–As Alaina Kunes Reports Threats Against Her Family, On The Dial Calls for Accountability, Restraint and Law Enforcement Action–
By Steven D. Mills
President and Publisher, On The Dial, a Diviunity Company
There is a dangerous moment in every national controversy when legitimate outrage begins to mutate into something uglier than the behavior that originally sparked it. The anger becomes personal, the threats begin, and suddenly people who claim to be defending human dignity are willing to destroy someone else’s. America appears to be approaching that moment in the controversy surrounding the University of Mississippi, and the latest allegations involving threatening communications directed at Alaina Kunes and her family demand our attention.
Let me make something unmistakably clear.
On The Dial has not changed its position on the original incident. Not one inch.
What happened outside the apartment of three Black students was offensive, humiliating and unacceptable. The video showing monkeylike noises and gestures deserves the scrutiny it has received. The young women who lived in that apartment deserved respect, security and the freedom to attend college without encountering behavior that evokes generations of racial degradation.
But somewhere along the way, another line appears to have been crossed.
And this publication will not defend one form of cruelty by excusing another.
The Threats Change the Conversation
(AUDIO COURTESY OF TMZ)
Alaina Kunes, the 18-year-old former Ole Miss student who publicly apologized after the video circulated, says she and her family have received death threats and harassment.
Her attorneys released a statement on November 10 acknowledging the harm caused by her actions while reporting the alleged threats and thanking authorities for their efforts to protect the family.
Kunes has since withdrawn from the university.
And while the existence, origins and precise contents of individual threatening communications have not all been independently established, the allegation itself is serious enough to demand immediate attention.
Reports of a disturbing voicemail have also entered the public conversation. However, On The Dial has not independently authenticated that recording, identified its sender or confirmed the circumstances under which it was received.
We will not publish unverified accusations against an alleged caller merely to make an already troubling story more sensational.
But if someone is threatening to kill a young woman or harm her family over a viral video, that individual has abandoned accountability and entered the territory of intimidation.
Period.
You Cannot Fight Hate by Becoming Its Replacement
This is where some people are going to disagree with me, and that’s perfectly fine.
I’ve spent a lifetime in broadcasting. I’ve heard the criticism, the angry telephone calls, the outrageous accusations and the occasional listener who seemed convinced that screaming louder somehow made an argument more intelligent.
But there is an enormous difference between expressing outrage and threatening someone’s safety.
You can condemn racist behavior.
You can demand accountability from a university.
You can question the motivations behind a fundraising campaign.
You can refuse to accept an apology.
You can even publicly challenge the individuals involved to demonstrate meaningful change.
What you cannot do is appoint yourself judge, jury and executioner because a video made you angry.
Nobody gets that authority.
Not because they’re Black.
Not because they’re white.
Not because they’re politically connected.
And certainly not because they’ve accumulated enough social media followers to mistake online applause for moral permission.
Alaina Kunes should be held accountable for her actions through appropriate institutional and social processes.
She should also be able to live without fearing that somebody will harm her or her family.
Those positions are not contradictory.
They are what consistency looks like.
Radio, Remember What a Microphone Can Do
Now let’s talk about why this belongs in a broadcast industry publication.
For generations, radio has served as one of America’s most influential public forums. We have given people microphones, telephone lines and opportunities to express their opinions about everything from local school boards to national political controversies.
Sometimes those conversations have been thoughtful.
Sometimes they’ve been uncomfortable.
And sometimes, quite frankly, they’ve been an absolute circus.
But responsible broadcasters have always understood that words carry consequences.
A radio station doesn’t become more credible because its loudest caller is furious.
A talk show doesn’t become more important because its host can humiliate somebody.
And a digital publisher doesn’t become a champion of justice by encouraging an audience to terrorize the subject of a story.
A microphone is not a weapon simply because somebody has figured out how to make it loud enough.
That principle applies equally to traditional broadcasting, podcasts, livestreams, social media videos and voicemail recordings.
The technology has changed.
The responsibility has not.
When broadcasters discuss this incident, they should distinguish documented facts from allegations, condemn threats without hesitation and avoid turning unverified accusations into entertainment.
We have a responsibility to inform the public.
Not to assemble a digital mob.
