Last fall, three San Jose State students were charged with hate crimes for allegedly bullying their black roommate. They'd called him names, barricaded him in the room and clamped a bicycle lock around his neck. It wasn't until the boy's parents visited and saw racial epithets, Nazi paraphernalia and a confederate flag on display in the dorm that college officials were informed and police got involved.Yeah, lets agree that it was "bad" for the 4 other students to have not made a complaint but….. What
The torment had been going on for months. Four other students lived in that suite, but none of them complained or intervened to stop the harassment.
The
Fuck
Was "the boy" doing? Seriously. Who the hell tolerates "roommates" putting locks on their necks? No, seriously. And since the parents saw it, and it was going on for 4 months, why the hell didn't the "boy" go to the police? Fuck the RA. Why didn't he pick up his cell phone and dial 911? Why didn't he do what I did when I had a serious issue with a roommate: tell the relevant campus people that either I go, he goes, or there will be a dead body in the room in the morning? No seriously. Tell them that unless somebody gets moved, there will be a dead body in the room the next day. Believe me, you will be moved pronto. it helps to clench your fists and look whoever is in charge of room assignments dead in the eye when you make this promise. Yes, I said promise. Look, you get exactly what you tolerate. Clearly the boy was not THAT bothered by it. Or his parents did a shit job of teaching him to assert himself.