“Hey Wallace Loh, Through your failure to address racism, white supremacists, hate speech and violence against people of color you have created an atmosphere where racists are emboldened. Your milquetoast attitude to the racist flyers, calling hate speech ‘free speech’ and refusing to stand by immigrants, who you yourself are, has allowed this disease called racism to root itself in our university. We need courage, we need our administration to fearlessly fight for the lives of our students, not cover their asses and hide in their shell. Richard Collins’s blood is on your hands.” – University of Maryland undergrad Brendan Sullivan, The Nation article
The murder of graduating Richard Collins III by a white supremacist on the University of Maryland's campus is a recent news story that thus far I’ve only seen circulated among my minority friends. The takeaway from his death is one that most minorities know, and yet most white people still need to be convinced of: we can be a student, or a criminal, or a military soldier, or a minimum wage employee, or even president, and at the end of the day, we will only be black or brown.
There is an invisible rope around the necks of minorities. The oppressive laws and other structures in place are what have already forced it around our necks. As we live day to day, we feel the rope tighten and release, controlled by a variety of white sources. Some of us live in greater fear of the barrel being kicked out from under us, or finally being lifted off the ground by our necks. For some of us, to become some tree ornament is that much more likely.
College campuses are a breeding ground for these lynchings. They are safe for everyone and no one at the same time. The argument of hate speech vs. free speech tugs at the invisible rope. Sure, everyone has a right to say what they believe. But when certain speech is allowed, it is validated. When hate speech identifies white supremacists, but they are left unchecked by administration, white supremacists are given free rein to turn that speech into action.
More often than not, they are unchecked. Students raise concerns which amount to little action by administration, and they are beyond tired of it. A student from the University of Maryland directly addressed President Wallace Loh about this on Facebook. Loh is not the first to do little or nothing, and he will not be the last. Richard Collins III’s blood is on many hands.
What is even worse is that minimal checking would’ve unearthed proof of on-campus racism. According to an article from The Baltimore Sun, the murderer was part of a Facebook group called “Alt-Reich Nation.” A noose was found in a frat house earlier this month. Nationalist posters were spread around campus this past year. These are the signs which led up to a murder. These are the signs which suggest the people of these institutions, for whatever reason, do not acknowledge their hands on the other end of the invisible rope.
The murderer’s defense attorney had the audacity to argue that since the man had no priors, “he should be allowed to live at home with a GPS monitor and receive alcohol abuse treatment while his case goes forward.” In this case, the judge declined. But we have seen too many cases in which white people are let off too easily for violence; Brock Turner, Lavinia Woodward.
The invisible rope makes it harder to breathe – which is why the UMD student’s Facebook post is one of heightened desperation. How the university responds will be very telling. It is more likely than not that their actions will appear to remove the noose, when in reality, they will be pulling the rope tauter. No one will expect a word about this from the President.
Richard Collins III was more than a black man. He had plans to cross the Bowie State University stage in his kente cloth stole. He would have had a degree in business administration. He was to continue on as second lieutenant in the US Army. He was to realize his dreams to become an Army General. He was to remain a son, friend, and member of his church community. Richard Collins III was more than a black man.
