OSU Blackface Protests: Oklahoma Students March After Racist Incidents At State University

Multiple incidents of students’ displaying blackface in social media posts within the same week prompted Oklahoma State University (OSU) students to peacefully protest outside President Burns Hargis’ office Monday morning.

The first blackface incident happened on Jan. 16, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when a photo was posted on Instagram of two students donning blackface in front of an OSU flag with the caption: “Celebrating our first MLK Day off of school!!!!”

The other incident involved a female student posting a photo of herself on Snapchat Sunday. The image displaying blackface was accompanied by a caption that read, “When he says he only likes black girls.”

The protestors gathered early Monday morning and marched to administrative building Whitehurst Hall where Hagris’ office is located and reportedly blocked him from entering. Hagris acknowledged the protestors by shaking their hands before the students followed him into his office to talk about issues of racism at the university.

“Hargis was very nice enough to meet with us today, and we started the conversation on how to change the cultural competency of this campus,” vice president of the African-American Student Association Terrance Williams told the college’s student-run newspaper, the Daily O’Collegian.

Williams added: “This is not the end of it. There are definitely a lot more meetings to come; there (are) a lot more things to be said and addressed.”

The students involved in both incidents issued apologies following their posts:

“We take full responsibility for the impact of this situation,” one of the student apology statements' read. “We understand and regret that this reflects poorly on the reputation of Oklahoma State University. Our actions were thoughtless and harmful. We also now see how easily social media can cause heartache and pain.”

The university’s president posted multiple letters on his Twitter account addressing the incidents and protests. The first letter stated that the blackface social media posts “strengthen the university’s resolve to provide an inclusive environment” to students of all backgrounds.

“We will use this occurrence to reiterate and reinforce to the campus that any behavior, language or symbols representing or reflecting intolerance or discrimination has absolutely no place at OSU,” Hagris’ statement said.