University fo Okahoma-Sigma Alpha Epsilon-Racial Chant

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Aloha123

I watch the kids here hang out together and skin color seems to be the last thing on their minds.

That is unfortunate. White people have a tendency to pretend to be colorblind and to believe that fake colorblindness is necessary for diversity and equality. Nonwhites tend not to believe that because we know there is nothing inherently wrong with skin color and there is nothing inherently wrong with other racial, ethnic, and cultural traits. But a few nonwhites get hoodwinked, bamboozled, and led astray into fake colorblindness. Then they encounter the realities of life. Booyah.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by ChioLu

Maybe a good time for OU Panhellenic to expand ...

WHAT????

I seriously hope that I'm misunderstanding what you said, because that reads like "whoo hoo! Somebody did something stupid and wiped out their decades old chapter, now we can get a sweet house out of it!"

To the main point, these guys are assholes and yes the whole chapter does deserve to go because that was some pretty basic "we have sung this song a million billion times and think about it as much as we think about breathing." I'm glad someone finally blew the whistle on this, and I hope he stays safe.

[Aloha123]

To Dr. Phil - question for you. You say that whites have fake colorblindness while nonwhites understand there is nothing inherently wrong with their skin color and other racial groups, cultures, ethnic traits. Do you not think a white person can feel this way too? Just trying to understand. I love my childs other friends like my own. Skin color and ethnic background never come into it. Do you see this as fake colorblindness on my part? If so, that makes me sad.

[sailboatgirl]

Here's a blog post that a friend of my shared on facebook. It's a powerful blog from a black man who was a member of the OU chapter 14 years ago...

http://betweenthenotes.me/2015/03/09...r-black-s-a-e/

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Aloha123

Do you not think a white person can feel this way too?

Yes. After they stop using white privilege to imagine colorblindness.

Colorblindness is a farce that operates on the notion that this racial and ethnic inequality thing wouldn't exist if we could all pretend to be robots or see-through beings void of race, ethnicity, culture, skin colors, facial features, and other physical identifiers. For the most part, only white people (in general) in the U.S. and around the world believe that.

Originally Posted by Aloha123

Do you see this as fake colorblindness on my part?

That depends on what you mean by "skin color and ethnic background never come into it".

One of the most insulting things a white person can say to me is "you're such a great person, I don't even notice you're Black" or "you're so accomplished, you being Black doesn't even matter" or "I like you despite you being Black" or "when I see you I don't see race".

Anyone who knows me knows that I love being a woman, I love being Black, and I love being a Black woman; and I am a vocal community activist. Any relationship with me cannot ignore my (womanhood and) Blackness. Any relationship with me has to acknowledge my (womanhood and) Blackness while granting me equal rights and opportunities. Equal rights and opportunities do not require ignoring my (womanhood and) Blackness.

[Aloha123]

Thanks Dr. Phil for replying. I appreciate hearing from you, and it gives me something to think about.

[PGD-GRAD]

I don't know if this has been mentioned--first day of my classes for my college's spring quarter. But I have seen bits and pieces, including the OU President's strong remarks as well as the comments of the spokesman for SAE Hdqtrs.

What struck me was that the 2nd or 3rd thing out of the spokesman's mouth was a request (promise?) to return to OU in a few years with a fresh attitude or something like that. Also, some brothers MIGHT lose their membership.

REALLY? Even a mention of returning to that campus was totally inappropriate I thought. Forget about that, apologize, offer support for the OU Administration and say some brothers WILL lose their membership. For lord's sake be humble and not even ASSUME a return to campus--that would be better discussed much later on and not in the public forum.

[KDMafia]

This just enrages me to no end. The audacity that shows both their privilege and that this was just the tip of the iceberg. Can you imagine, if they were okay singing this out loud in celebration what they said to each other in even more private settings.

This were not kids making a stupid decision, these were men being horrible and broadcasting a really really nasty culture of that fraternities life and potentially greek life on that campus. There were sorority women on that bus potentially singing along or thinking it was funny. CLosing SAE won't change anything, there needs to be serious soul searching in that panhellenic about how a chapter could feel like they could do that and do that in the presence of other members of the community.

