Michigan State University is under fire for allowing MSU sophomore, Jillian Kirk, to engage in racial rants on her social media accounts without repercussions. Kirk has expressed racial remarks and slurs against black people since 2013. 

The students at MSU are infuriated because the university is condoning disgusting behaviors that affects the livelihood of the black student body on campus. 

Students expressed their rage from their Twitter accounts. 

“So we have lowkey racists at MSU attacking and harassing the black students who brought the issue with Jillian Kirk to the public. Let me go ahead and fill out these transfer apps,” Van Ray said on Twitter. 

Kirk’s behavior is completely unacceptable and it is disappointing that MSU has not acted accordingly. An institution is supposed to be a safe space for students and for students of color to express their concerns. “A student using Twitter handle @Juyliannafowlkes tweeted images of Kirk – one with the ‘N-word’ in a Snapchat caption and another with the same racial expletive written on a note affixed to her forehead,” according to Blavity.com

Kirk spewed hate on her social media accounts disrespecting people of color, apologized and stated: “Nothing was meant to cause pain to anyone, but I realize what was in those posts is hurtful and disrespectful…” according to Blavity.com

Kirk did not care to think that her behavior would cause pain to anyone because she just blatantly did not care. Ignorance is the essence of racism. It is very rare that racist people are sincerely apologetic about their actions because it is fixated in their mind that what they do and feel is simply justified by being unapologetically racist. 

The university released a statement addressing Kirk’s behavior and mentioning that the core values of MSU is inclusion so students can express their freedom of speech and does not condone harassment or bullying. 

“The university is aware of the recent social media posts connected to an MSU student. As a public institution, we do not get to control what every member of our community says…” according to Blavity.com

. As a result, Kirk was not punished by the university for her actions since she didn’t specifically single out a student of color and harass them, which acts as a gateway for continuous erratic behavior. 

In my opinion, the university does not care enough to reprimand Kirk for her actions because of the lack of control they choose to have over the situation. Everything about life is a choice and the decisions we make individually and collectively that shapes us to become elevated people or a collapsed people. It’s up to us to make the right decisions to move into the right direction and to do that, we must be respectful of all people.

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