I had worked at a college as an instructor. This was in another state than I live in now, and, to give you some idea of the timing of this, it was right after the Virginia Tech shooting. For added campus security, everyone was required to have a photo ID, which the college was going to provide at their own cost to students, staff, instructors, administration, etc. So we had picture day. Most of the instructors wore a suit (women wore pants suits and men wore a jacket and tie, typically). One of the staff members wore a traditional African dress. It looked very clean and professional. The college dean told the woman (in front of a lot of people waiting in line) that he also had a traditional robe and it came with a pointy white hat and mask, and that she might see it later. That was the most frightening sentence I had ever heard directed toward anyone. Probably a dozen people in the room were all in disbelief, but, since it seemed the threat was deadly serious, no one spoke up about it, including me. I later brought it up with the associate dean, and she said that he was just making a joke. I asked how it was funny to make a vague death threat to an employee, and she said that unless he said the exact phrase "I am going to kill you," that there was nothing that could be done. I suppose that's how racism is handled in parts of the USA. I decided after that follow up conversation that I no longer wanted to work there nor even live in that community, and planned to move away.