Equal opportunity racism at UVa

[hoosier]

UVa Cavalier Daily

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Letters to the Editor


Equal opportunity racism

I encountered something this weekend that I feel that students should be aware of, as it is a matter of great importance.

Saturday night, while out at a Halloween party, I witnessed something extremely shocking. An African-American male walked in to the party dressed as a "white guy," with his face painted white, wearing a pink polo-style shirt and a sweater tied around his shoulders. In light of the controversy and offensiveness of the blackface scandal of two Halloweens ago, I find it unbelievable that this person would choose to dress up in "whiteface," perhaps as a reference to two years ago. I am forced to wonder why this is deemed acceptable, and why this person likely will not face the same repercussions as did the blackface students.

I found the blackface of two years ago to be equally offensive as this incident, which is what makes me even more angry. If we are supposedly a community of racial equals, how can the repercussions for one race be nonexistent, while for the other race severe?

I feel that this is just as offensive as the occurrence two years ago, and must be acknowledged as such. With the obvious racial tensions that exist at U.Va., I feel that both sides must do their part to achieve a community of equals, and this is undoubtedly a step in the wrong direction.

Ashley Davis

CLAS III

[sugar and spice]

This girl shows a rather tenuous grip on the historical factors surrounding blackface. Move on.

[IowaStatePhiPsi]

reverse racism- punishing white students for blackface but not punishing black students for similar actions.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by IowaStatePhiPsi
reverse racism- punishing white students for blackface but not punishing black students for similar actions.

The historical context is simply not the same. Blackface has a history. "Whiteface" just doesn't. They're not comparable.

[Lady Pi Phi]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
The historical context is simply not the same. Blackface has a history. "Whiteface" just doesn't. They're not comparable.

While I wholeheartedly agree...what this young man did was just juvenille and inappropriate.

[CasanovaAPQ]

well when that incident happened those guys were mocking blacks and making fun of them, was this guy doing the same, if he just dressed up as a "white guy" there is nothing wrong with that, now if he was making fun by doing things then thats a problem. See the problem wasnt that the guy dress as black peoeple. they were makin references to stereo types, they did that not for the fun of holloween but to mock black people. if this guy just dressed up as a white person then there nothing wrong with that

[James]

IS that what happened? It happened at a few campuses. I know at one the kids were just dressed as Rappers.

Originally posted by CasanovaAPQ
well when that incident happened those guys were mocking blacks and making fun of them, was this guy doing the same, if he just dressed up as a "white guy" there is nothing wrong with that, now if he was making fun by doing things then thats a problem. See the problem wasnt that the guy dress as black peoeple. they were makin references to stereo types, they did that not for the fun of holloween but to mock black people. if this guy just dressed up as a white person then there nothing wrong with that

Originally posted by sugar and spice
The historical context is simply not the same. Blackface has a history. "Whiteface" just doesn't. They're not comparable.

Thats ridiculous, racism is racism...........

[valkyrie]

Originally posted by ADPiZXalum
Thats ridiculous, racism is racism...........

No, it is absolutely not the same thing.

HOW? People make it sound like it is just NOT possible for a black person to discrimate or be racist towards a white person. That's stupid. I understand that blacks being racist towards whites does not have the same historical implication, as mentioned before. I know there's been years and years of discrimination against African Americans. But that's not what I'm talking about. My point is that anyone can be a racist, even a black person.

[omegamcgee]

I wholeheartedly agree with the author of this. Both sets of students should have received equal punishment. How can minorities expect to be equal if they try to be better? Isn't that just what slave owners thought: that they were better, and above the slaves? Why can't we all just forget about the colors of our skin????

[Dionysus]

Originally posted by ADPiZXalum
HOW? People make it sound like it is just NOT possible for a black person to discrimate or be racist towards a white person. That's stupid. I understand that blacks being racist towards whites does not have the same historical implication, as mentioned before. I know there's been years and years of discrimination against African Americans. But that's not what I'm talking about. My point is that anyone can be a racist, even a black person.

and.....

[PiPhiGirl2005]

Originally posted by ADPiZXalum
HOW? People make it sound like it is just NOT possible for a black person to discrimate or be racist towards a white person. That's stupid. I understand that blacks being racist towards whites does not have the same historical implication, as mentioned before. I know there's been years and years of discrimination against African Americans. But that's not what I'm talking about. My point is that anyone can be a racist, even a black person.

Co-sign. I agree completely. Portraying racial stereotypes, no matter what race, is offensive and wrong.

[ZTAngel]

oh boy...here we go again...

[TheEpitome1920]

I like this definition of racism:

Racism is an ideological, structural and historic stratification process by which the population of European descent, through its individual and institutional distress patterns, intentionally has been able to sustain, to its own best advantage, the dynamic mechanics of upward or downward mobility (of fluid status assignment) to the general disadvantage of the population designated as non-white (on a global scale), using skin color, gender, class, ethnicity or nonwestern nationality as the main indexical criteria used for enforcing differential resource allocation decisions that contribute to decisive changes in relative racial standing in ways most favoring the populations designated as 'white.'

--Taken from the Center for the Study of White American Culture