Recent college parties mocking black stereotypes spark outrage
 

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/EDUCATIO...parties.ap.jpg
Harold Hughes, of the black fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha in Clemson, South Carolina, talks with the Associated Press about an off-campus party where white students mocked black stereotypes.

POSTED: 10:31 p.m. EST, January 31, 2007

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- White students at Tarleton State University in Texas hold a party in which they dress in gang gear and drink malt liquor from paper bags. A white Clemson University student attends a bash in blackface over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. A fraternity at Johns Hopkins University invites partygoers to wear "bling bling" grills, or shiny metal caps on their teeth.

From Connecticut to Colorado, "gangsta" theme parties thrown by whites are drawing the ire of college officials and heated complaints from black and white students who say the antics conjure the worst racial stereotypes.

University officials, the NAACP and others have condemned the parties as insulting and inexcusable under any circumstances. At the same time, some black academics said they were not surprised, given the popularity of rap music among inner-city blacks and well-to-do suburban whites alike.

Read the reast here

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Interesting article. I would like to say that I'm shocked, but not really...

I think Ihave a problem with the brother. He assumes that gansat life and dressing up in gaster outfits and drinking malt liquor is a black thing. Iam black and have never done any of that stuff, so I dont even relate to it.

SO to assume that that kind of lifestyle is a black stereotype is actually an insult to me. Who decided that that kind of stuf is a black people thing? There are white people that drink and belong to gangs and like to wear big jewelry as wel. I think we in our communtiy have convinced ourselves that that kind of behavior is only done by black people which is not the case at all.

When will the time come in America when westop looking at things at being a black thing or a white theng and start loking at things being an American thing? Come on, its the 21st Century for goodness sake.

I kind of like this post. I think both black and white communities should stop glorifying that culture. I think its probably a more widespread problem in the black community, but plenty of white people foster it as well.

That is one of the most intelligent posts I have ever seen from you. Now, I can start drinking my favorite beer again.

Why do we care about what these backward hicks do? The only reason they continue to do this type of thing is to incite fury. Screw 'em. They are just jealous. They are mocking our style, speech and our music. How many of them are buying 50 and Hova's records and how many of us are buying Beck or Greenday?...I know the issue is much deeper than music, but imitation is the highest form of flattery. ;)

Sure things like this continue and probably will continue as long as the dominant culture can objectify other subcultures. The question becomes when will the media stop publicizing and giving the limelight to such antics?

Maybe it's just me being from SC and was a journalism major, but why the dateline is in Charleston? I can see Greenville, since Clemson's not that far from here, but Charleston's three hours away (home sweet home).

I think the kids are imitating what they fantasize on MTV...

What's interesting is that it's all fun and games acting hard like gang members till the cops show up...

Then what are they gonna do?

I know, those kids should go hard or go home. I mean, if you can't shoot a cop, then you're no real gangster.

As long as the white people stick to mocking themselves and away from mocking black people, FINE. If they aren't smart enough to know when they are crossing the line, which most of them AREN'T, they need to axe the theme altogether.

21st Century means nothing. There will never just be an "American thing" if we have different races and ethnicities. The sooner you face that reality as a grown adult is the sooner you will stop typing this Get Along Gang nonsense.

When you learn how to articulate better. :mad:

BTW since some of these parties have folx in black face or afro wigs, I guess to them it's not a Black thing either--huh?

I am a child of the Civil Rights Movement. Don't hand me that kumbya stuff when I still see the issues we fought so hard for being mocked--especially on MLK's born day.:mad: :mad:

Well, DUHHHHH, afro wigs are a clown thing and black face is a minstrel thing.

Clowns and minstrels should be offended but we don't see them complaining. Do we?

ROTFL

Get along gang nonesense. Wow. I guess Ihope for the world being a christian number 1 and being a soldier I know what true unity is all about. I dont look at people as different races. Ilook at them as people. Good or bad. The sooner more people start doing what Dr Martim Luther King said the better we will be . Black people who go around spouting MLK's dream and then bad mouth white people are hipocrits. Sure there are bad racist white people just like there are bad racist black people.

