White People in Black Spaces/Opinions

White male, Micheal Newman, a former student of Howard University’s law school, claims the school was a “hostile educational environment” and pursued a 2-million-dollar lawsuit after being expelled. Howard University expelled Newman in September 2022, and Newman is seeking compensation for “pain, suffering, emotional anguish, and damage toward his reputation.” Newman claims he has communicated with school administrators regarding being mistreated by staff, and he was disregarded. However, a conversion on Zoom was mentioned that consisted of Newman comparing the struggles of an African American child at a predominately white school with the experience of a white child at a historically black college.
After reaching out to Wayne Fredrick, the president of Howard, Newman wanted to receive an acknowledgment stating that he is to be treated just as his African American colleagues. He attached in his email a screenshot from a ‘GroupMe’ chat where a student addressed him as “Mayo King.’’ Howard’s administrators denied he had ever been discriminated against. His comments made via GroupMe created tension between him and other students. With time, Newman was removed from the group chat.
Newman was held accountable for the actions and words he chose to display in the eyes of the public and social media. His lawsuit served as an opportunity to shy away from being accountable for his actions. By taking on a lawsuit, he has manipulated the narrative to make him the victim. Newman was looking for support from his former historically black college to support his outbursts of opinions on a life he has not experienced.
Newman did not take into consideration that he may have truly offended students, especially after comparing his HBCU experience to an African American child attending a PWI. I will admit, there may be challenges that he faces by being a white man at a black college, however, that was a choice he pursued. Many other ethnicities are welcomed at all HBCUs, but they should acknowledge that our colleges were built by our ancestors because we were not allowed entry into white institutions.