More than 30 Black History Month events in the U.S. were reportedly disrupted by hateful slurs and imagery, including some in Pennsylvania
by Charlie Wolfson
A historically Black sorority at Slippery Rock University saw its virtual poetry workshop in February overtaken by unknown users who hurled racist imagery and slurs into the Zoom space. Other groups in the region were victims of similar attacks while trying to host Black History Month events.
Commonly referred to as “Zoombombings,” the intrusions are a national trend that began as colleges and schools moved classes to Zoom in March 2020. Platform providers and meeting organizers are still unable to reliably prevent them a year on.
Zoombombings can go beyond disruption and cause physical and mental harm to traditionally marginalized communities.
The Anti-Defamation League [ADL] has recorded 200 Zoombombing incidents that were racist or anti-Semitic since the start of COVID-19, ADL communications director Todd Gutnick told PublicSource in an email. Gutnick said that, as of Feb. 25, the ADL received reports of 30 Zoombomb attacks on events celebrating Black History Month across the country.
A number of recent attacks happened in virtual gatherings hosted by organizations in Pennsylvania. Two separate Slippery Rock University events recognizing Black History Month were interrupted by users spewing racist imagery and slurs — the poetry workshop hosted by the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and a history department panel discussion called “When Black Athletes Protest.”
At Penn State, a late-January meeting of the Black Caucus student group was assailed by 51 users bombarding the group with racist language and imagery. Less than three weeks later, attackers targeted a Zoom discussion titled “Pioneers of Prevention: Black Women Activists Against Sexual Violence,” including explicit threats against Black women.
The attacks haven’t been limited to schools. In June, an online service at an Allentown synagogue was halted by Zoombombers who used anti-Semitic and racial slurs, according to the Morning Call.
Psychologists have found that exposure to racial discrimination can be linked directly to serious mental and physical harm for people of color. Robert T. Carter, a psychology professor at Columbia University who specializes in the traumatic effects of racial discrimination, wrote in a seminal 2007 paper that “racial stressors have been found, in a variety of studies, to produce physical outcomes such as high blood pressure, risk for heart disease, and increased vulnerability to a variety of negative health outcomes that can contribute to greater psychological and emotional distress.”
(Photo via Adobe Stock)
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Racist ‘Zoombombing’ attacks have marred virtual events. Here’s how to protect your virtual space.
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