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Hundreds of students from Lewis & Clark College spent Wednesday protesting the discovery Tuesday of racist comments on Yik Yak, a social media tool that allows anonymous posts on campus.
Wednesday afternoon, Portland Police announced that the racist posts—which included the hashtag #bringbackslavery—weren't criminal because they didn't represent "an immediate threat to students or staff" at the Southwest Portland college.
Students, however, vowed to continue their protests, promising to move the stage to the state capitol on Thursday with students from other colleges, including Reed and Portland State University, and Don't Shoot PDX.
"We're not letting this rest," says Raymond Fenton, a 22-year-old senior and president of Lewis & Clark's Black Student Union.
The discovery of the racist comments and Wednesday's protest drew attention to other long-simmering complaints on campus, including the fact that Lewis & Clark has very few African-American professors.
Earlier, students posted a list of demands for Lewis & Clark administrators. Their actions follow similar protests at campuses across the country, including the University of Missouri.
Willamette Week
