This week in Texas Christian University news: A student government candidate named Graham was told by school admins that his nickname was racist and couldn’t be used, forcing him to put tape over his campaign signs. Who knew that running for Vice President of external affairs would get so…um…racial.
TCU Calls Graham Cracker Signs Offensive: MyFoxDFW.com
“Hi my name is Graham, like the cracker,” he said.
That’s how McMillan has been introducing himself since high school. It’s even how his friends know him.
“And he was like, ‘I’m Graham, like the cracker, McMillan.’ And he did it so people would remember his name. That’s how I remember him,” said Taylor Slack.
After McMillan put the catchy addition to his name on his campaign posters he got a call from his student advisor.
“That it could be deemed derogatory and had been derogatory. And, I just taped it over,” he said. “TCU provided me with some blue tape so I could cover it up, which was very nice. And, I ran out so I thought why not spice this up a little bit and make it a little more pop. I got some yellow tape in there and found some flames and decided to put that on there too.”
Other students on campus said they understand the word cracker can sometimes have negative racial connotations, but in this case it doesn’t seem harmful.
“I thought since his first name was Graham it really wasn’t a problem, you know,” said Emma Altgelt.
Some of the signs no longer have tape on them. McMillan said that’s because some students have told him they’ve taken it upon themselves to remove it.
He said he’ll likely continue using his favorite catch phrase for introductions with friends.Read more on myFOXdfw.com: http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/110111-tcu-calls-graham-cracker-signs-offensive#ixzz1ctcTCj3u