I dont know what to say to you. maybe you had some bad experience as a child and havent gotten over it yet. Me I justtry to live everyday and do unto ohters as Iwould have them do unto me.

For the record, I am a 38 year old black man. Member of the oldest blackcollege fraternity for men. I love my God, my country and my family.

Do I think racism is alive and well? of course. Do I think blacks and whites are racists? of course. Do I think we can cure racism? Not with 100% of people but with a lot more. How? by taking thwe time and learning about each other. We dont have tolike each other but we need to get to know each other. Most people judge by face value without getting to know the person. For example, you see a white guy walking downthe street with a tsirt with a rebel flag on it and weraing a dirty baseball cap. You make a judgement about him without even knowing him. He could be a racist. He could not be. You dont know. You se a black kid walking down the street wearing baggy pants and a hat turned crooked. Youmake a jugdement about him. Could be a thug, could not be we dont know. '

The point is when we stop prejudgin people bythe waythey look or theri color we will be better off in the long run.

Also as I said before, young white kids listen to BET and rap music. Heck, the producers makrket too them. Rap is not a black thing. I dont listen to a lot of nor do my friends. Thig life is NOT a blackthing. I am not a thug. Its actually an insult to suggest that thegangster life is an african american culture thing.
So why insult yourselves? Not logical too me.

I don't know what you're communicating here. Suffice it to say that Christianity has never been used to promote "true unity." And I guess you're saying you're in the military. I guess the racism, sexism, and other isms that many people have experienced in the military were signs of "true unity."

I really wish people would stop misinterpreting Dr. King's dream. He never said anything about pretending to be color blind. He wanted people to not be judged and discriminated against. NOT for our differences to be swept under the rug.

Oh. LOL.

Well, I won't go on my soapbox about how "racism" isn't about BAD PEOPLE and how blacks can't be racist against whites at a societal level.

I can't tell. :)

The difference between you and me is that I can remove the emotion and personal experience from this type of stuff. It isn't about feelings, childhood, or how YOU as a person choose to live everyday. ;)

People are a prodcut of their environment. Not a procduct of their color.

I can take a white child and raise him inthe ghetto. When he grows up, he will probably enjoy hip hop music, wear his pants half way downhis body and he will more than likely speak slang. Its not that he is a wannabe as many would think. Thats just his nature based on how he was raised and the influences in his life.

I can take a black child and raise him iin anupper class neighborhood send him to private school and he will probably listen to a certain type of music, talk a certain way and dress a certain way based on his environment.

So, you see its not about their color, its about their backgrounds. Now dont get me wrong. I realize their is a blackculture and a white culture in this country but thats more or less on the whole based on history and experiences as a whole race.

I do believe the military is the best place to go to understand equality. It has its problems too with racist and sexist and all that but nowher enear the same level as in society. When you are on patrol and you depend onthe guy next to you to get you backhom safe you dont give a rats a** what color he is. If you have never experienced that than you cannot possibly undertand what I am talking about. You see what you see on TV. But its very different in real life.

One final example. I have a friend from Trinidad who works as an airline pilot for British Airays. He said attitudes about race are soooooo musch different in Europe than they are in America . In Europe race is a non issue. A white guy can make a joke about a blackguy and its looked upon as a joke. In the US if a white guy makes a joke about a black guy,the first thing they want to do is call the NAACP. And the NAACP, well thats anothe rpost Icould talk about but I wont on here

^^^^To be 38 years old, you sure are naive about a lot of things. Regarding your statement about Europe I have an example that contradicts that. My half brother (product of my father and a German woman during WWII--and yes I am that old) was subjected to racism his whole young life. It was not until he became a national soccer star that he was finally "accepted." To this day he would not tolerate a racist joke.

And ditto what Chaos said about misinterpreting Dr. King's sentiments. I heard them directly.

BTW, it was just reported in today's paper that a "liberal" college here had a theme party on Jan. 16 where folx dressed in black face and wore afro wigs. It is being seriously investigated, and campus-wide meetings are being held.

