A student has taken responsibility for hanging an African-American doll in a room where a horror movie was being shown at the University of Minnesota Duluth on Thursday.
The doll hanging in the room was posted as part of a Snapchat "story," and UMD said on Friday that it was investigating the social media post.
Hamza Ali, the student coordinator of the Kirby Program Board, explained in a statement released by UMD on Saturday that he put up the doll as part of the decorations for the horror movie "Annabelle." The program board typically takes the movie's theme into consideration for decorations in the room, and he placed the doll near the entrance to reflect the movie's doll theme.
"The following day, I heard complaints of racism and effigies. The perception of a hanging doll hadn't occurred to me the way it did to our community when viewed out of context. As a black man, I appreciate the readiness of my community to speak out against any incident that could resemble lynching or anti-blackness in any form. In the last day, I've seen a community immediately respond to what they viewed as a call to action," Ali wrote in the statement.
Ali added that he has seen his student team provide support to students who were offended or hurt by the decoration, and he's thankful to the UMD community for clarifying the situation.
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"We must remain vigilant in our efforts, as a community, to speak out against injustices when they arise. We can focus our valuable effort on eliminating intentional violence and microaggressions while offering others, myself included, the opportunity to learn and grow," he wrote in the statement.
Lynne Williams, director of university marketing and public relations, said on Friday that UMD didn't condone the post and that the university was investigating it.
