A video showing a black female San Francisco State University (SFSU) student corner and assault a white male student over his dreadlocks because “it’s my culture” has gone viral.
Posted onto YouTube on Tuesday, the 47-second clip - which has, so far, been viewed more than one million times - begins by showing the female student ask another black male student, who appears to support her views, if he has a pair of scissors, supposedly so that she can cut the dreadlocks.
The white student in question has been identified by local news site SF Weekly as Cory Goldstein and it is believed the incident occurred on campus grounds.
Goldstein is seen to defend his hairstyle, and asks the female student: “You’re saying I can’t have a hairstyle because of your culture. Why?”
She is heard to reply: “Because it’s my culture.”
Goldstein then makes a comment about it “being Egyptian,” asking her if she’s Egyptian. However, she reverts the question back, asking Goldstein if he’s Egyptian, going on to repeatedly ask: “Where is Egypt?”
Watch the shocking incident unfold:
When Goldstein attempts to walk away from the situation to walk up a set of stairs, his path is blocked and he is pushed back and prevented from leaving as the female student continues to accuse Goldstein of cultural appropriation.
Online users have expressed how the video comes across as being staged to begin with. However, as it goes on, it’s clear it is not.
Goldstein took to his Facebook page shortly after the incident to say: “I just got physically assaulted because I have dreadlocks woe.”
Shortly after, he then confirmed he would not be filing any criminal charges “against the girl who harassed me,” adding: “I did file a formal campus police report and I decided to let the education system deal with her.”
SFSU released a statement soon after the clip began to gather attention online, saying it was aware of a video made of an incident which occurred on campus.
The statement said: “University police were called to the scene of the incident when it occurred. The two individuals involved in the incident are not San Francisco State University employees. Further, no criminal charges have been pressed at this time to the university’s knowledge.
“San Francisco State University promotes the rights of the campus community to engage in free speech, but does not condone behaviour that impedes the safety or well-being of others.
“We are taking the matter seriously and will promptly and thoroughly investigate this incident through applicable university channels, including our campus student conduct procedures.”
