U of M Black Students, Faculty Want Racial Descriptions Left Out of Campus Crime Alerts

Jim Hoft by Jim Hoft January 30, 2014

Ignorance Is Bliss–
Despite a recent increase in campus robberies, black student and faculty organizations at the University of Minnesota want racial descriptions left out of campus crime alerts.
It’s offensive.
robbery um
Freddie Pernell Jackson, 21, and Nehemiah Jovan Richardson, 24, both were charged with one count of aiding/abetting first-degree robbery this month in connection to a robbery of a University of Minnesota student in November. (KARE)

WCCO reported:

School officials at the University of Minnesota are working with black student and facility organizations after they wrote a letter to the school’s president about the racial descriptions given in crime alerts.

The letter, sent on Dec. 6, 2013, was issued by members of the African American and African Studies, Black Faculty and Staff Association, Black Graduate and Professional Student Association, Black Men’s Forum, Black Student Union and Huntley House for African American Males.

It was directed to University President Eric Kaler and Pamela Wheelock, the vice president of University Services.

Students and staff mailed the letter more than a month after the campus went on lockdown because of an attempted robbery at Anderson Hall on Nov. 11, 2013. University of Minnesota Police wrongfully identified a student as the suspect.

On Tuesday, school officials reported there have been 25 robberies in and around the University, an increase of 27 percent over the last few years.

The organizations wrote that while campus safety is crucial, the profiling can be devastating for black male students.

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