So some
little (in more ways that one) boys fathom attending a private party who attended the University of Tennessee were found out to be dressing in blackface. Is that correct? Then a Black Student Association member determined what was going down, immediate school notification and photographs were taken. And somehow, the fraternity names, Kappa Sigma and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. are implicated...
WOW, coming from hazing and seeing it on the Fox News Channel, to white folks dressing up in blackface and calling themselves Alphas and Omegas, is--well, strange...
All offensives will serve punishments to fit the crime...
Dressing in blackface is offensive and should be punished. It is offensive to those of African descent and other ethnicities as much as dressing a Nazi uniform would be to those of the Jewish faith!!! So how come is it okay not to withstand the reprecussions of dressing in something so divisive as blackface when it come to those who are affected to be of African descent?
But you say to me, "Louis Armstrong was a great American jazz musician, and for me to portray him, I have to dress up in blackface..."
Then I have to say, "Dwight Yoakam is a great muscian too, but do you see me coming outta a trailer park, with a tow hitch and spitting tobacco to prove such a feeling for his music???"
The university is responsible for awarding the highest degrees to those students that can pass the classes in an approved major. Its desire is to make sure that there will be perpetuity within its community filled with brain power from an education acquired at one's university. Most university's mission statements say something similar to that text. It is the hope of the EDUCATED public that when they pay their taxes, that part of the money will be going to the university and it will be used to enlightened folks, train them to a vocation or profession so that they would be citizens that contribute to the well being of the "collective"... So in that since, it IS the responsibility of the University of Tennessee to take action on students that display behavior that is in violation of the STATE mandated mission... No administrative official wants their school noted for awarding degrees to idiots... And offending a certain student population only sheds light to the level of education and the kind of students the University of Tennessee admits into their university.
It is about crossing barriers, breaking down walls, seeing Life through another ethnic groups perspective. This is the new millennium people, let's move beyond our comfort zones and see the world!
I know that some of you will slam my statements. And for me that is okay. What my mission here is to stave off anything ugliness before things get said. And to be blunt, if you got to be bitch about it and attempt a futile ignorant response to me on this board, not only those that know me will laugh at your weak punk ass, but you need to be GROWN about it and do it to my face by PM'img me if you think you can go toe to toe with me... C'mon... I'm waiting... I dare you...
Dr. G. Moore, Ph.D.
University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center
by way of Spelman College
M.S. and Ph.D. from San Diego State University
and the University of California at San Diego.