Do you not find suspicion in the timing of these parties?

Lastly, I have a 36 year old daughter who gets it. I wonder why you don't.

People get what they were raised to get. My parents didnt raise me tohate another race of people. sorry. I NEVER said racism didnt exist/
You quoted examples from 50 years ago. The world was a much different place.

Again, NEVER said racism didnt exist. I have been around the world and have seen many many things. My life wasnt limited to the USA in a small town watching CNN . So, my view is lot more open minded than most.

Eddie Murphy used to fress up like a white man on SNL and walk around behaving a certain way. So wat does that make him? The Wayans Brothers recently made a movie called "white chicks" wher ethey dressed up like white girls. What does that make them?

People do stupid things of course. No one is perfect. But to automatically assume the reason for the stupid behaivor is because of hate (thats what racism is, hate) is rediclous.

Sorry, I dont tote the standard African AMerican line that everytime a white person does something to or against a black person,its because of racism. Sometimes its just becasue they are stupid.

There are real cases of racism out there, but if EVRYTIME a white person does something agaunst a black te start shouting racsim we wil ot be taken seriously People will begin to say "Well, there they go again" And when something that is truly racist happenes we wont be taken seriously.

An example her ein Atlanta a few years ago: Two puk white guys beat up a black guy. OK, the firsat thing the NAACP did was get on TV and scream rasicm. Now did the whites kids beat up the black guys because they wee black or did they beat up the black kids because the opportunity was there and had it been two white guys the white kids would have beat them up as well. We assume it was because they were black cause thats easy to do. Sometimes I just dont like aperson not because of their color but just cause I dont like them.

^^^^ My parents didn't raise me to hate another race of people either, and I don't. That is not what we are talking about here. Trust, I too, do not believe that all acts involving other races are racism, but when the parties described here are done on MLK's b'day I do have to wonder the intent. And stupidity is not an excuse for racism in my mind. Because if that is how your stupidity is manifested I also have to wonder why?

BTW, my example of 50 years ago is not obsolete. I too have traveled outside of the US and my experiences are not based on watching CNN. And it is quite possible that my life experiences, which are far greater than yours allow me to see things that you miss.

And again, you will get your points across much better if you articulate better your written word by proof reading before you hit the submit button.

He was accepted at the surface level after he became a public figure. But as many "non-white" public figures find in many countries, you're still the same kind of (insert racial slur) as the rest when it comes down to it.

I know people who lived in Russia and places across Europe. These persons were shoved in the snow and chased by "Nazi" skinheads. This was in the late 90s and early 2000s. And this is just the overt stuff. Imagine what kinds of covert stuff is going on.

Race means something different outside of North America in terms of categorization. However, we aren't the only country where there are disparities based on whether you are deemed a member of the African diaspora.

People's environments can not be separated from the larger context.

I have seen what being raised in the black ghetto (since ghetto isn't synonymous with black) can do for many whites. And poor whites have historically excelled faster than poor and even middle class blacks. Listening to rap music and wearing baggy clothes is just a matter of culture. Opportunities trump culture, though.

The biggest measure of how a person's environment matches with the larger societal context is to compare people of different races from the same environment. Research has indicated that poor whites receive more opportunities than poor blacks and middle class whites receive more opportunities than middle class blacks. This is on a societal level, which also accounts for whatever exceptions people may see fit to type about. Except it isn't called "race." People who discriminate will use any excuse BUT race--such as "he dresses better" or "speaks better." How is that really possible for millions of people who supposedly have the same "environment?"

You can also talk to millions of middle and upper class blacks and find that they are treated a certain way by their white neighbors (who accept them as long as there aren't too many black families in the neighborhood). Realtors intentionally keep a well documented "racial tipping point" and white neighbors make an effort to keep track of their black neighbors' activites. Their excuse is that they want to protect the neighborhood from "riff raff" and from reducing the property value. As if black is synonymous with deterioration regardless of the social class of the people involved. So is that about race or "environment?"

