Bananas in the nooses at Washington’s American University draws the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into its Probe, But what is the Cause behind It?

Updated On June 11, 2024 | Published By: Chirlot Sharma | In Career , Wellness

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, popularly known as the FBI, joined the probe of the bananas hanging from nooses incident at Washington’s American University. We will probe into the reason behind this joining of the FBI in the University matter probe in this section.

Table of Contents

The Incident

On Monday, the American University’s first black student government leader, Taylor Dumpson, took office. She is a member of the black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Abbreviated as AKA, Alpha Kappa Alpha is the oldest Greek-letter organization established in the United States of America by black college women.

That very same day, bananas were found hanging by a black string, formed into the shape of nooses, as per the photos posted on social media. Messages written on the fruit included “AKA free,” apparently referring to Alpha Kappa Alpha.

Another message, “Harambe Bait,” referred to the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo that was killed last year after a young boy fell into the animal’s enclosure.

Reaction

University President Neil Kerwin has characterized the incident as a hate crime targeting black women, especially Alpha Kappa Alpha, a black sorority.

“I regret this happened, apologise to everyone offended, and state emphatically that this incident does not reflect what American University truly is,”

he said in a statement.

The University police then asked the FBI to join them in the probe, said Lindsay Godwin, a spokeswoman for the agency’s Washington office. On Wednesday, students, faculty members, and staff were invited to a campus meeting to discuss racism.

In a small room in the student union, the group discussed ways in which they could support each other during this and other cases of racism. In one exchange, participants noted that a fire alarm is a clear warning of an impending risk, while racism is a more subtle danger.

A reward for assistance in identifying the person of interest shown in the surveillance video has been raised to $1,000.

Videos of the perpetrator are available: https://t.co/WKGxBookbu and https://t.co/4cIDwhq6cp. Please come forward if you have any info https://t.co/peGSlxEy1l
— American University (@AmericanU) May 2, 2017

The school has said it is in touch with the Justice Department’s civil rights division, and Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department also is investigating.

Not the First One?

The recent incident is at least the second racially imbued occurrence involving bananas at the school in a year. In September the last year, white students were held accountable for leaving a banana at the door of one black woman’s dormitory room as well as tossing a banana at another woman.

American University

American University is a private university with about 12,500 students. It is in Washington, D.C., United States, located in the Tenleytown neighborhood in the northwest portion of the district.

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