Many of us think what we post on Snapchat is no big deal, especially because it will disappear in 24 hours. But 1) it might not disappear, because screenshots, and 2) Snapchat's ephemeral nature is never an excuse to be racist.
In the latest episode of "college students posting racist Snapchats," two students at Albright College made a video, which they seemed to believe was humorous, mocking the Black Lives Matter movement. One of the students, who is white, is wearing blackface, and can be heard saying "black lives matter now, okay" and "f*** white peple" while her friend giggles in the background, according to Fusion. The girl also identifies herself as "Carleisha."
In one video, the girl in blackface attempts to twerk with clothing stuffed in her pants to look like she has a bigger butt.
The videos quickly made their way around the internet. Many people tweeted angry responses to the video, and others expressed their outrage by sending private messages to the girl's Snapchat account, trying to explain to her why this was not okay.
A few hours after the videos were posted, Albright College Tweeted that they were aware of the video and were investigating.
The College is aware of and condemns the video. Senior admins are meeting with the students involved. We'll share a longer statement soon.
— Albright College (@AlbrightCollege) September 29, 2016
Later, in an official statement, the school said the students' behavior was unacceptable and "in no way represents the values of Albright." The students in the videos "voluntarily came forward" to admit to what they'd done, and have "expressed deep remorse," according to the statement.
Local news channel WFMZ-TV interviewed some students at Albright who expressed their feelings over the matter. One student, Hakieya Burrell-Sims, says "she needs to come out and apologize to us as a campus and as a community, and she needs to apologize to everyone else and the black community."
On Friday, Albright released and updated statement saying that the two students have been suspended for the time being while the school investigates further.
