Racist Citadel grad’s Facebook post is a reminder that the war on racism goes on
Perhaps The Citadel alumnus who placed a racist Facebook post about segregated water fountains in a private alumni group deserves our thanks.
Every utterance of the N-word, every murder motivated by white supremacy, every joke about lynchings, every vile, disgusting racist act, including this latest Facebook post, is a testament to the ongoing need to educate each generation about the scourge of racism and the damage it continues to inflict on America’s soul.
This latest incident drew a firm rebuke from The Citadel, which placed this statement on the school’s website.
Statement from The Citadel regarding a racially offensive social media post
Yesterday, an alumnus of The Citadel fabricated an abhorrent fake news release appearing to be from The Citadel. The nature of the post was racially offensive; The Citadel will not sit idly by and tolerate comments of this nature. While the post appeared in a private Facebook group and has since been deleted, it is important to publicly condemn these comments in the strongest possible terms, as they are completely opposed to our core values—Honor, Duty and Respect. Further, every quote included in the fake post was forged. The slanderous statements do not reflect the actual views of The Citadel or its leadership.
Scroll down the website and you’ll come to a story about the first African American women cadets, seven in all, who graduated from The Citadel in 2002.
The women are expected to be honored today during a parade and reception hosted by the school’s president.
The web page is a microcosm of the United States, demonstrating at once progress in this seemingly never ending fight for equality and equity, and regression as some white Americans push back longing for their version of the good ol’ days.
South Carolina’s Legislature, like many across the country, is considering a host of measures that would limit classroom instruction on matters of racial justice, slavery, racism and related topics. Imagine wanting your population to be less educated, less informed, less prepared to understand our history.
Our reporter Caitlin Byrd noted in her story that the post appeared in a private Facebook group called The Citadel Old Corps, which describes itself as a group for Citadel graduates who began attending the school before 1996 and graduated before 2000.
“We are NOT ‘The Citadel Diverse and Progressive Corps,’” the group proclaims in its description. It goes on to say that it does not support “fundamental changes of any aspect to our beloved Alma Mater.” “We support traditional American values and will not tolerate anti-American rhetoric, nor will we tolerate anti-Southern rhetoric,” the group writes. “We are not racists, nor do we support racism of any kind. Therefore, we will not tolerate individuals who continue to falsely accuse us of such atrocities that are far removed from our more recent and current culture.”
Teaching today’s children and adults about the past does not amount to being anti-American or anti-Southern. It simply means facing our history, warts and all.
There’s a well-known clip of educator Jane Elliot asking a room full of white Americans to consider what if the roles were reversed.
“I want every white person in this room who would be happy to be treated as this society, in general, treats our citizens, our Black citizens, if you as a white person would be happy to receive the same treatment that our Black citizens do in this society, please stand.”
No one stands and so she asks again. Still, no one stands.
“Nobody’s standing here,” Elliot says. “That says very plainly that you know what’s happening, you know you don’t want it for you. I want to know why you’re so willing to accept it or to allow it to happen for others?”
If you are white, would you stand up?
This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 11:00 AM with the headline "Racist Citadel grad’s Facebook post is a reminder that the war on racism goes on."