It's like you took the words right out of mind. I wish people would understand the definitions between the words prejudice, discrimination and racism. The three are all different.

I read about this and had two responses.

First, as another poster commented, why does the media continue to give attention to ignorance--especially given the timing of the incidents, which seem contrived to provoked anger. Things like this don't deserve any attention at all.

Second, what kind of sad little life do you have to have, what kind of stunted intellectual growth, to be a person that sits around coming up with ways to provoke people just for the sake of provoking them.

They probably did it to drink 40's and eat fried chicken, as opposed to making some sort of statement. I highly doubt those kids were thinking about much more than having fun when they decided on the party.

They needed an excuse to drink 40s and eat fried Chicken? And couldn't they have done that dressed as usual? Again the timing is what disturbs me.

This reminds me of some friends of mine who are upper class. He is one of the original investors in Embassy Suites Hotels and she was the chair of the Kellogg Foundation Board of Directors among other major accomplishments. They are both Howard grads (he's an Omega and a trustee of HU,and she's an AKA) and well known in this community by all races for their philanthropic endeavors.

But they had me laughing at how many times their son would be stopped driving down their street (where the minimum value of a house was $1 million) to come home, because he was driving an expensive car. And invariably he was stopped, because the police thought he must have just stolen the car. It got to a point that even the White neighbors complained about it to the police chief.

I'm not saying the timing isn't disturbing, but I imagine it was more of a "we have a day off, its MLK day, MLK was black, lets do "black" things and get drunk all day" kind of thought train. You can call it a lot of of things, but I highly doubt it was really intended to be hateful. Apparently college kids like excuses to get drunk and dress up. I think thats probably what this was.

one question. in your estimation, what, if anything, would have been over the top by these students?

And that right there is pure ignorance.

Why not "it's MLK day, MLK was for racial equality, let's attend a rally in his honor or do some community service."

Or at the LEAST "it's MLK day, I don't have to work or go to school. Let me use this as a study day, a day to watch paint dry, or to do something else that's not stupid or offensive."

Performing real lynchings.

I've got to stop responding to people on here. I'm going to have an aneurysm if I keep reading such idiotic responses.

I never said the party wasn't over the top. I'd love for you to show me where I did, but you can't find it, because I didn't say it. I guess its some sort of GC tradition to misrepresent what someone says. What I DID say was that I highly doubt these kids were having the party out of hatred or spite. I said it could be numerous other things, but an act of hate seems highly unlikely.

As for ignorance, I don't really agree. I imagine that these kids realized that the majority of black people don't drink 40's and eat fried chicken all the time. Is it a stereotype? Sure. That doesn't make it ignorant. Stupid may be a better adjective.

Why the hell do you expect white people to go to community service on MLK? I mean, I think its a good thing, but I don't see why I'd do it on MLK as opposed to any other day I don't have school. The idea that a non-ignorant celebration of a black holiday would be to do community service is pretty ridiculous in my opinion. What was your basis for saying the party was ignorant, because black people don't act like that? I think you'd have a pretty difficult time proving more black people do community service on MLK than act in the manner portrayed by the party.

I don't think the party was hateful or ignorant, I think it was probably stupid and classless.

From Webster---Ignorant
1 a : destitute of knowledge or education <an ignorant society>; also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified <parents ignorant of modern mathematics> b : resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence <ignorant errors>
2 : UNAWARE, UNINFORMED

I don't think these kids were unaware, uninformed or uneducated. (b) comes closest, but I doubt this is really indicative of a lack of intelligence. It likely indicates a lack of good judgment.

Promises, promises. LOL!

Trust me, banter with you has that effect.

How does it make you feel to insult people that you don't know?

Semantics is what people resort to when their argument is flawed.

Lady, hence you not responding to my argument.

Little, I didn't insult you. Considering you joked about me having an aneurysm, seems a little odd for you to act offended towards me...

Dude, not offended. You are the one who joked about having an aneurysm. I quoted you.
I mostly just hope that you will stop posting.