Campus Racial Incidents: Racial Slurs and First Amendment Protections

by The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education 03/01/2023

University of Missouri Decides Not to Discipline a Student Who Used a Racial Slur

A student at the University of Missouri sent a message on social media to a friend speaking about the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. It stated: “If they would have killed 4 more n—– we would have had the whole week off.” The text was followed by crying laughing emojis.

The post was screenshot and widely disseminated on campus. Student groups demanded that the original sender of the message be expelled.

Mun Choi president of the University of Missouri, stated that the matter was under review but thatadded  “this language is reprehensible, and we condemn any language and actions that are racist, discriminatory and hateful to our community.”

On January 9, President Choi sent an update that stated the university determined it has no grounds to discipline the student who sent it, due to First Amendment protections. President Choi stated that “upon review, the student’s racial slur was expressed in a direct message to her friend and was not communicated in a way that harassed any individual. In that context, the speech is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“First Amendment law does not allow a public university to punish speech only because it is racist or hateful – even when that speech is diametrically opposed to our values,” president Choi added. “Our university community will not be defined by the actions of one individual, but instead by our deep and collective commitment to be welcoming to all.”

Tufts Received Bomb Threats Alleging Anti-White Racism by the University

Officials at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, received an email stating there were bombs in four locations on campus. The author of the expletive-laced email stated that “Tufts University continues to fuel anti-white racism in this country.” The author warned that “we placed several bombs in Tufts university, we don’t want anyone to die, we are just here to send a message. Evacuate now.” Police evacuated the four buildings and after a thorough search, no explosives were found. Students were allowed back in the buildings 90 minutes after the evacuation.

The next day campus police issues a new warning that a bomb threat had been reported and called for the evacuation of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the department of philosophy, the department of mathematics, East Hall, and Anderson.  “Take belongings and follow instructions from authorities,” the police alert said.