Brett Wilkins: Congressman Mike Collins Cheers Video of Ole Miss Mob Attack on Black Student

“This is not about Israel, Palestine, or Gaza. This is old-fashioned American racism and misogyny,” said one observer. “These are the types of young white men who will grow up to be Republican governors, senators, and members of Congress.”

Republican Georgia Congressman Mike Collins came under fire Friday over a social media post applauding video of white University of Mississippi students racially abusing a Black woman participating in a campus protest for Palestine. 

Collins posted the video—in which numerous people can be heard grunting like apes and one young man is seen jumping up and down like a monkey in front of the Black woman—with the caption, “Ole Miss taking care of business.”

Collins—or whoever’s in charge of his social media accounts—sparred with Black leaders who called out his racism. When former Democratic Ohio state senator Nina Turner said the video showed “anti-Blackness,” the congressman shot back, “*Anti-terroristness.”

When Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) accused Collins of “fueling white supremacy,” the Republican retorted, “Don’t take down any more signs at our workplace, please” along with a photo of the Democrat triggering a fire alarm in a House of Representatives office building last year.

Around 30 protesters were rallying in support of Palestine in the Ole Miss Quad when counter-protesters gathered near the demonstrators. Some booed and chanted, “We want Trump!” Others singled out the Black woman—who NBC Newssaid is a graduate student at the school—chanting “Lizzo, Lizzo, Lizzo,” “take a shower,” “your nose is huge,” “fuck you, fat bitch,” and “lock her up!”

The counter-protesters also sang the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves shared a separate video of the singing students on social media, captioning his post, “Warms my heart” and “I love Mississippi.”

No racist language can be heard in the video shared by Reeves. 

The Daily Mississippian reports the demonstrators were escorted off the Quad after counter-protesters threw water bottles at them.

Collins is no stranger to accusations of racism. Earlier this year, he suggested murdering migrants by throwing them from helicopters into the sea, in the manner of U.S.-backed South American dictators in the 1970s.

He also introduced the Restricting Administration Zealots from Obliging Raiders (RAZOR) Act, which would ban the federal government from removing or altering “any state-constructed barriers installed to mitigate illegal immigration,” such as the razor buoys installed in the Rio Grande by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Collins was also accused of antisemitism after he amplified a social media post by an avowed neo-Nazi targeting a Washington Post reporter for being Jewish. 

Ole Miss said Friday that “statements were made at the demonstration on our campus Thursday that were offensive and inappropriate.”

“We cannot comment specifically about that video, but the university is looking into reports about specific actions,” the school added. “Any actions that violate university policy will be met with appropriate action.” 

The Ole Miss incident comes amid rapidly spreading campus protests across the U.S. and around the world in response to Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, which has killed, maimed, or left missing around 5% of the embattled strip’s 2.3 million people, most of them civilians, while forcibly displacing nearly 9 in 10 people and driving hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation. 

While numerous Ole Miss students said they did not understand what the pro-Palestine protesters hoped to accomplish, others voiced support for the demonstrators—and for Palestine. 

“As we’ve seen throughout history, time and time again, the student movement is never wrong. Time and time again, anytime there’s a student protest, and you’re against it, you’re on the wrong side of history,” Xavier Black, a junior majoring in international studies, told The Daily Mississippian. “So I would like to be on the right side.”

One Palestinian American Ole Miss student was teary-eyed as she thanked the protesters. 

“Hey guys, I know that what just happened was really intimidating, and it was a little scary, but I just want to say I’m so proud of you guys,” the student—who gave only her first name, Jana—said, according toMississippi Today. “This wasn’t going to happen… without all of you guys. Palestine was being heard. And I just want to thank you guys so much.”

“I know that was such a big risk, but this is the most that people have ever thought for us, so don’t give up,” she added. “I know that was really hard, but we need to keep fighting. This was just the start of it, okay?”

Update: Video footage of a student making racist gestures, seemingly imitating a monkey, toward a Black woman who was part of a scheduled pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Mississippi, colloquially known as Ole Miss, went viral last week, and on Sunday a fraternity announced that it had removed one member from its chapter at the school over the incident. — Time Magazine

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First published in Common Dreams. Licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

BRETT WILKINS is a staff writer for Common Dreams.