Racism or Non-Issue?
This issue caught my eye for more than one reason. Obviously the first is that it happened to the same organzation that I belong to, and the second is that just two weeks ago I went to a similar party that was thrown by another organization. I had quite a good time, I might add. But what do you think of it? Is it racism, or just a non-issue being blown out of proportion?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061031/...alloween_party
Quote:
BALTIMORE - Johns Hopkins University has suspended the Sigma Chi fraternity because of a "Halloween in the Hood" party that drew protests by black students.
The invitation to the party, posted on the Web site Facebook, encouraged guests to wear "regional clothing from our locale" with jewelry including "bling bling ice ice, grills" and "hoochie hoops."
The party, held Saturday night at the fraternity house, featured a skeleton pirate hanging on a noose.
Black Student Union members protested the party on Monday, saying the appearance of the image and the language on the invitation highlighted racial tensions at Hopkins and the strained relations between the university and the surrounding community.
Protesters held signs showing a historical lynching next to a picture of the fraternity's skeleton.
"We need to educate the student body because apparently some people weren't given much of a proper lesson in the history of our country," said Yasmene Mumby, 20, a junior and BSU member.
University officials suspended all the fraternity's activities pending a full investigation. President William Brody said in a statement that he was "personally offended" and called the matter "deeply disturbing."
Sigma Chi's international headquarters on Monday also ordered the chapter's operations suspended for 45 days and said a full investigation was under way. It said further disciplinary action was possible.
"We are naturally very concerned about these allegations, and are committed to holding every one of our members accountable to our fraternity's values of friendship, justice and learning," Mark Anderson, executive secretary of Sigma Chi, said on the fraternity's Web site.
More than 100 students attended a campus forum Monday night before a panel of top administrators. Three men who identified themselves as Sigma Chi members stood up during the meeting and apologized for the actions of the author of the invitation, calling it shameful.
Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, president of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP, said he intends to explore legal action against both the fraternity and the university.
BALTIMORE - Johns Hopkins University has suspended the Sigma Chi fraternity because of a "Halloween in the Hood" party that drew protests by black students.
The invitation to the party, posted on the Web site Facebook, encouraged guests to wear "regional clothing from our locale" with jewelry including "bling bling ice ice, grills" and "hoochie hoops."
The party, held Saturday night at the fraternity house, featured a skeleton pirate hanging on a noose.
Black Student Union members protested the party on Monday, saying the appearance of the image and the language on the invitation highlighted racial tensions at Hopkins and the strained relations between the university and the surrounding community.
Protesters held signs showing a historical lynching next to a picture of the fraternity's skeleton.
"We need to educate the student body because apparently some people weren't given much of a proper lesson in the history of our country," said Yasmene Mumby, 20, a junior and BSU member.
University officials suspended all the fraternity's activities pending a full investigation. President William Brody said in a statement that he was "personally offended" and called the matter "deeply disturbing."
Sigma Chi's international headquarters on Monday also ordered the chapter's operations suspended for 45 days and said a full investigation was under way. It said further disciplinary action was possible.
"We are naturally very concerned about these allegations, and are committed to holding every one of our members accountable to our fraternity's values of friendship, justice and learning," Mark Anderson, executive secretary of Sigma Chi, said on the fraternity's Web site.
More than 100 students attended a campus forum Monday night before a panel of top administrators. Three men who identified themselves as Sigma Chi members stood up during the meeting and apologized for the actions of the author of the invitation, calling it shameful.
Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, president of the Baltimore branch of the NAACP, said he intends to explore legal action against both the fraternity and the university.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061031/...alloween_party
Comments
I don't really know what to think either way.
It wasn't intended to be racist, so just shut up.
People are WAAAY too sensitive about issues like this.
this topic's been a SENSITIVE issue forEVER....
this is nothing new...it just goes to show that racism is still a big topic even with today's advancements etc etc......
