San Diego State found itself addressing racism this week for the third time in two months.
In series of Snapchat videos and videos, an unidentified man made racist threats over the weekend to interdisciplinary studies senior CJ Simmons, who is black.
Simmons posted screenshots of some of the communications to his Twitter account on Monday and tagged the university’s account.
SDSU was quick to condemn the Snapchat messages in a series of tweets, saying the threats made are not reflective of SDSU or the campus culture.
In one video, the man can be heard calling Simmons a “monkey” and threatening to hang him like an “ornament” off a tree.
According to Simmons, the threats were made after another acquaintance of his asked for Simmons’ opinion on a freestyle verse he’d created.
Simmons said the acquaintance addressed him using the n-word, and things escalated when Simmons did not respond favorably to the freestyle.
That’s when Simmons said the second man added him on Snapchat and started sending him threatening videos.
It is not immediately clear if the other two men involved in the incident are students at SDSU.
This is the third racist incident aimed toward SDSU’s black community that the university has addressed in the last two months. In a statement, SDSU reiterated the unacceptable nature of the video.
“We are aware of a Snapchat video in which an individual appears to make a threatening and disparaging remarks directed at a member of SDSU’s Black community,” the statement said. “The remark employs imagery historically used to threaten Black individuals and communities. This is completely unacceptable and not reflective of SDSU, our campus culture or the values we uphold.”
In March a viral video showed a woman sitting in her car outside of the Black Resource Center when a group of passersby shouted the n-word from their car.
Then, earlier this month, the Black Resource Center was vandalized, resulting in $400 worth of property damage. No one was inside of the center when the vandalism occurred.
“I’m not necessarily scared,” Simmons said. “I’m just more cautious (now).”
On April 18, members of the black community and allies held a rally on campus to demonstrate their discontent with racism at SDSU.
During the rally, Associated Students President-elect Christian Onwuka read a list of demands the students had for the school which included new security measures to the BRC. The university has yet to respond to the demands, which Onwuka called on SDSU to fulfill by Aug. 30.
Those with knowledge of recent events on campus relating to the black community were encouraged to submit information to PoliceInvestigations@SDSU.edu.
