Caribbean-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke addresses a city corridor assembly at George Wingate Excessive College Auditorium in Brooklyn on Jun. 16, 2025.
Nelson A. King
Home Democratic Chief Hakeem Jeffries and Congressional Black Caucus (CBU) Chair Yvette C. Clarke on Sept. 11 condemned what they described as “terroristic threats” towards Traditionally Black Faculties and Universities (HBCUs).
A number of HBCUs within the South reported on Sept. 11 that they had been on lockdown or canceled courses on account of potential threats.
“The violent threats made at this time towards a number of Traditionally Black Faculties and Universities all through the nation are despicable and one more indication that the explosion of hateful extremism is uncontrolled,” mentioned Jeffries, who represents the 8th Congressional District in New York, encompassing components of Brooklyn and Queens.
“We stand with the scholars, college and communities which have had their peace and security disrupted,” he added. “I’m grateful to native regulation enforcement for his or her swift response.
“The Division of Justice and FBI should completely examine any potential act of home terrorism, and never flip a blind eye when Black school college students are apparently being viciously focused,” the congressman urged.
“These makes an attempt to intimidate on a regular basis Individuals won’t stand,” he affirmed. “We’d like management at this second that brings the nation collectively.”
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, mentioned the threats made towards a number of HBCUs are “not solely vile — they’re a chilling reminder of the relentless racism and extremism that continues to focus on and terrorize Black communities on this nation.
“These terroristic threats, designed to intimidate and foment hatred towards on a regular basis Individuals — on this case, Black establishments of upper studying — can not go unchallenged and should not be swept apart,” she informed Caribbean Life. “Black college students and HBCU communities need to be protected.”
Clarke mentioned CBC “stands in full solidarity with the scholars, college, and employees of HBCUs round our nation, and we stay dedicated to making sure their security and safety.”
She additionally urged the Division of Justice and the FBI to “act swiftly to completely examine these threats and pursue the suitable authorized motion towards these accountable.”
CNN reported on Sept. 11 that Hampton College, Virginia State College, Bethune-Cookman College and Alabama State College had been on lockdown after receiving “potential threats to campus security.”
The community mentioned the lockdowns got here a day after Charlie Kirk, a famend conservative activist and Trump ally, was fatally shot at a Utah school campus occasion and on the heels of a sequence of “energetic shooter hoaxes at a number of different school campuses throughout the nation.”
Spelman School and Clark Atlanta College in Georgia additionally obtained threats, and Southern College and A&M School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had been “on lockdown however has since lifted it,” CNN mentioned.
