Kappa Sig's letters branded in to a goats head.

That's gross -- really gross -- but it's not paraphernalia*.


* Paraphernalia = clothing and other personal items (paddles, license plates/frames, decorative items, tote bags, etc.) with Greek letters or symbols on them.

It was hung over the entrance to their house..

And that matters? It was criminal, animal cruelty, disgusting. meant to shock . . . take your pick. But it was not paraphernalia in any sense of the word.

Besides, you failed to note what "decorative items" was an example of -- personal items. Jewelry boxes or afghans are decorative personal items. Severed animal heads hung over the door of a (rival fraternity's?) house (as a prank or joke?) are not personal decorative items.

I am not trying to shame the higher ups. I really don't think that many people see stuff on GC. If I were trying to shame them, I'd send a tip to gawker or something like that. GC, while a public forum, is really a pretty small community, and I am, more than anything, expressing my own shock here.

Also, I am frustrated, as I said above, that I can't really explain why this offends me, and there are people I trust here who could say things like "whoa, calm down, you're making a big deal out of nothing" or "yeah, you're right, that could be taken the wrong way".

As I think about it further, even if it is not seen as "blackface", it is a misappropriation of minority culture by an organization with largely white, wealthy, elitist roots, and is just not worth the potential for causing offense.

So in the same line should any shirt that references minority culture by glo's be off limits? Such as these?
http://adamblockdesign.com/abd/wp-co...10/10/1hb1.jpg
http://adamblockdesign.com/abd/wp-co..._Layer-100.jpg
http://adamblockdesign.com/abd/wp-co...glan-front.png

I think those are all problematic, but they aren't my GLO.

My eyesight may fail me but where is the reference to "minority culture" here? Is "homegirl" supposed to be "minority culture?" LOL.

If this horrible shirt is intended for DST, that is probably not from one our licensed vendors. I have never seen such ridiculous reference to Minerva on a Soror. And if it is supposed to be a DST jacket, that would be Black folks making a reference to "supposed Black folks culture" through a Roman goddess.

Oh yeah http://www.myspace.com/515757370/pho...2%3A3608901%7D

I think the Phi Mu shirt is (to say the least) unfortunate, and blackface is NOT OK.

However DeltaBetaBaby found Mevara's other examples problematic. So, I want to ask where is the line with acceptability with pop culture references in these kind of things (per Mevara's examples with the "Notorious KKG" and the "99 Problems" shirts)? Those shirts read to me that they are fans of the music.

(In interest of full disclosure, I'm really going to be in trouble if white people aren't allowed to like music performed by black musicians.)

I think there's nothing racially and ethnically mocking and therefore offensive about the shirts that Mevara posted. Those are references to music and hip hop culture. Music and hip hop culture are one aspect of simply one component of a general African American culture just as music is one aspect of one component of all racial and ethnic group cultures including white Americans and white diaspora/Euro-diaspora.

The use of "homeboy," an image of Jay-Z and 99 problems, and a Notorious B.I.G. reference are not comparable to what is PERCEIVED to be a blackfaced or intentionally darkened Phi Mu mascot.

I think the shirts that Mevara posted are corny and tacky but not because they are offensive. That's for those sororities to deal with. LOL. And if the Minerva one is in reference to Delta, that is not something that Sorors who have a brain will be caught wearing--and a licensed vendor most likely would not be caught selling it.

Good lord.
Would Chuck Norris wear this t-shirt? (Well, no. He went Tri-Delt, didn't he? <Now imagining a Poseidon-is-my-homeboy shirt.>)

I personally still find them distasteful, but as I said upthread, I'm having a hard time articulating it.

They are using hip hop culture to promote organizations that are, historically, comprised of the white and privileged. I think there is a distinct difference between, for example, a Wizard of Oz-themed bid day shirt and a Notorious B.I.G.-themed bid day shirt. I also think there is a difference between, say, the Society of Women Engineers using a "99 Problems" slogan and an NPC group using the same slogan.

It's specifically the friction between the exclusivity of NPC groups and the origins of hip hop culture that rubs me the wrong way. It's sorta like when a conservative political candidate runs some music in their ad by a liberal artist, and the artist has to be like "hey, stop that!".

Now, I don't think any are as bad as Sir Fidel in blackface, but I don't think they are clever, and wouldn't wear one myself.

Just a note with the shirts I posted none of them are approved by the respective org. They are just shirts by a (popular) third party vendor.

The message forms in the mind of the one who perceives it (example DeltaBetaBaby and others.) And doesn't mean that it's the message that the sender intended to transmit. Perception IS reality. [Communications/Marketing 101 Anywhere/Everywhere]

Yes. See: Ronald Reagan using "Born in the USA" as a campaign song (with no clue as to what the lyrics are about).

I just read the lyrics to 99 Problems, and the song is apparently delineating all the problems the lyricist has...however, girl problems are not one of them. What does that have to do with a sorority? (Or the SWE, for that matter)