Thursday, November 17, 2005
Ball State Students Subject to Racial Slurs on McKinley
Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana just completed major improvements to McKinley Avenue prior to the start of the fall semester. McKinley is the major drive through campus and the improvements are quite impressive.But as Erin Moody, Chief Reporter of the Ball State Daily News, the college's student newspaper writes:
Reports range from 10 to 19 incidents of racist slurs from passing motorist along McKinley Avenue and University Avenue.Walking down the dark Cow Path, freshman Eden South said she felt safer than walking down lit McKinley Avenue.
After having racial slurs yelled at her out of a passing car and watching passengers in another car throw eggs at students, South said she would rather walk down a dark path than the main road through campus.
Freshman Brandie Smiley said when she arrived at Ball State, she did not expect this level of racism. Smiley and her friends have been verbally abused by passing cars, including being called “niggers” and being told to “go back to your plantations.”For the moment, Virgil recommends students travel in groups, attempt to record license plate numbers and call police or 911 when something happens, he said.Smiley and approximately 50 other students, mainly freshmen and underclassmen, have organized to fight the incidents. Their actions include traveling in groups and being vigilant to take down license plate numbers and descriptions of vehicles.“You get angry for a minute, and then you calm down so you don’t do anything stupid,” she said. “As a matter of fact, after they do what they do, they speed off immediately.”