But if we assume that the fraternity brothers are actually into hip hop culture then I don't see what could be wrong with it.
Anyway, this racism topic is so far removed from reality it is pathetic. I've lived in Philly and Atlanta with lower class black people. I've seen the unwed mothers scream at their 3 year old kids "I done told you to shut up." I care much more about this dreadful situation then a lot of blacks. If I was black, I would be trying to figure out how to get other blacks past the total ghetto mentality, instead of worrying about "historical references".
Of course, facing such a difficult and unpleasant reality takes courage, and playing the race card is really easy.
The NAACP is taking the wrong tact by saying they may start a lawsuit. That party is covered under the first amendment although it may violate campus rules. We need these frats to be "loud and proud" with their racist attitudes so they are there for all to see.
Affirmative action does not depend on the prominence of contentious "racial attitudes," and I challenge you to find where in Bollinger v. Grutter (or its companion case) where that is an issue.
You're missing my point Doogie Houser. What I'm saying is that because political correctness has pushed a lot of latent racism under the surface we don't see all that is there. Then because we don't see all that is there people think the problem is solved, when it not. So if people think the problem is solved then why not vote "yes" on the state wide proposition to ban AA in state institutions?
Doog's the man!
Point taken-- but is that a reason voters cite as a rationale for enacting anti-affirmative action ballot measures?
I wonder if any black people were invited to the party or attended?
Well, I don't know about that, but I am selling these fine leather jackets...
The thug aesthetic is a fucking joke.
Amen. Amen, 1,000,000 times Amen.
I attended a huge (massive!) Halloween party near the USCB campus last Saturday evening, where some friends of mine are in college. Halloween is supposed to be "scary fun", and there were lots of people (many thousands) in the streets looking very scary and having a lot of fun.
On the other hand, there were an amazing number of people conforming to the "thug aesthetic" look.. (all races....black, white and latino males), having an almost uniform and predictable appearance: neo-nazi type buzzcuts and tattoos to look "tough", going round in groups (too insecure to be by themselves?), wearing typical streetgang type uniform (not halloween costumes), getting in peoples' faces and being complete assholes, randomly. Most of the people not in halloween costume conformed to this type of (dorky) aggressive appearance,
It really looked as though these folk who are into the gangbanger thing, (or wannabes) have no clue as to what "fun" is, and have little clue as to how to interact in a civilized way with other humans. (There were hundreds of folks of that description who got arrested by the cops at that UCSB friday and saturday night pre-Halloween bash, people who had come into town, not for a fun time in the spirit of the occasion, not to wear a fun costume, not to laugh, joke and smile with people, but to get drunk, or smashed on chemicals, pick fights, beat up on people, sell speed and other drugs, and generally be jerk-offs and assholes and wreck it all for everyone else. (Is there going to be an epidemic of sociopaths and psychopaths emerging in the next decade or 2, I wonder)?
OK, maybe thats a little extreme... but what is the attraction with what Placebo terms the "thug aesthetic" anyway (excuse the oxymoron there btw). Is it something like the (dumb) idea that "men have to look tough and mean and behave in aggressive "thuglike" fashion, for credibility? is it because their peers might regard them as "less than men", and "they won't get the girls" if they don't look as if they wanna bite the heads off chickens for breakfast or just got out of jail... or something similarly and equally absurd and ridiculous? This is absolutely not a race thing.. all racial groups are well represented in the "ex-convict/streetgang" look, and/or mode of dumb-ass behavior.
Some girls like it, I guess. For me, that look is a 110% turn off. For the guys out there, what is the attraction of walking around wearing pants hanging half off around the top of the thighs with a foot of boxer underwear showing above, the hoody sweatshirts (often in 100ºF+ weather) and all the other accoutrements of youth culturegangbangerwannabe dorkiness? (how do folk run from the cops with their pants around their knees btw? anyone?) Is this all about rebellion? It may be in itself, but in the bigger picture, its all just another variety of conformity. It's really hard not to generalize here; the fashion statement I have just described has been picked up by kids all over the place, the huge majority of whom are just regular kids for whom violence is as much an anathema as any other variety of human obnoxious conduct.
