OP here. I can't tell from any of the news reports whether the banana antics/lewd drawings are two relatively isolated incidents, or whether it's part of a pervasive pattern of subtle or overt discrimination/harassment of students of color at AU. I guess time will tell. I only posted here to see if anyone had kids at AU who could speak to the racial climate on campus.

According to AU students, more than just two black women were involved -- two students trashed a residence hall, which is why AU investigated and did not find this to be racially biased behavior.

https://www.american.edu/media/news/statement-9-16-16.cfm

Looks like it was bad behavior that student groups and the media are characterizing as racial, probably at least partially because of the cultural zeitgeist surrounding the issue on campuses.

OP here. I've seen one account in my FB feed from someone who apparently attended the protest on Monday. He remarked that as one AA young woman got up to talk about her experience, two young white men walked by and yelled "Get over it!" However, the poster also said that the audience of protesters was very diverse, with many Asian, white, and Latino students standing in solidarity alongside AA students.

I hope this suggests that it's only a very small minority of students involved in these sorts of incidents. Nonetheless, seems like AU may have some work to do in terms of clarifying appropriate behavior on a diverse campus, at minimum.

American is a racist environment. Mostly white affluent students; most cafteria workers, janitors etc. are black. Taught there. Faculty is often forced to cater to entitled students. The place is just full of bad vibes. Racism is so instituionalized that I doubt they can fix it any time soon.

Anonymous wrote:I rread the story in the WP.It seems crazy that college students would be so hateful.

Not crazy at all.
Peep what the now expelled student from Belmont put on Snapchat...
http://www.newschannel5.com/news/student-expelled-over-racially-charged-post

Anonymous wrote:I dont understand why people are so upset about a banana. now if it was trash or rotten tomatos i would get it. but a banana? sounds like a harmless prank, imo.

Are you serious? You must be a troll?

I dont understand why people are so upset about a banana. now if it was trash or rotten tomatos i would get it. but a banana? sounds like a harmless prank, imo.

I'm an AU alum (06) and this is really surprising to me. AU has an extremely liberal student body, and the administration seemed to take issues like this incredibly seriously when I was there.
That being said, while I was there, there is a small contingent of idiot frat bros who I could see doing something like this and think it was funny. It's a shame that the administration at the school was trying to sweep it under the rug. That's not the college that I went to.

I rread the story in the WP.It seems crazy that college students would be so hateful.

Not a hoax... jeez people.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/racism-at-au-is-bananas-hundreds-protest-incidents-on-american-u-campus/2016/09/19/4526a4ba-7e97-11e6-9070-5c4905bf40dc_story.html

It's also something done to athletes in other countries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCczS0wlEwQ

I thought the school was comprised of "wonks" who couldn't get into a better school.

Isn't American U one of the most liberal campuses in the country? Just sayin'.

This has been in my newsfeed the past couple of days. Anyone have a student there? Curious about the climate on campus.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/american-university-racism-banana_us_57df5313e4b08cb1409679e8