A Word to the People Making Threats
If you are among those sending threatening messages, making intimidating calls or encouraging harm against anyone involved in this controversy, I have a question.
What exactly do you believe you’re accomplishing?
Are you helping the three Black students who were subjected to the original incident?
Are you advancing racial understanding?
Are you encouraging accountability?
Or are you simply giving yourself permission to behave terribly because you’ve convinced yourself the other person deserves it?
That’s not justice.
That’s revenge dressed up for social media.
And revenge has a remarkable ability to turn people who began with a legitimate grievance into participants in an entirely different wrong.
You do not get to threaten somebody’s life and then claim the moral high ground.
Not today.
Not tomorrow.
Not ever.
Law Enforcement Needs to Take This Seriously
If threatening voicemails, messages or other communications have been received, those records should be preserved and evaluated by the appropriate authorities.
Investigators should determine whether the communications constitute criminal threats, harassment or other offenses under applicable law.
Any person responsible for credible threats should face the consequences established through due process.
That is not a call for special treatment.
It is a call for equal protection.
And it is the same standard we should demand when Black students are threatened, when journalists are intimidated, when public officials are targeted or when an ordinary family becomes the focus of an online campaign of harassment.
The identity of the victim should never determine whether a threat deserves investigation.
On The Dial hopes law enforcement handles these allegations promptly, thoroughly and appropriately.
The Original Victims Must Not Disappear
There is another danger here, and we cannot ignore it.
As attention shifts toward threats against Kunes, the three Black students at the center of the original incident must not be forgotten.
Their experiences matter.
Their feelings matter.
Their right to safety matters.
Their ability to decide whether they wish to forgive anyone involved matters.
The Associated Press has reported that the students described the incident as deeply hurtful and are still grappling with questions of forgiveness.
They do not owe anyone an immediate resolution simply because the national news cycle is moving on.
And protecting Kunes from threats does not require minimizing what those students experienced.
We can defend the dignity of the students who were hurt while defending the safety of the young woman who helped hurt them.
That is not weakness.
That is principle.
From the Publisher, My Position Has Not Changed
Earlier, On The Dial challenged the fundraising spectacle surrounding this controversy and questioned whether financial support was being used to discourage accountability.
I stand by the importance of asking those questions.
But let me be equally forceful about this.
I do not want Alaina Kunes harmed.
I do not want her family threatened.
I do not want the other women involved threatened.
And I certainly do not want the three Black students who experienced the original incident subjected to additional intimidation.
I want accountability.
I want people to learn.
I want our institutions to demonstrate leadership.
And I want the public to understand that human dignity is not something we distribute only to people whose behavior we approve of.
As a publisher, I recognize that words can influence people.
As a broadcaster, I know that messages can travel farther than their creators ever imagined.
And as a human being, I refuse to believe that threatening someone’s life is an acceptable response to offensive conduct.
If we condemn dehumanization only when it happens to people we like, we haven’t learned the lesson at all.
The Final Word
Alaina Kunes has apologized. The University of Mississippi continues to address the underlying incident. The students who were hurt are navigating the aftermath, and the public continues to debate what accountability should look like.
Those are legitimate conversations.
Death threats are not.
The person who sends a threatening voicemail does not become a civil rights champion because the recipient was involved in a racist incident.
The person who threatens a family does not become a defender of justice because thousands of strangers agree with their anger.
And the person who encourages violence does not become morally superior because they believe their cause is righteous.
On The Dial condemns the original behavior at Ole Miss.
On The Dial condemns threats against Alaina Kunes and her family.
On The Dial supports a thorough investigation of credible threats and appropriate legal accountability.
Those statements belong together.
Because the moment we decide that someone else’s wrongdoing gives us permission to abandon our own humanity, we’ve lost something far more important than an argument.
Justice does not need a death threat to make its point.
And if our country is ever going to move beyond the hatred that keeps dividing us, that is a lesson every one of us needs to understand.
Related Reading
The $75,000 Bounty on Humility, How Racial Defiance Became America’s Latest Fundraising Spectacle
A Personal Note From the Publisher: I am continuing my search for a lifesaving kidney. If you would like to help, please visit https://FindMyOne.org.
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