Local police have charged white teenagers with racially harassing a Virginia Tech professor after they played rap music and threw snow near his residence.
Dr. Onwubiko Agogino, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia, reported on February 10 that eight white minors arrived at his home in Christiansburg, using racially charged language, playing offensive music, and throwing ice cubes. new york post
Activists from a local group called “New River Valley Indivisible” also reacted to the hate crime claims. They stated in a lengthy Facebook post that the incident was a deliberate act meant to instill fear in Agogino and his family, describing the group of eight young white men in different trucks.
“The actions of these individuals represent a direct attack on the safety, dignity, and civil rights of members of our community,” the post stated. “Such actions are a stark reminder of the ongoing and insidious nature of racism, which has no place in a fair society.”
The Christiansburg police began investigating the matter promptly and, a couple of days later, revealed that the teens were simply at a house party nearby. They were reportedly removing frozen snow and ice from the bed of a truck, as the music they played was deemed “profane” and contained the N-word. This genre of music is predominantly performed by Black hip-hop artists.
According to a statement released by the police:
Following several interviews and a thorough investigation, detectives found that the juveniles were attending an event at a nearby home. Before leaving, two of the boys attempted to clear the back of the truck of frozen ice, which, due to the vehicle’s angle, they could not fully remove. They eventually stopped on a flat section of road to remove the remaining snow and ice.
There were misleading claims that this could have been a targeted racial incident. The Christiansburg Police Department stands against discrimination, hate speech, and racial profiling. Our investigation revealed no evidence supporting criminal intent or racial bias.
As reported on Friday, Agogino expressed skepticism about the police findings, suggesting that their conclusions about the boys’ intentions were less significant than the incident itself.
“While they claimed there was no malicious intent, police concluded there was no evidence of a hate crime,” he stated. “I reminded the police that intent is just one aspect of a crime. Reckless or unreasonable actions that pose a threat to someone are violations of the law, regardless of intent.”
Additionally, Agogino mentioned that police have increased patrols around his home “to prevent any further incidents.”
However, the day after the incident, he reported a truck parked by his mailbox, where one of the occupants had spoken to a neighbor the previous day when “a young white male had come out from that house.”
“We hope that the police announcement declaring no evidence of a hate crime will not inadvertently encourage the suspects,” Agogino told online media.
Lowell Cauffiel received Columbia University’s Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award for his work bridging racial divides between Black Iraqi customers, known as Chaldeans, and Christian store owners in Detroit during the 1980s. He is also a bestselling author.
