A viral video out of Virginia circulating online shows a black woman at the University of Virginia telling students there are “too many white people” in the school’s newly opened Multicultural Student Center, informing them that they are “taking up” space meant for persons of color and making non-white people “uncomfortable.”
"Public service announcement," the unidentified woman said, clearly addressing students not seen in the video. "If y'all didn't know, this is the [Multicultural Student Center], and, frankly, there's just too many white people in here, and this is a space for people of color. So just be really cognizant of the space that you're taking up, because it does make some of us POCs uncomfortable when we see too many white people in here."
“There's a whole university for a lot of y'all to be at, and there's very few spaces for us. So keep that in mind," she added.
Leftists at the University of Virginia are dictating who is and who isn’t allowed in the new Multicultural Student Center.
— YAF (@yaf) February 12, 2020
“Frankly there is just too many white people in here, and this is a space for people of color.”
This kind of racist intolerance is NOT multicultural. pic.twitter.com/XkefKqfqLA
The video triggered instant outrage online, with many people pointing out that an inclusive “multicultural” space should, be definition, include anyone who wants to be there – particularly when it’s on a taxpayer funded public university campus.
In response to the immediate and widespread backlash, UVA issued a statement addressing the controversy online. However, while their response gave more details about the multicultural center itself, UVA did not expressly address what happened in the video, other than to general emphasize that the center, along with the recently added LGBTQ, Interfaith, and “Latinx-focused” centers, were “open to all members of the University community.”
UVA this month introduced four new and expanded student centers in Newcomb Hall. Since the opening, some questions have been raised regarding the scope or inclusivity of these centers and their missions. UVA provided the following statement on Feb. 12 to address these questions: pic.twitter.com/BJ3LZCvIrE
— UVA (@UVA) February 12, 2020