Black San Francisco student filmed harassing white student over his dreadlocks in ‘cultural appropriation’ row
47-second clip viewed more than one million times in just 24 hours
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Your support makes all the difference.A video showing a black female student harrassing a white male student over his dreadlocks - telling him "it's my culture" - has been viewed more than one million times.
Posted online, the 47-second clip begins by showing the female San Francisco State University (SFSU) student ask another black male student, who appears to support her views, if he has a pair of scissors, supposedly so that she can cut the dreadlocks.
The white student, identified by local news site SF Weekly as Cory Goldstein, defends his hairstyle and asks the female student: “You’re saying I can’t have a hairstyle because of your culture. Why?”
She is heard to reply: “Because it’s my culture.”
Mr Goldstein then insists the hairstyle has its origins in Egypt, asking her if she’s Egyptian.
She then asks Mr Goldstein if he is Egyptian, going on to repeatedly ask: “Where is Egypt?”
When Mr Goldstein attempts to walk away from the situation to walk up a set of stairs, his path is blocked and he is pushed back and prevented from leaving as the female student continues to accuse him of cultural appropriation.
Some online users suggest the video appears staged, although others insist it is clear it is genuine.
Mr Goldstein took to his Facebook page shortly after the incident to say: “I just got physically assaulted because I have dreadlocks woe.”
Shortly after, he saide would not be filing any criminal charges “against the girl who harassed me,” adding: “I did file a formal campus police report and I decided to let the education system deal with her.”
SFSU released a statement soon after the clip began to attract attention online, saying it was aware of a video made of an incident that occurred on campus.
The statement said: “University police were called to the scene of the incident when it occurred. The two individuals involved in the incident are not San Francisco State University employees. Further, no criminal charges have been pressed at this time to the university’s knowledge.
“San Francisco State University promotes the rights of the campus community to engage in free speech, but does not condone behaviour that impedes the safety or well-being of others.
“We are taking the matter seriously and will promptly and thoroughly investigate this incident through applicable university channels, including our campus student conduct procedures.”
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