Oumou Kanoute parents dream came true When she enrolled in Smith College for her Bachelor’s degree. But what followed after that is terrifying to every people of color. She caught media attention when she filed a case against Smith College for racism against her.
This incident took place in 2018, and Smith College was found not guilty. However, this case got media attention once again when one of the faculty members resigned from the Smith College claiming it has a racially hostile environment.
Who Are Oumou Kanoute Parents?
Oumou has not revealed any information about her parents on the internet. However, she says, it was her parents’ dream that she attended Smith College for her undergraduate studies.
Oumou was the first in her family to migrate from Mali to attend college. She worked as a teaching assistant during the summer in the college in 2018.
Oumou Kanoute Ethnic Background Explored
Oumou Kanoute is a black girl from Mali, West Africa. She worked hard to get admission to the prestigious Smith College.
However, she was unaware of the fact that racism has always been an issue in Smith College, as many faculty members and students denounced the staff of Smith College as racists and the college also had a history of students demanding the admission standard to be lowered for this reason.
Smith College Accusations
In the summer of 2018, while Ms. Kanoute was working as a teaching assistant, she stopped at the Tyler House dormitory cafeteria to have lunch when a janitor and a police officer with a lethal weapon came up to her and asked what she was doing there.
According to her, they referred to her as a suspicious black man. She recorded the video of what happened and posted the video on her Facebook account. After complaining the principal of Smith College apologized to her regarding the incident. This incident caused 4 staff members to lose their job.
This case was taken to the court, and after the detailed investigation, it was found that Ms. Kanoute was actually not the victim of racism. The dormitory where she ate lunch was in fact closed for the summer and no student workers were allowed to eat there.
The janitor who was in his 60s with poor eyesight, saw someone eating there and complained to the college’s security guard, unable to recognize whether the person was male or female, and the security guard was in fact unarmed just like any other security guards in any other college.
