The University of Massachusetts Amherst is still investigating the source of racist emails sent to Black student organizations in September.  

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Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy issued an update on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. It said, “While we are limited in what we can reveal about the methods of the investigation for fear of tipping off the perpetrator, we can share that the investigators will assess the online targeting of the UMass community across multiple sources, including dark websites.”  

Cybersecurity firm Stroz Friedberg Digital Forensics has been hired by the university to figure out who sent the racist emails. The investigation will also work to determine if the incident was isolated or “part of a larger white supremacist campaign.”  

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The emails were sent on September 8, 2021. Part of the email read, “We look down upon you, we instantly know in all manners from your language which most of you still speak in some broken form of Ebonics or to ghetto-speak to where your from (third-world sewers in America bought and paid for by the u.s taxpayer) to how you live (like hoodrats) to how you appear (fro hair, big lips, black skin) you are different.”   

After the incident, UMass Amherst began offering resources to students impacted by the rise in anti-Blackness on campus. “We stand in solidarity of our Black students and in opposition to any anti-Black racism,” Vice-Chancellor Nefertiti A. Walker said. “Please continue to report these hateful acts, even if the act is not directed to you. Active bystander engagement is important to eradicating racism on our campus.”  

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If you or someone you know is struggling from trauma triggered by this story, resources are available here.