Exclusive: UMich student who reported white pride posters speaks out
‘I hope UMich come out and say they don’t tolerate racism on campus’
When Kori Thomas returned from class on Friday morning to her freshman dorm, she noticed some unusual new flyers on the wall.
She stepped forward to read them, and was stunned. The flyers promoted white pride, and cited spurious data claiming Black people are more likely to have lower intelligence and suffer from HIV.
“I didn’t expect that to happen again,” said Kori in an exclusive interview with The Tab. “I was shocked at first, and after that I was more angry than anything else.”
Kori tweeted pictures of the posters, and followed up with, “Social media has given cowards so much courage.” She was immediately bombarded with hateful messages and KKK memes.
This is not the first time alt-right posters at UMich have appeared in the name of white supremacy. Previous iterations have parroted slogans such as, “Stop denying your heritage: be white,” and, “The state is more concerned with protecting Muslims than us.” One flyer was titled “Why White Women Shouldn’t Date Black Men,” making claims such as, “He’s much more likely to abuse you.”
The last time that happened back in September, UMich was quick to react with statements denouncing the posters. They also held a staff-wide protest in solidarity with students of color. So when Kori tagged the university’s account and tweeted the posters – which showed a graph claiming to highlight the prevalence of gonorrhea among Black people – she expected a similar reaction. The response? Radio silence.
“I’m a little bit frustrated,” said Kori. “I expected them to at least respond, especially with everything that’s going on this year. I don’t think it means they don’t care. Maybe they’re just busy.”
Kori’s tweet did get a reaction from the internet, however. She said she received a lot of racist responses initially, but that there were also comments supporting her. She told us she knows there are a lot of other students who are upset about the posters, and she’s received messages of solidarity.
“I did get an email from [another student] who said they saw more posters around campus,” said Kori.
Kori didn’t remove the flyers, and hasn’t yet reported them through official channels, explaining that she “just couldn’t look at them anymore.”
When we asked if she had ever experienced racism to this extent at UMich, Kori said, “No, nothing like this.”
She says she hopes the university will see her post, which has been retweeted 480 times so far, and come out with some sort of response.
“I hope they come out and say that they don’t tolerate [racism on campus], and then maybe they’ll be able to control it. Black students, we’re here for the same reasons as everybody else, and feeling attacked isn’t going to solve anything.”
The Tab reached out to the university for comment on Friday.