Julian von Abele, a white student at Columbia University, was feeling awfully comfortable when harassing a group of students of color on campus in a recent video that was captured on camera and then shared on social. The sophomore can be seen and heard shouting about how “white people are the best thing that happened to the world.”
The incident occurred on Sunday, December 9 outside of the campus eatery, according to the Columbia Spectator.
“White people are the best thing ever,” von Abele can be heard shouting. “I love myself and I love my people…F–k yeah! White people!” He continued spewing nonsense like “We invented science and industry and you want to tell us to stop because, ‘Oh my God, we’re so bad!
“We saved billions of people from starvation, we built modern civilization! White people are the best thing that ever happened to the world!”
The Twitter user who shared the video, @aalanasir, urged the Columbia community to identify the racist student.
“Disappointed, but not surprised,” she wrote. “Twitter, do your thing.”
Here is the video.
https://twitter.com/aalanasir/status/1071689527943720960
After the video — which has more than 1 million views on social media — came to light, the deans of Columbia College, the School of General Studies, and the School of Engineering and Applied Science denounced von Abele’s actions.
From the Columbia Observer:
In a statement sent to students Sunday evening, the deans of Columbia College, the School of General Studies, and the School of Engineering and Applied Science denounced the “racially charged incident,” and invited undergraduates to an open reflection on Monday night from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Lerner Hall. Barnard administrators also emailed students reiterating the importance of campus safety in regard to diversity and inclusion.
The Black Student Organization and the Student Organization of Latinxs released statements in solidarity with the students harassed last night. A statement released by Black Students’ Organization referenced how von Abele also physically grabbed another student during this encounter and asked them if black women like to date white men.
While the behavior was denounced, students who were in the group that was being harassed say they hope the school takes further action. As it should.
