Another Dan Moore Trump supporters lose their livelihood because of their racist hatred. When Will trump supporters learn that there are consequences for being a hateful asshole?
Trump supporters suspended after posting "pick my cotton n***er" video | Washington Post
In the grainy video, a young man sits at the foot of a bed, his legs dangling off the side. His right arm is cocked and he’s holding what appears to be a brown leather belt, folded in half. He lets out a nervous sounding laugh. Someone off-camera taunts, “Do it. You won’t.”
“Pick my cotton, n-----,” the man says, using the belt to strike a person lying on the bed under a comforter with a loud thwack. The other people in the room howl with laughter.
The University of Georgia’s chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon was swiftly suspended after the short video involving students identified as fraternity members was shared to Twitter on Friday. The now-viral clips sparked widespread condemnation as the individuals were accused of “mocking slavery,” their actions reigniting concerns over the prevalence of racially charged incidents occurring on college campuses nationwide. Following a “thorough investigation,” Tau Kappa Epsilon’s national chapter announced Saturday that four men had been removed from the fraternity.
“Tau Kappa Epsilon is disgusted, appalled and angered by the remarks shown in a video of four expelled members,” the national chapter said in a statement to The Washington Post that was also posted on Twitter. “TKE will not tolerate any actions such as these that would be defined as racist, discriminatory and/or offensive.”
Video of the students, who have not been named, appeared to first surface on Twitter on Friday afternoon. By early Monday, one 17-second clip had been watched more than 96,000 times and had about 600 retweets. Another slightly longer version of the same video also posted Friday had amassed more than 54,000 views.
The video begins with the student holding the belt and playfully hitting the person under the blanket.
“Pick my cotton, b----,” the man says.
“I’m not black,” the person being hit retorts loudly, prompting chuckles from the other people in the room. The man, seemingly unfazed, continues to repeat the command and lightly smack the person in bed. Another person can be heard echoing the man’s words in a high-pitched voice.
The man is in the middle of swinging the belt when a voice off-camera interrupts: “You’re not using the right words.”
He freezes, the belt dangling limply from his raised hand. “Pick my,” he starts to say before pausing. Another person in the room eggs him on.
“Wait, get a video of it,” someone says.
The student appears to briefly hesitate before saying the command again, this time replacing the expletive with the n-word as the room explodes with laughter and the video goes black.
Backlash to the video was instant and fierce. The students’ behavior was slammed as “racist” and many demanded disciplinary action be taken against them.
“This is not ok, UGA,” another person tweeted. “As an alumni, I am disgusted and embarrassed. I will not contribute another dollar until these students are dismissed. Your lack of swift action speaks loudly. Properly support ALL of your students.”
Late Friday, the university’s Student Government Association said in a statement that their executive officers were aware of video circulating “that depicts individuals identified as members of a UGA Greek organization using racist language and engaging in behaviors that mock the suffering of enslaved peoples.”
“We have been notified that the chapter is currently suspended, and we can confirm that there is an investigation underway regarding the students involved in the video,” the statement said.