On a quiet street near the University of Mississippi, an ordinary doorbell camera recorded something that should not happen at a stranger's front door: two White students making monkey gestures and sounds toward the apartment of Black roommates. The footage spread far beyond that doorstep, and the roommates have chosen to speak about it in their own words, turning a private humiliation into a public account. It is one more instance in a long human history of racial mockery finding its way into the spaces where people ought to feel safest, and what the wider community does with this record will
Ole Miss Roommates Describe Alleged Racial Harassment Captured on Doorbell Camera
Black students at the University of Mississippi report being subjected to alleged racial harassment outside their home, captured on video.
Outside their own home, a doorbell camera kept the record.
Mark
Start with the basics. What actually happened?
Mimi
A doorbell camera outside a Black roommates' apartment near Ole Miss recorded two White students making monkey gestures and sounds. The roommates call it racial harassment.
Mark
And they went on CBS to talk about it.
Mimi
Yes, in an extended conversation with Jericka Duncan. They talked about the incident and asked people to be mindful of their actions.
Luke
I want to flag the word alleged. The video is described as showing the gestures, but what the students intended is not something the reporting settles.
Mark
Fair. What else is missing?
Luke
Quite a lot. No names for the roommates or the two students, no date, nothing on how the video went public. I would not fill those in.
Mimi
What we do have is the setting. This was outside their own home, and the camera was theirs, so they had their own record of it.
Mark
Has the university said anything?
Luke
Not in what we have. Any discipline or legal action is unknown right now, and anyone claiming otherwise is guessing.
Mimi
So the thing to watch is how the university responds and what happens to the two students.
The Pulse
- A doorbell camera caught two students allegedly mocking Black roommates with monkey gestures outside their own apartment door.
- The footage went viral, pulling a painful private moment into a public storm of attention and debate.
- The roommates have stepped forward on camera, speaking to CBS News to name what the video means to them.
- The university's response, any discipline for the students, and possible legal consequences remain unresolved and are now the focus of watchful eyes.
On a quiet street near the University of Mississippi, an ordinary doorbell camera recorded something that should not happen at a stranger's front door: two White students making monkey gestures and sounds toward the apartment of Black roommates. The footage spread far beyond that doorstep, and the roommates have chosen to speak about it in their own words, turning a private humiliation into a public account. It is one more instance in a long human history of racial mockery finding its way into the spaces where people ought to feel safest, and what the wider community does with this record will show whether such moments are merely witnessed or truly answered.
A doorbell camera outside an apartment near the University of Mississippi recorded two White students making monkey gestures and sounds. The residents are a group of Black roommates, and the footage has spread widely online, becoming the center of an incident they describe as racial harassment.
The roommates have spoken publicly. In an extended conversation with CBS News correspondent Jericka Duncan, they reflected on what the video shows and how the episode has affected them. The students have asked others to be mindful of their actions.
The available account is spare. The video shows two White students outside the apartment making gestures and sounds meant to mimic monkeys, and the Black students who live there call it alleged racial harassment. The coverage does not name those involved, date the incident, or explain how the footage became public.
What is clear is that the encounter happened at the students' own home, where a person expects to be left alone. The doorbell camera, installed for security, became the record, so the roommates' account does not rest on memory alone.
The roommates are working through the human cost themselves. By sitting for an interview rather than letting the video speak alone, they are putting their own voices beside the footage. Open questions remain about the university's response, whether the students have been identified or disciplined, and whether legal steps are being considered. Those outcomes are what to watch next.
A doorbell camera outside an apartment near the University of Mississippi recorded two White students making monkey gestures and sounds. The residents of that apartment are a group of Black roommates, and the footage, which spread widely online, is now the center of an incident they describe as racial harassment.
The roommates have since spoken publicly. In an extended conversation with CBS News correspondent Jericka Duncan, they reflected on what the video shows and on how the episode has affected them. The students have asked others to be mindful of their actions.
The source material is spare, and it is worth being plain about what it establishes. The video is described as showing two White students outside the apartment, making gestures and sounds meant to mimic monkeys. The Black students who live there call it alleged racial harassment. The coverage as provided does not name the roommates or the two students in the video, and it does not give a date for the incident or say how the footage first became public.
What the account does make clear is where the encounter happened. It was outside the students' own home, the place where a person expects to be left alone. The doorbell camera, installed as a household security device, became the record of what took place. Because that record exists, the roommates' account does not rest on memory alone, and the wider public has been able to see the footage for itself.
The human cost here is the one the roommates themselves are working through. They are Black students at a university in Mississippi, and they say they were targeted at their front door. Their decision to sit for an extended interview, rather than leave the video to speak alone, suggests they want to put their own voices alongside the footage and say what it meant to be on the receiving end.
The material available does not describe how the University of Mississippi has responded, whether the two students in the video have been identified or disciplined, or whether any legal steps are being considered. Those are the open questions. The institution's reaction, and any consequences for the students involved, are what to watch next.
Notable Quotes
The roommates urged others to be mindful of their actions.— Black University of Mississippi roommates, in an interview with CBS News
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