White Supremacists Threaten Kent State Columnist

It’s a rare piece of writing that engenders the wrath of black militants and white supremacists, but that’s just what a March 13 column by Kent State photojournalism major Beth Rankin did after it was published under the headline, “I Am Not A White B----.”

 

The column criticized the Kent State student organization Black United Students, or BUS, for promoting a black supremacist agenda and demonstrating hostility toward whites. Rank described being called a “white b----” at two recent BUS events she was assigned to cover for the Daily Kent Stater.

 

“I am not a white b----. I am a straight, white girl who will always do everything in her power to support the plight of all minorities,” Rankin wrote. “I don’t use the color of your skin against you, so please do not use mine against me.”

 

BUS members responded to the column by posting flyers across the Kent State campus depicting a figure dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe next to Rankin’s name.

 

But white supremacists were hardly claiming her as one of their own. “F--- this b----. She needs to be kept stable for breeding purposes only,” wrote Vanguard News Network senior member “Iouotiviacoc.”

 

“I want to hand this b---- the heads of her loved ones. I want to drink her tears before I shed her blood.”

 

Outraged by Rankin’s pledge of support for civil rights despite her own experiences with reverse racism, dozens of other racists posting to websites like Vanguard News Network and Stormfront branded Rankin a race traitor and threatened her life.

 

“These are the Whites that need to be killed—worthless n-----loving scum,” wrote VNN senior member “Ironguard1940.”

 

Last Wednesday, according to the Akron Beacon Journal, the FBI office in Cleveland notified Rankin that white supremacists were posting death threats and were distributing her telephone number, E-mail address, and work schedule.

 

On March 27, two weeks after Rankin’s column was published, about 100 students, including Rankin, attended a regularly scheduled meeting of the BUS, which a campus reporter described as “heated but peaceful.”

 

Meanwhile, Rankin’s column remains a hot topic on white supremacist discussion boards, where the tone remains anything but peaceful. “The solution to this particular problem and those like her [is to] pack freaks such as her into cattle cars and double-time them into the Grand Canyon as per the solution proffered by [National Alliance founder] Dr. William L. Pierce,” wrote VNN junior member “Zek S 854.”

 

Going for a classic VNN misogynist/racist/anti-Semitic trifecta, Frank Toliver summed up the VNN thread by calling Rankin, “another race traitor w---- and proof positive why white women need to be put back into the kitchen, well away from any jew trendiness.”