OSU Students Furious After University Reports Black-on-White ‘Hate Crime’

Ohio State University students are upset after the school published information about two Black hate crime suspects, as it is required to do under federal law. On September 3, the Ohio State University sent a public safety notice to students, which mentioned a “hate crime” perpetrated by two African-American suspects near Ohio State’s campus. The first correspondence did not mention the victims’ race.

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A few days later, the Department of Public Safety sent two follow-up emails, stating that the victims of the crime were White Ohio State students and that the suspects were in custody. One suspect allegedly yelled a racial slur at a student and punched him in the face.

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OSU sent out an email on Friday confirming that the alleged victims were White, but this is not enough. The damage has already been done. Furthermore, they continued to classify this incident as a hate crime, despite admitting that the alleged victims were White. pic.twitter.com/CY1dFluqfq

— Student Solidarity at OSU (@SolidarityatOSU) September 7, 2020

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On September 8, roughly 100 students gathered outside of the school’s administrative offices in order to protest the “error and confusion in the handling of” the public safety notices.

“OSU is mocking their entire Black student body right now. They’re blatantly making campus more uncomfortable and dangerous for us and POC,” tweeted student Deja Geddings.

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The group Student Solidarity at OSU argued that the incident was not a hate crime, as racial slurs directed toward White people “are not based on a history of violence & oppression towards White people.”

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