'This is the reality of Black life': Santa Clara University professor, her brother racially profiled by campus guards
At one point, a guard allegedly accused Carlos had "been in the bushes" and appeared to be homeless.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) -- It doesn't matter that Danielle Morgan is an Ivy League educated a professor at Santa Clara University or that her brother is a classically trained musician who has performed at Carnegie Hall.
What does matter is that they were racially profiled, questioned and harassed by campus security who wanted proof Danielle lived in her home.
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"One of the officers said to me, 'You don't own this house. This house doesn't belong to you,"' said Danielle in her first television interview about the incident with ABC7 News. "This is the reality of Black life in the United States."
That was just the tip of the iceberg. As documented in a series of tweets that have gone viral, Danielle describes the emotional trauma she and her brother Carlos, who was visiting for the weekend experienced.
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At one point, a guard allegedly accused Carlos had "been in the bushes" and appeared to be homeless.
"As small and petty a statement that is, it had much broader implications. He was reminding me we didn't belong here," Danielle said.
The president of the university, Kevin O'Brien, issued this apology over the weekend, condemning the incident and stating that "racial bias or profiling has no place on our campus."
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Monday evening O'Brien released a second statement, saying in part, the school was dedicating resources to an investigation, the campus safety officers involved would be put on administrative leave and there would be an evaluation of "past and present" safety policies and records.
Because of the ongoing investigation, Danielle is choosing to, instead of comment on the school's response, move forward and use her platform to hopefully make an impact change.
"It needs to be a broader conversation around racism in the U.S. I would hope that for one this centers the voices of students on both Santa Clara's campus and elsewhere who have had these experiences," she said.
