One less thing.

Wow. That seems rather treating the symptoms and ignoring the problem. Besides, you and I both know sometimes you just need a good farthingale to feel like a pretty princess. ;)

Next up - corsets and petticoats have GOT TO GO. Who knew the problem was so easy to solve?

If we only thought to do this in the 1700's many nasty revolutions probably could have been avoided.

I mostly agree with you. We were all brought up in a racist system, and we either work to dismantle that or we don't. That's why things like internalized racism exist, and why "not seeing race" is still a problem.

But I don't think that minimizing the actions of men who sang about lynching really helps in any way. They don't actually hate black people? Great, but their actions are still reinforcing the status quo.

Absolutely. I hope I didn't come across as minimizing their actions; that was not my intent. I certainly think they should be criticized and held accountable for racist behavior. I just would focus on the racist behavior of the SAEs rather than focusing on the SAEs as racists.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon National Fraternity apologizes, unveils diversity plan to combat racial intolerance http://fw.to/6tsExBW

SMH. This will do nothing to solve any problem. As with everything, the people who need to hear it the most will listen the least. Get rid of the chapters that espouse racist views and quit acting like the fraternity makes the person.

+1

But it still wouldn't be good enough for some people and there is a reason these diversity workshops seem to be the go-to solution. It gives a sense of pro-activness.

How we made ‪#‎SAE‬ the most diverse frat in our Texas school's history http://wpo.st/PIP90 Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity

Hoops skirts don't make people racist. But hoop skirts worn in the context of celebrating "Southern Roots" is a visual reminder of the Confederacy and all the things that go with it. So if you don't want to portray yourself as racist to outsiders, perhaps a little distance from costumes of that era would be a good idea. Too bad that people couldn't come to this realization on their own prior to this mandate.

Some folks are still brought up with this lionized notion of the way things used to be in the antebellum South. Other people simply don't care whether others see them as racist... and some actually would prefer to be seen as racist.

It's still quite common, for example to see the Stars and Bars in Oklahoma.. and until just a few years ago, it still flew over the state capitol.

First flag of the confederacy...
 

I do wonder how long someone could fly the original flag of the Confederacy before they'd be asked to take it down (the 7 or 9 or 11 or 13 stars in the Canton and the Red-White-Red 3 horizontal stripes).

I'd be surprised if 2% of the American populace would recognize it...

That original flag, not the flag that people typically think of as "the Confederate flag," is the Stars and Bars. What people think of as "the Confederate flag" is a variation on the battle flag.

While the Stars and Bars does carry some baggage purely by association with the Confederacy and what it stood for, it doesn't carry all the baggage that the battle flag does because it was the latter flag that was adopted and used extensively by the Klan, by white supremacists and by segragationists decades after the Civil War.