MADISON, Wis. — Over 30,000 people in the University of Wisconsin-Madison community are demanding the expulsion of a student who was recorded using racist slurs and glorifying slavery.
UW-Madison officials condemned the language Monday, and called it deeply harmful and offensive. However, the university later explained that it is a public institution, meaning it is bound by the First Amendment.
101.7 The Truth’s Director of Content and former higher education employee, Kyle Wallace, joined Wisconsin’s Morning News to discuss how UW-Madison should handle this situation.
“You can be a jerk all you want on campus. So, what the university in my eyes has to do, is the university has to take a stand in the sense of ‘did what she say put anybody in harm’s way,'” Wallace said. “But harm doesn’t always have to be physical, it can also be emotional as well. And so, that’s why I think the university has to take a deeper look to understand is her harm more than physical?”
Wallace then referenced the actual video and verbiage used in the video to describe how that harm could affect black people.
“Nowadays, mental health is real and verbiage like that, when you’re talking about maybe taking people out to fields to pick cotton that dry them out and die,” Wallace explained. “Which may not seem like, oh, is she really going to take any black person or in that word using an N-word, is she going to take anybody really out to the field and dry them out? Probably not.”
However, Wallace explained that that harm could mentally be affecting students, which can be equally detrimental to people.
You can listen to Wisconsin’s Morning News’s full conversation with 101.7 The Truth’s Kyle Wallace in the player above.
TOP HEADLINES FROM THE WTMJ NEWS TEAM:
- Packers, QB Jordan Love agree to new contract through 2024
- WTMJ NIGHTS: Term Limits, New Liquor Sale Laws, and Farewell Tours
- Two Greenfield police officers on leave after shooting and injuring suspect
- Milwaukee school bus rammed by erratic driver, at least 3 people hospitalized
- Wisconsin man’s elaborate scheme to pose as storied veteran, steal from girlfriend was foiled
READ: Tory Lowe’s community clean-up beautifies Milwaukee and connects neighbors
