EAST LANSING — Michigan State University is investigating one of its professors after a video surfaced showing him accusing Republicans of racism and raping America.

Campusreform.org, an online news organization part of the conservative

,

, claiming to have received it from a student in the classroom.

In the video, MSU professor William Penn berates Republicans in front of about 400 students in his Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities lecture-hall class on Thursday.

"If you go to the Republican convention in Florida, you see all the old Republicans with dead skin cells washing off them," Penn says in the video. "They're cheap. They don't want to pay taxes because they have already raped this country and gotten everything out of it they possibly could.

"They don't want to pay for your tuition because who are you? Well, to me you're somebody."

Penn then interacts with a student seated near the front of the classroom who apparently disagreed with the professor's politics.

"You can frown if you want," Penn says, motioning toward the student. "You look like you're frowning. Are you frowning?"

Campusreform.org suggests Penn harassed the student, but that much is unclear in the video.

MSU spokesperson Kent Cassella said the university is examining the incident.

"MSU has been made aware of the situation, and we will be looking into it," he said in a statement. "At MSU it is important the classroom environment is conducive to a free exchange of ideas and is respectful of the opinions of others."

Penn, 64, is a tenured professor at MSU. He is of mixed Anglo and Native American heritage, including Nez Perce and Osage.

He is an award-winning writer of fiction and non-fiction works, most of which focus on cultural identity.

In 2003, Penn received MSU's Distinguished Faculty Award. He also has twice won the prestigious Stephen Crane Prize for Fiction in 1977 and 1979, among other awards and recognitions.

In the video, Penn tells his class Republicans have a racist agenda and aim to disenfranchise African American voters.

"I'm a college professor. If I find out you're a closet racist, I'm coming after you," Penn says in the video. "

This country still is full of closet racists. What do you think is going on in South Carolina and North Carolina? Voter suppression. It's about getting black people not to vote. Why? Because black people tend to vote Democratic.

"Why would would Republicans want to do it?" he continues. "Because Republicans are not a majority in this country anymore. They're a bunch of dead white people, or dying white people."

The video concludes with Penn taking a shot at Mitt and Ann Romney.

"If you're a Republican, forgive me," he says. "If your parents are Republicans, forgive me. They won't, and I don't care. But Ann Romney a first lady? And remember this if you're just going to be a greedy bastard your whole life and just try to get things... In order to be rich like Mitt Romney and hide all your income offshore in the Cayman Islands, you have to be—think about this—Mitt Romney.

"Anybody here want to be Mitt Romney? Him? I mean, married to her?

"I absolutely don't mean to offend you. Even if you are a Republican, I don't mean to offend you in this class. Outside of class is a different matter."

Penn did not return calls seeking comment.

Watch the full, unedited nine-plus-minute video, posted to YouTube by campusreform.org, below.

Follow Brandon Howell on

and on Twitter: @BSHowell88. Email him at brhowell@mlive.com or call him at 517-318-1615. Follow MLive Lansing on Facebook and Twitter.