Also, our national orgs may need to start to do some serous soul searching if they want to survive this day and age of social media and decreased tolerance for behavior that has too long been written off as that of stupid college kids.
I'm sick of the PR email of a chapter removed and recitation of values. We need to accept that on many universities are greek orgs have the potential to be a petri dish of entitlement, privilege and racism and we need to be aggressive in heading that off.

[PGD-GRAD]

"...a Petri dish of entitlement..."--wow, KDMafia--that is beautifully said! But it is both terribly sad and truly stomach turning. Have many of our organizations become so ingrained in an elitist bubble that they can't be bothered to see the "real" world out there? This is not what I stood for all through the 1960s; this is not what I thought Greek organizations would be debating in the 21st Century: inclusive or exclusive? The answer to that may well determine the future of Greek-letter organizations.

[cinder1965]

KDMafia, Ditto your post. I have thinking all afternoon that it is time for our national organizations to come together through IFC and Panhel to discuss the issue of race, assault and other actions that result from this sense of entitlment that happens at some Greek systems. The demographics in our country are changing rapidly and if we want to around for another 100 years we better damn well figure out how to welcome people of color with open arms. Just this month, our sorority magazine's cover story was about diversity in sorority life, making the point that by 2040 the college campuses will look very different.

Aside from just simple survival of our organizations, there is a moral imperative here to step up and be leaders to our collegiate members because it is the just thing to do. We can no longer sit on the sidelines and act appalled. We need some national leadership: how about it IFC and NPC???? I know I will be emailing our Panhel reps asking this question.

[ChioLu]

Tri Delta's national website is commenting on the OU incident:
http://www.tridelta.org/news/theinci...sityofoklahoma

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by KDMafia

There were sorority women on that bus potentially singing along or thinking it was funny.

KDMafia, I know that you said POTENTIALLY. I have to point out that there is no evidence that I have seen that shows any of the women joining in with this horrific behavior. Have you seen anything to the contrary? I think it is very clear that there were women on that bus that disagreed enormously with what was going on. That is why they videoed the actions and then exposed these racist little pricks for the bigots that they are.

Do I think they are complicit for not having stood up on the bus and demanded that the singing stop or demanding to be let off? No, I won't go that far. I think the women on that bus did what they could to make a difference and applaud their actions.

ETA: ChioLu just posted about Tri Delta's statement. I have read in several places that at least one of those videos was posted by a Tri Delta member. GOOD GIRL!

[SWTXBelle]

Just a reminder from upthread - If everyone who has viewed this thread gave just $5, Howard (the long-time cook at the SAE house) would have a very comfortable severance package. Please consider helping an innocent victim of this horrible story -https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/howard

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by MU2Driver

Would they have sung the song in public? I don't think so; I think they knew it was wrong. And, if given the opportunity to apologize and repent, I think they would.

If they knew it was wrong, then why did they do it? And if they knew it was wrong and did it anyway, then why would you assume any apology or repentance would be the least bit sincere.

Originally Posted by AZTheta

And this is NOT a First Amendment issue. The Federal government is not punishing SAE. And, the First Amendment does not protect you from the consequences of your speech. Don't ignore that fundamental principle.

Well, just to be clear, this could be a First Amendment issue. As a result of the Fourteenth Amendment, the First Amendment applies to state and local governments as well, and as a public university, OU is an entity of state government. So it is possible that some actions OU might want to take could have First Amendment implications.

[thetalady]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Just a reminder from upthread - If everyone who has viewed this thread gave just $5, Howard (the long-time cook at the SAE house) would have a very comfortable severance package. Please consider helping an innocent victim of this horrible story -https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/howard

SWTXBelle, what a spectacular idea!!!

I actually bet that he will be snapped up by another house on campus, but helping Howard through this rough patch was a fantastic idea. Glad to see that someone set this up. Off to make my donation....