Racist graffiti scrawled outside black teacher’s dorm

The n-word was found graffitied on a noticeboard outside a black teacher’s office at the University of New Hampshire.

This is the latest racist incident to take place on campus this week, after at least three white students circulated images of themselves in blackface, and swastikas were scrawled on the wall of a residence hall.

The n-word was seen written in capitals across a noticeboard listing different identities like “Latino”, “Muslim” and “Black.” The words “be an ally” were also vandalized to read “be anal.”

The noticeboard is directly opposite the apartment and office of Darnelle Bosquet-Fleurival, the director of Williamson Hall.

Danique Montique, the sophomore who filmed the video taking a white student to task for wearing a poncho on Cinco de Mayo, added that a Snapchat video has circulated among UNH of a white student, sitting in a cardboard box singing “Amazing Grace.”

The symbolism of a white student crouched in a crate, singing a hymn synonymous with slavery, was not lost on Danique. “She’s pretending to be a slave,” she said.

“Everyday you wake up to something new,” she told The Tab. “I can’t study because I haven’t had time to process anything. I’m tired. I can’t eat, or sleep. This is affecting my mental state at this point. It’s affecting a lot of POC mental states. It’s draining.”

Students at UNH are protesting the university’s lack of response amid a wave of racist incidents, even refusing to sit finals.

It has been a fraught week, explains Javen Morse, a junior at UNH majoring in Political Science. “I’ve had better days, I’ve had better weeks,” he said. “Right now people of color are feeling a lot of tension. We’re very angry – we’re struggling to stay mentally and physically sturdy. Especially during finals – our professors expect us to prepare and take these exams. It’s tough, and a lot of people have broken down and can’t deal with it anymore. It’s hard to maintain a strong unit.”

All Eyes on UNH, a page set up to “expose injustices” on campus, posted on Friday that a man has been spotted walking around Durham, New Hampshire wearing a sombrero, poncho and fake mustache and carrying maracas. Other students have heard him shout “Mike wears what he wants,” a line spoken by the white student wearing a poncho in Danique’s video.

Speaking about this week at UNH, Joyce Lekien, a senior, said: “The university has not had a response. There has been an email sent to residents in the hall, saying how this will not be tolerated, but nothing to the whole community. There was also an email sent a couple days ago but it didn’t directly address the issue of racism. It was an attempt to pacify the people – a failed attempt at addressing this.”

Ruth Abelmann, the Interim Director of Residence Life at UNH said in a message to Williamson Hall residents: “This behavior is unacceptable, hateful, and mean-spirited. Our community does not have space for this and racist acts are not welcome here. Any students found responsible for this unacceptable behavior will be dealt with through our student code of conduct.”

More to follow.