WASHINGTON — The hanging of bananas from nooses with hateful messages at American University in Washington, apparently targeting the first Black woman to serve as the student body president, prompted members of Congress to call for federal civil rights investigations on Thursday.
At least five bananas with nooses were found hanging from trees and lampposts around campus on Monday, Taylor Dumpson’s first full day as student president.
The FBI said Thursday that it is assisting a hate-crime investigation opened by campus police. The bananas included messages targeting Dumpson’s historically Black Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, along with the words “Harambe bait,” referring to the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo that was shot and killed after a child fell into its enclosure.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, and other members of Congress who are Alpha Kappa Alpha alumni called on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to denounce and investigate the incident. They said President Donald Trump should speak out as well.
“What happened at American University is tragic. A young woman’s historic achievement has been clouded by hatred and bigotry,” said Rep. Alma Adams, a North Carolina Democrat. “This incident is just the latest in a string of atrocities sweeping our nation. It’s not a coincidence since President Trump’s election that we’ve experienced a wave of intolerance and divide.”
A report by the Department of Education’s civil rights division found that complaints of racial harassment on college campuses had more than doubled between 2009 and 2016.
Some have led to federal prosecutions. One of two former University of Mississippi students was sentenced to probation last year for placing a noose on the statue of James Meredith, the school’s first black student. The other was sentenced to six months in prison.
