Indiana State Racist Student Video / Asa Blanton Controversy

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Overview

The Indiana State Racist Student Video and Asa Blanton Controversy refer to a controversy surrounding Indiana State University (ISU) nursing student Asa Blanton who posted a video online that many perceived as racist in which she condemned Beyoncé's country album Cowboy Carter, calling her "not country" and implicated that her ancestors were slaves who picked cotton on plantations. The video went viral across social media sites like TikTok, Yik Yak and Twitter / X in April 2024, garnering a student-led protest at ISU and a statement from the school's President.

Background

Sometime on or before April 1st, 2024, ISU student Asa Blanton posted a video to a currently unknown platform (although some have stated it was on TikTok^[1]) in which she made remarks about Beyoncé's album Cowboy Carter, claiming that Black people are not "country." Blanton also made a comment about African American people's ancestors picking cotton.

The video seemed to originally spread on Facebook when a user named Sossity Ann Paul shared it. Screen recordings of Sossity Ann Paul spread on Facebook^[2] and X^[3] on April 1st, 2024 (example shown below).

This is disgusting racist behavior from one of your students, Asa Blanton. Ya’ll need to address this immediately. @indianastate pic.twitter.com/7STVtItbq8

— Emanuel . 🤎 (@__MissEmanuel) April 1, 2024

Online Reactions

Multiple TikTokers posted reaction videos about the controversy as it continued to spread over the following days, like TikToker^[4] @midwestlawmom on April 10th, 2024, whose video on the topic gained roughly 3,300 likes in a day (shown below, left).

On April 11th, TikToker^[5] @ericbryanstone posted a video in which he purported that he spoke with Blanton on the phone. He included the entirety of his alleged phone conversation with Blanton, gaining over 5,500 plays in five hours (shown below, right).

@midwestlawmom Asa Blanton is a college student in the State of Indiana and recently posted a very racist video on TikTok. This could lead to disciplinary measures by the school and the Indiana Professional Licensing Board. Let’s end racism and let’s do a better job at educating our younger generations about the consequences of their social media posts. #socialmedia #consequences #asablanton #indianastateuniversity #nursingstudent #racism #diversity #diversityeducation #reaction ♬ original sound – MidwestLawMom

@ericbryanstone #asablanton #beyonce #countrymusic #country ♬ original sound – Eric Bryan Stone

Developments

Indiana State Student Protest

On April 9th, 2024, X^[1] user @DoctorJonPaul posted a video of students protesting at Indiana State University concerning Blanton's video and racism on campus. The video gained over 14,800 views in two days (shown below).

Learning that my talk with students at Indiana State University inspired them to take direct action against their administration for their lack of care in dealing with a racist whxte students Tik Tok video literally has brought me to tears. pic.twitter.com/eNXd3H33It

— Jon Paul, Ed.D. (They/Them/Tired)🏳️‍🌈 (@DoctorJonPaul) April 9, 2024