I'm not having a go at the hiphop culture.. I have lots of friends and acquaintances in that scene who are fantastic wonderful people, many of them creative folk with lots of good in their hearts.. its a shame that the scene appears to attract so many jerkwads. ... I'm not trying to analyze whats going down with all this. thats up to sociologists and psychologists etc.
"Thug aesthetic". Pathetic... really.
Of course it's racism. White fraternities are traditionally racist institutions. But we rarely see it these days because of campus speech codes and "sensitivity" training. I think that it political correctness actually maybe hurting more than helping because it drives these attitudes underground where we can't see them. Then the young republicans can declare affirmative action needless. How many state wide prop's do we have to ban AA with election?
The NAACP is taking the wrong tact by saying they may start a lawsuit. That party is covered under the first amendment although it may violate campus rules. We need these frats to be "loud and proud" with their racist attitudes so they are there for all to see.
So you are saying that we should say that any fraternity brother is racist because fraternities have "traditionally" been racist?
Look, the problem with black people is not that Us whites are supressing them. It is absurd for them to walk around all day talking about racism. Racism is the very, very, very last of black people's problems.
What WOULD help black people is if every white person, and every black person, all day long talked about the way that the bottom 40 of black people raise their kids. We should be saying all day long that screaming at a two year to shut up is not acceptable. Every black church should talk about nothing other than the proper way to raise children. Every black church should show videos of proper parenting and contrast it to ghetto non-parenting. Black people should be trying in every way, shape, and form to convince the 40% with a ghetto mentality that there is a better way.
You would not have to try real hard to raise your kids a lot better. There is a lot of potential. If they would just stop screaming at the kids, and show them some love, a lot of the problems would take care of themselves.
By they way, I've heard statistics that black people who are married and stable make almost as much money as white people who are married. So for the sample of black people that we know are not from broken homes, as proven by successful family relations, we know that there is almost no difference of how they are treated in the workplace.
Look, the problem with black people is not that Us whites are supressing them. It is absurd for them to walk around all day talking about racism. Racism is the very, very, very last of black people's problems.
Racism these days is manifested more systemically than individually.
Pick up an urban policy journal-- lots of things involved like education, mortgages, neighborhoods, health-care, etc.
Racism these days is manifested more systemically than individually.
Pick up an urban policy journal-- lots of things involved like education, mortgages, neighborhoods, health-care, etc.
First of all, the term "racism" in general means directly judging someone solely based on race and holding someone's race against another person, usually meaning bigotry.
We need two different words, because what the KKK does or what someone who wouldn't shake hands with a black person does is infinitely different than some people not being able to get mortgages as easily, only because the mortgage company sees less profit on the transaction. It's just like how the term "murder" is much different than people eating too much fast food and eventually having health problems.
I'm willing to take a look at some of the stuff you are talking about, but, by the way, Hispanic people buy there first homes on average at a YOUNGER AGE than white people.
Asian families on average have MORE income than white families.
And married black couples have almost as high an average income as married white couples, though of course the few per cent difference MIGHT by because of unfair things.
And there's millions of poor white people in Arkansas and Mississippi in the same sort of situation as poor blacks.
I'm willing to contribute to any SENSIBLE plan to help black people out of their problems, but I have been around the bottom 40% who are poor and I have been around the next 30% who are lower middle class. And obviously slavery took away every aspect of stability from their mindset, but it's taking an awfully long time to come back.
Well, I don't know about that, but I am selling these fine leather jackets...
:::sigh:::
(Is there going to be an epidemic of sociopaths and psychopaths emerging in the next decade or 2, I wonder)?
Next decade or two? We've already got the Bush administration.
Is this all about rebellion?
Rebellion? now comes pre-packaged for your shopping convenience.