Reflections on the San Jose State Hate Crimes from a Woman in the Dorm

by Taylor Torregano

 “He just wanted to get along.” 

That's the reason prosecutors gave for why the African American victim of San Jose State University’s recent hate crimes hadn’t put an end to this abuse sooner. To many adults, it’s a phrase impossible to understand. Students, however, may empathize.

On Thursday, November 21, three students at SJSU were suspended after being charged with misdemeanor battery and hate-crimes. The three Caucasian freshmen allegedly nicknamed their African American roommate ‘three fifths’ and ‘fraction,’ fastened a U-shaped bike lock around his neck, hung a Confederate flag in the living room and wrote the ‘N-word’ on a dry erase board. On one occasion they even locked him in his closet. The victim was so tormented that he often hid himself in his room and would sleep in fear that his roommates could enter and inflict more harm.

As an African American student at San Jose State who lived in the same dorm as this victim, I am outraged. Not only is it disappointing that such extreme degrees of racism still occur, but I am also forced to question the quality of our authority. 

The story gets uncomfortably hazy at the point of University Housing repercussions upon finding out about this abuse. SJSU's president claims in a letter he said was sent to all faculty, staff and students, (one I never received, even though I still live on-campus) that the housing staff transferred two of the three accused students to another hall the day they learned of the situation. However, I believe that the initial story released is what actually happened. 

When Housing Resident Advisors first saw the confederate flag placed by a dorm window, they simply requested that it be relocated somewhere not visible by the general public. The investigation and relocation didn’t occur until later instances were reported.

Why didn't a confederate flag in a shared college dorm room raise more eyebrows? How did this abuse occur from August, shortly after school began, until midway through October? My freshman year at San Jose State was one of adaptation and self discovery. Surrounded by thousands of new people and responsibilities, there’s a lingering pressure coming from all angles. You want to do good in school, meet friends you can trust and keep your parents happy, all while staying true and finding out who you are as a person. If the victim is anything like I was as a freshman, he really just wanted to go with the flow.

In the dorms we had frequent health and safety checks where resident advisors would enter into each room to ensure the student’s well being. This is how I believe the flag was discovered. But if that is true and the students at fault were relocated, how were things able to get this far? Something doesn’t add up. I am appalled at the ignorance of the students who have claimed that this was just a prank or a joke and sincerely hope that they realize the severity of such discrimination.

 SJSU is known for its diversity, a term usually associated with racial acceptance and tolerance. Yet we often make the news because of a negative, African American related issue. Just two months ago students were signing a petition against the cut of our African American studies department. It is almost ironic to us as students that half of our campus is under construction, yet we still do not have enough money to educate on black history. We come together in order to make a difference and our voices are heard, but why does it take so much fuss to receive the justice we are entitled to?

These are the questions that students have been asking at San Jose State University. I am proud to see such unity when tragedies like these occur, but it saddens me that we must revolt in such a dramatic way in order to be noticed.

I would hope that as situations arise we are able to learn from them and do better in the future. Maybe it takes hate crimes in our very own dorms for administrators to realize that instead of cutting African American classes altogether, they should be made a requirement for those in need of understanding the trauma that can be caused by calling a black male “three fifths.”

 The incident has resulted in the involvement of the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chapter of the NAACP. I am pleased to see that SJSU President Mohammed Qayoumil has agreed to NAACP’s requests that the school hold a press conference on Monday, November 25, in order to discuss the student’s pending criminal charges, a campus forum inviting community input about racial tolerance and a spring 2014 lecture series on issues of diversity and tolerance.

 Realistically, there is only so much the 3 percent African American population enrolled at San Jose State can do to ensure that problems like these cease. We need the help and concern of campus administrators who make decisions affecting our education in the drop of a dime. 

As a young boy in a place away from home, entrusting that he is safe at a campus dorm known for their diversity and tolerance, it is completely understandable that the victim would rely on an outside source to help him in such a clear time of need. 

Not reaching out meant pretending that the abuse he endured was acceptable and it was his form of typical, teenage coping -- a cry for help that our advisors should be trained to see. He was just another freshman that wanted to ‘get along,’ but instead now stands as yet another black symbol of how despite our advances, the human race still has a long way to go.