FBI probes racial incident near Kansas State University

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Riley County Police Department (RCPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have started a probe into the racial graffiti that were painted on a car parked near the campus of Kansas State University (KSU).

The racial slurs like "Date Your Own Kind" and "Go Home Nigger Boy" were splashed in the washable yellow paint on the car. KSU has been witnessing a spate of such racial incidents: In May, a noose was found hanging from a tree in the university; in September, anti-gay messages were scribbled outside student union building, and last month white supremacist posters were located on the campus.

In a statement, the RCPD and FBI announced a cash award of 1,000 US dollars for information on the incident. Police have also intensified patrol on the campus. Police earlier reported that the car defaced with the racial slur is owned by a KSU student. Later, it retracted the statement and clarified that the car belongs to a local resident.

Shocked by the incident, university authorities immediately called a meeting with the Black Student Union to chalk out strategies to control incidents triggering racism on the campus.

A twitter screen shot of the car that was defaced with racial message. /Twitter Photo

Richard Myers, President of the University, said in a message that "the incident affected our Manhattan campus and caused significant pain to our students, faculty, and staff. The racist messages found on a car parked off campus are a direct attack on the values of our community."

International Students

African Student Union of Kansas State University said in a statement, "We welcome the measures being taken by the authorities to improve the safety of affected persons and the University community as a whole. The case is under investigation, and in our bid to get things right, we will await the report."

There are around 2,000 international students enrolled in the university. According to College Factual students from China, India and Saudi Arabia are the most substantial on-campus communities at KSU. The university has around 912 Chinese and 175 Indian students.

Repeated incidents of racism have disturbed the students. The Kansas City Star in a report quoted a KSU student, Andrew Hammond, "At this point, students of color are becoming very frustrated."

The Indian Student Association (ISA) at KSU maintained that the incident is unfortunate, but students have shown great tolerance. "We have been informed about the incident, but we feel this is an isolated case of racism," Sofiya Sabreen, president of ISA told CGTN. "KSU is adeptly handling the incident."

ISA is organizing a cultural extravaganza at Sanskriti on November 4 sponsored by the Diversity Programming Committee of K-State. Members claimed that the event will be hosted as per schedule, and is likely to bring together the diverse culture of the university together during the event.

Attempts to contact the Chinese Student Union at KSU failed despite repeated attempts.