Students at a college in Contra Costa County are fuming over the way school staff handled the discovery of racist graffiti found in two bathroom stalls.
The graffiti at Diablo Valley College was a direct threat against African American students, students said, adding they now feel unsafe on campus. In response, more than 100 students took part in a walk-out Wednesday to demand more transparency from school staff.
Students said this is not the first time threatening graffiti has been found in a bathroom stall and no longer want to be left in the dark if it happens again.
"It hurt my spirit and my soul to the core," student Darnell Hester said.
DBC President Susan Lamb said the hateful images were first spotted last Wednesday in two separate men's bathrooms in the engineering building. One included a racial slur and another image showed the lynching of a stick figure.
"It's a fearful, cowardly act," Lamb said.
Lamb said police were immediately contacted and launched an investigation. It was not known if the person responsible is a student, according to Lamb.
Local
The president promises the person responsible will be prosecuted for a hate crime. Students said they do not want to feel like targets on campus.
"It's just really heartbreaking," student D'Joina Lockett said.
