As we all learned from Roseanne Barr, making excuses for inherent racism pretty much never works. However, one college student apparently didn’t get the memo about such bullsh*t justifications.
Recently, a student at Georgia Southern University sparked a wave of controversy when she “accidentally” texted her black roommate a racial slur. Private Twitter groups shared screenshots of the conversation, which eventually went viral.
The text messages (courtesy of BuzzFeed) feature a black female student introducing herself to her new roommate, who is white. The two exchanged a few messages before the white student sent a text saying, “Her insta looks pretty normal not too n*****ish.”
The white student then furiously backpedaled and blamed the slur on her phone’s autocorrect feature.
The student apologized and claimed that “n*****ish” was supposed to be “triggerish.” (Which is, of course, not a word.)
If you’ve ever tried to text someone the word “f**k,” then you know that your phone generally corrects it to “duck,” and that “accidentally” texting someone an aggressively racist expletive pretty unlikely.
Screenshots of the conversation and the roommate’s pathetically feeble justification for the slur began circulating among students on social media.
Georgia Southern University eventually issued a statement on the matter, saying that the school is “no place for bigotry or racism.”
Message from Georgia Southern University President Shelley C. Nickel: pic.twitter.com/96MvMOfMu0
— GeorgiaSouthern (@GeorgiaSouthern) July 20, 2018
“The University shares the hurt our community has expressed following the use of a racial slur exhibited in a screenshot shared on social media,” the statement reads. “The use of such racist comments is offensive and unacceptable and in no way reflects the attitudes or values of Georgia Southern University.”
It is currently unclear whether or not the university has taken any disciplinary action against the student in question, as her identity and student records are protected.
African-American students at the school say that they are outraged by the situation, and don’t buy the excuse that the slur was the result of a spell-check error.
“I think I speak for the entire African-American population of Georgia Southern when I say that while I am not surprised, I am angry and disappointed,” student Leon Bowles told school newspaper The George-Anne. “The text itself was cause enough for outrage, but the pathetic attempt at an excuse and apology was a flippant insult to her intelligence.”