College of Charleston students rally for change after racist video surfaces

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Hundreds of students and some faculty gathered at the College of Charleston courtyard Friday to speak up and speak out on a racist video circulating on social media.

Officials at the College of Charleston, who are investigating, say the video shows students during a field trip.

A walkout and a protest lasted almost two hours as students spoke about how disappointing the video is and charging the college with making changes.

A freshman in the crowd said she almost chose another school for her college education instead of the College of Charleston.

“Sometimes it’s not welcoming here for people like us, and it sucks that it’s that way,” Iriana Rucker said.

Hundreds of students and staff filled the Cisternyard with signs to show that they are serious when they say they want consequences for the people in the video. Some are saying they really weren’t even surprised when they saw the video, but would be surprised if major action was taken by faculty.

“As much as I would like to say I was shocked. I wasn’t. It was,'Here we go again,'” said Courtney Hicks, a senior at the college.

Hicks and Rucker say racism is alive and prominent on the College of Charleston campus because they hear even subtle racial comments weekly. Rucker says she almost chose another college because her friends that attended the school before her said the campus has a reputation of racism.

“It’s just kind of tiring and annoying to think people think racism is funny. It’s not. It’s painful,” Rucker said.

The freshman says while today she feels empowered, she’s scared to see what the next three years will hold.

“It makes me worried. It doesn’t seem like things will change,” Rucker says. “I hope that it will, but I don’t think it will anytime soon.”

The protest leaders, most of them seniors at the college, say they’ve been fighting racial insensitivity at the college for years. Now they say they are begging for serious consequences to be given to the people in the video.

“Constantly it’s a slap on the wrist,'Go to diversity training.' But no real consequence,” Hicks says.

Many at the protest say they will keep their shirts and signs handy so they are ready for the next time someone says something they shouldn’t.

The college’s interim president did release a statement saying, “These disturbing comments run completely counter to our core values of integrity, respect for the individual student, diversity and community.”

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