A
Clemson University administrator has demanded that any and all
references to Harambe be removed from the public spaces in its
dormitories because of concerns about “rape culture” and “racism.”
“Due
to an incident that happened earlier this week, we are no longer
allowing any reference to Harambe (or any other spelling) to be
displayed on doors, halls, billboards, or windows,” an administrator
stated in an e-mail to resident assistants, a screenshot of which was
leaked to Campus Reform. “Essentially, Harambe should not be displayed
in a public place or a place that is viewed by the public.”
“If
residents are asking why they have to take them down you can share that
there was a report from an individual about a meme being offensive and
bias [sic] in nature and as a result all Harambe references are no
longer allowed within our community.”
In
an e-mail responding to a student’s question about the policy that
obtained by Campus Reform, Graduate Community Director Brooks Artis
explained that “there have been reports that he and the incident
surrounding his death have been used to add to the rape culture as well
as being a form of racism.”
Now,
the exact content of the “offensive” meme isn’t explicitly stated.
Using context clues, however, I’d guess that — as with a similar
controversy at the University of Massachusetts earlier this month — all
of this stemmed from a student writing or posting something that said
“d**** out for Harambe” somewhere. If you’re not familiar with “d****
out for Harambe,” it is a phrase that has become a popular joke/meme
since Harambe’s death, and the reason that you’re not familiar is
because it has not had an impact on our society whatsoever.
That’s
right: The phrase “d**** out for Harambe” has actually not resulted in
a bunch of flashers running around terrorizing people in the name of a
dead gorilla. [FULL
Legal Insurrection]
