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'White people are the best': Columbia student seen on video harassing group of black undergrads

"At Columbia, we stand firmly against white supremacist language and violence," undergraduate deans at the college said in a statement following the incident.

A white student at Columbia College in New York was seen in a video yelling at and berating a group of mostly black undergraduates, telling them white people are the "best thing that ever happened to the world."

The video, which has now gone viral and sparked backlash from social media users, showed the young man, whom a college newspaper identified as a student, outside the school’s library early Sunday morning screaming: "Europeans built the modern world."

It also prompted a lengthy response by undergraduate deans at the college, part of Columbia University, denouncing racism.

"We are alarmed at the rise of incidents of racism and hate speech in our world today," the statement read. "It is more important than ever that we continually demonstrate our core values and restate our commitment to a diverse, inclusive community on campus. At Columbia, we stand firmly against white supremacist language and violence."

During the nearly minute-long tirade, the student is seen yelling remarks many on social media have deemed racist and offensive.

"We built the modern world," said the student, identified by the school’s newspaper. "We invented science and industry, and you want to tell us to stop because oh my God, we're so bad. We saved billions of people from starvation."

He continued: "White people are the best thing that ever happened to the world. We are so amazing. I love myself, and I love white people.”

The group that he appears to be talking to is seen in the video responding. One student gave the unruly man the middle finger as he continued his verbal attack.

"We're white men, we did everything. I don't hate other people, I just love white men," the student yelled.

According to a tweet by one woman who said she is a student at Columbia and is friends with some of the people harassed, the student continued to harass and follow the group after the video ended. She said the school's public safety department was contacted.

"These are my friends this isn't okay," she wrote on Twitter.

The school's Black Students' Organization said in a statement on Facebook that it was disgusted and would be discussing "a plan of action" during a board meeting Monday evening.

The Columbia University Student Organization of Latinxs said it was "outraged" by the video and demanded the school hold the student accountable.

"We also want to stress that this type of incidents do not happen in isolation and we demand that Columbia University sees this as an institutional problem that is perpetuated by its administrative, academic, and business practices," the group said on Facebook.