Campus paper: PiKA-Ga State Blackface incident

[hoosier]

(Although this article implies that "Bill" is still in school, although other sources say he was expelled.)

The Georgia State University Signal
May 12, 2004
Georgia State U. Pike member comes forward to answer charges
By J.D. Sumner, The Georgia State University Signal

Who knew that dressing up like rap sensation Chingy could get someone in so much trouble?

After nearly four months of threats, anxiety and misinformation, a Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity member who donned black face paint at a January party has decided to step out of the shadows and answer charges that he and his beloved fraternity are racist.

Bill, as we'll refer to him, has endured the threats, insults and, most recently, the sanctions handed down by the Senate Judicial Committee for Student Discipline.

"I had no intention of offending anyone," Bill said. "I've had friends come up to me and ask if I was a racist because of bad information that's been circulated throughout campus."

The week before the party started routinely enough. The Pikes gathered into their typical planning meeting to discuss upcoming events, when they were told of about a hip-hop theme party.

"We were told to come dressed as our favorite rapper," Bill said. "I chose to dress up like Chingy, and the other guy chose to dress up like Dr. Dre. And it wasn't just black face paint," Bill continued, "We were dressed up head to toe."

Chingy, one of the latest members of Atlanta-based rapper Ludicris' Disturbing Tha Peace family, has hit the ranks of the rapping world big time with his debut album "Jackpot."

Bill, who comes from a sizeable north Georgia town, said that he had never heard of the history or connotations surrounding blackface and that he was simply trying to dress up like his favorite rapper.

Upon arriving at the party, the two were immediately confronted by former Pike President Rick Burt, who told them that while he personally wasn't offended by the paint, that trouble had occurred at other schools when people had done similar things and that "it'd be best to wash it off."

Ironically, the trouble started as the two were headed to wash the paint off their faces. It was while they were waiting to get into the bathroom that members of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity first encountered them.

"Not a word was said. I saw one of their members and they just kept walking by. It all happened pretty quickly," Bill said. When asked if they recognized who he was, Bill replied, "No, no I don't think so."

After washing the paint off of their faces, Bill said the two left the party and didn't return. He also said that, after hearing that some of the Sigmas had been offended by the stunt, the Pikes tried to get them to come back so they could apologize, but it just didn't happen that night.

According to the testimony of Pike president Dan Forrester at the fraternity hearing held last week, he called the Sigmas the next morning to apologize and set up a meeting where everyone could get together face-to-face for an apology.

"I apologized face-to-face and in writing. I truly was sorry that I offended people; it wasn't our intent at all," Bill said.

Intentions aside, the stunt sparked controversy and created a racial divide at a university that prides itself on racial diversity.

Bill, a fourth-year student at Georgia State University, is appealing the sanctions handed down to him by the committee, saying that there were procedural and evidentiary problems and that the sanction imposed was too harsh for the situation.

He declined to comment on what those sanctions were but did say that Dr. Hazel Scott was hearing his appeal. Should she reject his appeal, Bill's next steps are to go to President Carl Patton and then to the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia.

Bill says his life has changed in a number of ways since the incident. He concedes that, while his character and constitutions are the same, he's now more conscious of things that people might find offensive.

"When I get dressed every morning I think, 'will people think this shirts offensive today?' It's gotten to the point where I don't want to walk around campus anymore with my brothers," Bill said. "There is definitely hatred here; it's scary."

For now, Bill won't even entertain the idea of transferring to another school because of the stunt. He's intent on finishing up his coursework and graduating.

What's happening here at Georgia State sounds eerily like a similar incident at the University of Tennessee in 2002. There, members of the campus chapter of Kappa Sigma dressed in blackface as the Jackson Five for an air-guitar contest at a campus party. After discussions, administration officials decided not to penalize the members for their stunt due to their constitutional right to free speech, saying that the right of expression must be protected even "when some find it to be insensitive and offensive."
(C) 2003 The Georgia State University Signal

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