.
Atlanta Black StarA #UCBerkeley student was caught on camera saying #blackpeople and women don’t deserve rights. #hatespeech #antiblack #blacklivesmatter
