No bomb threats at Charlotte-area HBCUs, but students and staff urged to be ‘vigilant’
When Johnson C. Smith University professor Terza Silva Lima-Neves began her political science class Tuesday, one student said the morning had a “weird vibe.”
The unsettling “vibe” stemmed from the repeated bomb threats aimed at historically Black colleges and universities across the country this week, Lima-Neves, who has a doctoral degree in political science from Clark Atlanta University, said.
More than a dozen HBCUs, including Southern and Howard universities, issued lockdown warnings or canceled classes this week after receiving the threats, according to news outlets including the New York Times and Reuters.
The FBI has identified six “tech savvy” juveniles as persons of interest, NBC News and the Washington Post reported.
The threats are being investigated as “racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism and hate crimes,” the FBI said in a statement Wednesday.
JCSU, in Charlotte’s Historic West End, hasn’t received any bomb threats, and no explosive devices have been found on campus, school officials told faculty, students and staff in a message Monday.
“The safety of our campus is among our highest priorities,” the message said. “JCSU Campus Police is patrolling the campus consistently and monitoring the campus closely. We are readying our resources and reviewing our bomb threat protocols.”
Campus Police is in contact with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, Charlotte Fire Department and Charlotte Emergency Management, according to the message.
On Jan. 4, N.C. Central University in Durham was one of seven HBCUs to report bomb threats, The (Raleigh) News & Observer previously reported. None of the threats, including at N.C. Central, were credible and no bomb or explosive was found.
Officials at Livingstone College told WBTV on Monday that the Salisbury school has not received any threats, but its “still a concern for all HBCUs.”
In a statement on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Alma Adams called the continued bomb threats against HBCUs “hate crimes” that should be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“This third round of bomb threats on historically Black college and university campuses demands a swift response from federal and state law enforcement agencies,” the Charlotte Democrat said. “It is especially jarring that these threats come during Black History Month.”
Black History Month started on Tuesday.
“Terrorism and racism have no place on college campuses or anywhere in our nation,” she said.
Too concerned or not vigilant enough?
JCSU freshman Justin Nixon, 18, says he’s “not too concerned” about the threats at HBCUs because historically most aren’t credible.
“I don’t really feel any kind of fear,” he said.
Nixon, a political science major, said his mother and sister called to check on him after learning about the threats, but he told them he was “fine.”
Whoever is making the bomb threats is trying to create fear and delegitimize HBCUs, Nixon said, but he isn’t as worried because the country isn’t in an openly blatant “terroristic environment.”
“We are progressing as a society, and that’s something to be appreciative of,” he said. “We should continue building on that.”
Although JCSU has not received threats, concerns about safety remain, Lima-Neves said. To ease concerns, the school, community and media need to be proactive, including having “intentional conversations” about why these threats are happening, she said.
“We can’t look at these as just isolated incidents, or that there is a target just on Black populations,” Lima-Neves said. “I think that this is part of the national sentiment against Black people and people of color in general.”
Whether it’s discussing the threats on social media, or talking to school leaders, the Black community must be “vigilant” and not wait until something happens, Lima-Neves said.
“If you see something, say something,” she said. “This is a great time to to come together and to make sure that we’re protecting each other at all costs.”
Staff writer Will Wright contributed to this story.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 5:41 PM.
