Someone hung Confederate flags taped with cotton stalks around a college campus

Joe Palekas, a senior International Studies major at American University, said he was walking out of his History of Racism class when he noticed stalks of cotton taped to Confederate flags hanging on a bulletin board.

It turned to be a campus-wide phenomenon — 10 Confederate flags were found around American University, each accompanied by cotton, according to WUSA9.

For Palekas, it’s no accident that the flags were hung up the same night of a speech from Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, professor and director of American University’s new Antiracist Research and Policy Center.

“The postings of these coincide directly with the creation of the Antiracist Center here as well as the announcement of an African American Studies major,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “It is not a coincidence.

“This happens in a national moment as people debate the patriotism of standing or kneeling for the flag and defend confederate symbols in the public square.”

The fliers were found hanging in three buildings Tuesday night, Vice President of Campus Life Fanta Aw told student-run The Eagle, which reported that it found another flag in the basement of a fourth building.

The flags were emblazoned with the phrase “Huzzah for Dixie” and “I wish I was in the Land of Cotton.”

Cotton, a crop once largely harvested by African American slaves, is often linked to feelings of racial animus.

Those on social media were quick to spread news about the controversial finding, with American University itself calling it “cowardly.”

Some, like Twitter user Taé Smoove, said “American University strikes again.”

That’s because it’s not the first example of racial unease on the campus of American University.

In May, bananas tied to nooses were found hanging around campus with the phrase “AKA Free” written on them, according to CNN, prompting an FBI investigation into the matter.

The university had just sworn in its first black female SGA president Taylor Dumpson, who was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA). AKA is a predominantly black sorority, according to The Huffington Post.

It was later revealed a white supremacist encouraged online followers to harass Dumpson through social media, according to The Washington Post.

That came after two black freshman said in September 2016 that they had bananas thrown at them by white males in their dorms, according to The Eagle.

And not far away, at least four white nationalist posters were found on the University of Maryland, College Park campus in May, according to student newspaper The Diamondback.

For Dr. Kendi — whose Antiracist Center had a soft opening this Tuesday and will formally open next year, according to Color Lines — the racist incident won’t deter him or his students from studying racial inequality.

“This is the latest attempt to frighten our community, as groups are trying to frighten other communities around the country,” Kendi wrote on Twitter. "Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the strength to do what is right in the face of it. … Do not let these terrorists slow you down, fear you down.”

This story was originally published September 27, 2017 at 7:10 AM with the headline "Someone hung Confederate flags taped with cotton stalks around a college campus."