‘Say N—r, Win Candy’: Man on College Campus wih Sign Offering People Candy to Say Racial Slur, Sparks Outrage Among Local NAACP Leaders
Kansas State University drew backlash from local NAACP leaders after campus police didn’t remove an individual who set up a display on campus offering people candy to say the N-word.
According to the Kansas State Collegian, the Manhattan, Kansas, NAACP branch raised concerns over a photograph showing a person wearing a Rastacap and seated in a lawn chair next to a sign that reads, “Say n—r, win candy.”
In an email to university officials, branch leaders wrote that the individual appeared to be a white student in full-body blackface who was not removed or penalized for erecting the offensive display at Bosco Student Plaza.
“We have received several reports of this white student in blackface holding up this racist sign on Kansas State University main campus. Campus police responded and did not remove the individual. We are respectfully asking that the university take immediate action to terminate this inappropriate and egregious behavior,” the NAACP wrote in an email to the Office of the President.
The NAACP later rescinded its blackface accusation and clarified that they could not make out the individual’s racial background or whether he was a student.
The university released a statement in response to the NAACP’s complaint, stating they could not take action against the individual due to free speech rights.
“At K-State, we expect our community to foster a culture of respect as we engage and interact within the university community. And as a public university, we uphold the First Amendment, which protects the freedom of speech, including speech we disagree with and find offensive, racist, derogatory or vile. The individual was in a public place exercising their First Amendment right. It is our understanding that this person was on campus for approximately 2.5 hours and only interacted with those who approached,” Kansas State’s Director of Division of Communications and Marketing Michelle Geering wrote in an email.
Students who approached the individual reported that he “dodged any sort of questioning.”
One student reportedly hit a male student in the face for allegedly saying the slur to get candy.
The Manhattan NAACP chapter said that multiple K-State students reached out to them with concerns.
“I’ve had two people reach out to me personally within the past 45 minutes that have expressed feelings of wanting to transfer out of K-State,” Salvo said. “If K-State wants to retain students, then protect those students, because I’ve got people asking how to leave.”
One student expressed frustration over the student’s actions.
“My initial thought is not that it’s funny, just pure annoyance and irritation,” Olivia Leon, a member of K-State’s Black Student Union, said. “In BSU we talk about microaggressions, which is something minority groups experience on campus. Stuff like that, it’s sad to say, it’s not completely shocking. … I thought that it was also very distasteful for us being at a PWI, so predominantly white institution.”