Democrats are blasting the Republican National Convention (RNC) for playing a clip of white University of Mississippi students making monkey noises towards a Black woman.
The clip features an intense encounter between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and Ole Miss students who were members of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. It was played during the third night of the RNC to celebrate anti-woke college students.
When the part of the white fraternity member making the racist gesture while approaching the Black woman played, Newsmax co-host Bob Brooks can be heard saying that these students are “giving us some hope there that not all college students have gone woke.”
The RNC received backlash from top Democrats, including the Biden campaign. Spokesperson Sarafina Chitika released a statement calling out the hypocrisy as GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump promised unity. “Donald Trump promised unity at his convention. Instead, he delivered bigotry, division, and straight-up racism that turned dog whistles into bullhorns,” Chitika wrote.
“The video elevated by Trump and his RNC is beneath the office of the President, and it’s proof that their empty pandering to voters of color is nothing more than lip service to paper over decades of racism.”
Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright said the clip reveals the true feelings of Republicans
toward Black people. “It really speaks loudly about what they really think and feel about us,” Seawright said. “In other words, they’re saying the quiet part out loud.” Social media users also criticized the RNC and questioned what “unity” really means to them. “How? In what context? I cannot imagine a need for that to be played there,” @lolaraybee wrote.@michealerlersbn shared similar thoughts. “I’m not sure how much more obvious the GOP can make it that they see hate as a feature and not a bug,” he wrote.
Those same students featured in the video attended the RNC and even
spoke defending their actions. “When a mob tried to take down the American flag on our campus, we knew we couldn’t let that happen. We stood guard, we held it up and we did not let it fall. It was all about respect. Not just for the cloth but for everything that the flag stands for,” one student said.“Too many people have sacrificed everything for it. The least we could do is keep it flying.”
According to The Mississippi Free Press, the monkey gesture was directed at UM For Palestine media contact and graduate student Jaylin Smith. Other students were heard chanting, “Lizzo! Lizzo! Lizzo!” towards her, referring to the Grammy-winning
music star.When the protests took place on May 2, state governor Tate Reeves celebrated on X, saying, “It warms my heart.” Meanwhile, the fraternity released a statement condemning the members’ actions and the member was removed from the organization on May 3.