Bloomsburg Student/Local Native Posts Racial Slur on Social Media
Warning: This article contains language some may find offensive. BUnow included the language because it is integral to the story.
BLOOMSBURG, PA – On Sunday night in an argument on Snapchat, Bloomsburg University sophomore Marc A. Malkoskie took a partial photo of his face, wrote the caption “You Philly niggers need to go back to where u came from we don’t want you in our town,” and sent it off to an unidentified female classmate.
Offended, the classmate took a screenshot of the photo and posted it on her Snapchat story for the world to see. From there, students began to screenshot and re-post the photo, adding their reactions with each re-post.
“Ive never been so disgusted,” remarked one student.
Asa Whiters, a junior and Community Assistant, expressed her disgust for this photo though an e-mail. “Seeing this is disheartening,” she said. Whiters went on to speak from a CA perspective about how important it is for students to feel safe at Bloomsburg.
She feels that using slurs like “nigger” creates an Us vs. Them mentality that makes it impossible for students to prosper in such a hostile and uncomfortable environment.
Through re-posts, the photo eventually found its way to both Instagram and Twitter. Even CGA President Joar Dahn took to Instagram to repost the photo.
Joel Baker, a member of the Bloomsburg Concert Committee, spoke in an e-mail about how he saw the photo in the concert committee GroupMe. GroupMe is an instant messaging app that makes it easier for groups of people to chat together.
“I really found this sickening,” Baker reacted. He feels that a place such as Bloomsburg that is growing in diversity and love is no place for such hateful speech.
“A person like this does not deserve to be a student here,” said Baker. “Stuff like this WILL NOT overcome what our university stands for.”
There was an outcry from students on Twitter towards Bloomsburg, demanding that they deal with the situation at hand and respond accordingly.
https://twitter.com/ny_la_11/status/960922854303961088
Bloomsburg’s official twitter never made a stand-alone tweet condemning the photo, but they responded to each student that tagged them in tweets about the photo.
Thank you for alerting us. Dean of Students has been notified. We're sorry you had to see this.
— BloomsburgUniversity (@BloomsburgU) February 6, 2018
Malkoskie took to twitter Monday night to issue an apology. In the four-photo apology, Malkoskie explained that he was infuriated by a fellow student for defending the destruction of the town following the Eagles’ Super Bowl win.
“In the heat of the moment, I wrote the most hateful word I know in my reply.”
He went on to apologize for his “illogical comment” and assured readers that “if you ask people that know me through school, work, church, or sports they will tell you I am a caring, well-minded, and intelligent individual who made a very, very stupid mistake.”
BUnow did receive a comment from Malkoskie after reaching out.
“I would like to apologize to everyone I offended and to the University for misrepresenting them… I was sad to see students causing reckless damage to the town I’ve grown up around my whole life, and when the student sided with the riot instead of the town/university, I was angered and in the heat of the moment I sent her that snap and used a word that I never say nor will ever say again.”
