Two 18-year-old male students at Nottingham Trent University were arrested and released under investigation after another student filmed the duo chanting “we hate the blacks” and “blacks and whites will never be together” outside her room.
Rufaro Chisango tweeted the one-minute long video in which at least two men were heard making racist remarks while another lady retorted back and said, “Leave her alone.”
Chisango, who is the only black student living on her floor said that the incident made her feel shocked, as well as uncomfortable and isolated.
On Twitter, Chisango shared, “Words cannot describe how sad this makes me feel, in 2018 people think this is acceptable. They were chanting this outside my door so don't be surprised to why I didn't leave my room. I told the reception and they said this will be dealt with Tuesday morning... it's Wednesday night and they haven't. If I had broken their table or anything they would have dealt with it straight away, but not this. ”
The two male students have been suspended by the university pending a full inquiry. A spokesman from the university shared, “We are also working with our accommodation partner to understand why the university was only alerted to this on Wednesday.”
The National Union of Students officer, Ilyas Nagdee, 23, who represents students of Asian, African, Arab and Caribbean descent stated that these experiences are “common”. He said, “We've seen examples of incidents like the racist writing on bananas at Warwick, the Confederate flag at Manchester and now shouting through the door in Nottingham. These are just the stories that go viral over social media. But unfortunately this is the day-to-day experience of students of colour across the country and it has been going on for decades. I'm contacted at least a couple of times a week by students asking me for help after experiencing racism.”
