White House slams ‘racist’ Ole Miss video showing ridicule of black student

The a given movie shows a gaggle of pro-Israel counter-protesters, mostly white men, shouting and criticizing a black woman, identified as Jaylin R. Smith, a 24-year-old college student. One of them imitated a monkey and the opposite called Smith “Lizzo”, apparently referring to her body size. Other counter-demonstrators shouted, “Lock her up!”

The student who taunted Smith with monkey gestures was subsequently expelled from the campus chapter of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, which called his actions “racist” and “contrary to the values” of the organization. The University of Mississippi, known colloquially as Ole Miss, also launched an investigation into student conduct following the incident on campus.

The university has an extended history of racism, including violent riots in 1962 over the admission of black student James Meredith during desegregation. President John F. Kennedy sent over 30,000 federal troops to quell the riots.

There was also backlash from U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), who shared a racist video with the caption: “Ole Miss taking care of business.” In a letter to congressional leaders, the NAACP called for an ethics investigation in response to Collins.

“These actions by a member of the House of Representatives, regardless of his intentions, legitimize and promote racism and undermine the principles of equality and justice that our government is sworn to uphold,” the letter said.

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Following the controversy, MP Collins released the document statement condemning racism and arguing that the racist behavior depicted within the film was “the highlight of the film”. He claimed that by praising the video, he intended to focus on resistance to what he saw as disruption on campus.

“If a person is found to have treated another human being inappropriately on the basis of race, he or she should be punished appropriately and hopefully seek forgiveness,” Collins’ statement read. “I realize that it certainly seems like there is some potentially inappropriate behavior that none of us should glorify.”

Markus Batchelor, national political director at People For the American Way, said of Congressman Collins: “Mike Collins knew exactly what he was doing, and the softening of violence and racism that the video clearly shows is disgusting and dangerous.”