Op-Ed On Austin Tong: Why Being a Racist and Justifying it Should be Detected and Penalized
Recently, a student at Fordham University, namely Austin Tong, has been put on probation after a series of controversial and threatening posts on Instagram and Twitter.
I had the privilege to follow Austin Tong on social media, and also attend Fordham University with him. When he first sent a follow request, I solely thought he was an inspired, hard-working, and determined student who wasn’t afraid to vocalize his opinions — someone who truly wanted to make a difference.
Everyone on campus knows him as the person responsible for “triggering Fordham’s USG budget freeze in late 2018 for failing to complete his club leader training on time and also neglecting many of his USG duties. Despite this, members of USG were hopeful that the aforementioned meeting could result in a better working relationship between Tong and the others.
Instead, Tong resigned from USG during the meeting” (Robles, The Fordham Observer).
There is a pattern in the way he acts; he did not follow Fordham’s Code of Conduct in both cases.
As time progressed, his followers grew more afraid of the posts he’d make on social media. Behind his innocent real estate posts, which he has now deleted due to his act of not having enough money for litigation, lies darker secrets. His GoFundMe fundraiser is strategically composed to victimize himself. One can never truly understand a human’s mind. There were signs and red flags everywhere, but no one caught onto it because he was a person of color and it seemed quite impossible for him — or let alone anyone — to deny the existence of ‘racism’. In the screenshot below, he claims that “”Racism” is just a way of silencing others in 2020"”. Below that tweet, he validates violence over the logic that Iran “kills its own people everyday”. He insinuates that violence is justifiable, if the group under attack condones it.
This is where the concept of ‘privilege’ kicks in. He had never faced the encounters other people of color have, and thus denied the existence of racism and discrimination.
In the past, he had posted several pictures of his legal weapon. No “leftist” had ever questioned his right of owning or posing with his gun. That was his right. However, it wasn’t his right to threaten the social media and Fordham community.
Detecting future possible damage, violence, or threat is extremely important especially under today’s circumstances. If people do not extract these signs or understand a person’s intentions through social media or personal encounters, should they wait until said person commits a crime?
Why is it that when we are informed about school shootings, rape, murder, theft, or other heinous crimes, we are told to take precautions by turning the lights on, locking our doors, or not going out at nighttime? But when it comes to Austin Tong’s situation, our voices are overpowered by those who make America a war between the “Leftists” and “Conservatives”.
Mr. Tong’s comments beat around the bush; he doesn’t directly state “I am a threat to the Fordham community”. No person, either in the wrong or right of a situation would admit their intentions with a strong sense of integrity.
Get rid of the notion that people on social media are maintaining their integrity. Get rid of the concept of waiting until a disaster occurs, rather than preventing or preparing for it.
Racism has layers.
We need to normalize that subtle racism is as big of an issue as is publicized or recorded instances of racism.
Through his Instagram story, he has been communicating his hatred and dislike on the current protests and cites the late David Dorn’s image with a caption reading, “Y’all a bunch of hypocrites”. He questions and insults the power of the people’s voices and actions in protest. Note that he has never posted in aim to memorialize the Tiananmen Square Massacre throughout the years he has been on social media. To commemorate the students who lost their lives in the 1989 massacre, it would have been appropriate to make a thankful post towards today’s protestors who are fighting for change — especially since it was a peaceful protest that turned murderous. However, he posted an image with his gun along with a caption “don’t tread on me,” which shows his support for the violence and murders that occurred during the peaceful protests of Tiananmen Square.
Nowhere in the comments section is the legality of his weapon questioned or commented upon. Nowhere in the comments section are the lives of 3,000 massacred belittled or forgotten. Mr. Tong’s case is baseless as he brings up being punished for a “hate crime,” when in reality he is being punished for a “Violation of University Regulations relating to Bias and/or Hate Crimes.” No, he did not physically take part in a hate crime however, he went against the University’s regulations.
Mr. Tong notes in his case that he solely posted a “sympathetic photo of David Dorn,” however, his caption read “Y’all are a bunch of hypocrites” in aim to mock the Black Lives Matter movement (which is a Human Rights movement), especially at its peak. By using a Black Police Officer’s photo and not even acknowledging his position or name, he further proves his intention to validate violence by referring to the late David Dorn as a subject of argument against BLM protestors.
He was educated by the commenters. He was told to remove the posts; however, he did not. He was given a chance to redeem himself but he kept his posts on social media and did not follow Fordham’s Code of Conduct regulations.
