OK - OU fraternity "SAE" sings racist chant on bus

[wfgodot]

Lynchings were pretty much equal opportunity in the early history of this country. The Hatfields and McCoys feuded over a pig and a lynching and mass destruction followed. My family moved to Texas when I was in the third grade and I was referred to by the teacher as a Yankee. It's part of the culture that apparently still permeates.

JMO

Sorry, but that bit about lynchings is just statistically not so. It is an aspect of denial, like saying that the n-word is an equal opportunity slur. What permeates here is raw racism, and attempts to confuse the issue only serve to condone it.

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

Sorry, but that bit about lynchings is just statistically not so. It is an aspect of denial, like saying that the n-word is an equal opportunity slur. What permeates here is raw racism, and attempts to confuse the issue only serve to condone it.

Lynching will never have the same weight with any other racial group as it has with blacks. It was done to show others what may happen to them as a warning also. It was used to control them and make them afraid. It was intimidation and murder all wrapped up in one horrible act.
Being called a yankee is not a slur. It is about location.

 

[MyBelle]

Sorry, but that bit about lynchings is just statistically not so. It is an aspect of denial, like saying that the n-word is an equal opportunity slur. What permeates here is raw racism, and attempts to confuse the issue only serve to condone it.

I said the n word WAS an equal opportunity slur. Times have changed.

 

[Margo/Mom]

It did not sound the least bit sincere to me. For example.

'I admit it likely was fueled by alcohol consumed at the house before the bus trip'​

aka, the devil made me do it.

'Yes, the song was taught to us'​

aka, someone else did it first.

'For me, this is a devastating lesson and I am seeking guidance on how I can learn from this and make sure it never happens again.'​

He's seeking guidance on what? How not to behave in a racist manner? How to hide it better? What, exactly?

And what about the other boy? His parents apologized for him?

His apology came via his parents, Susan and Brody Pettit, who wrote online that his actions were 'disgusting' and that he 'will live with the consequences forever'.

Pettit's family posted a statement online Tuesday evening, casting his involvement with the song as 'a horrible mistake'. They also insist he is 'not a racist'.

The statement said: 'He is a good boy, but what we saw in those videos is disgusting.
'While it may be difficult for those who only know Levi from the video to understand, we know his heart, and he is not a racist.'​

What is with the, "it was a mistake" bit? How does someone accidentally sing a racist chant? Please.

A commentator last night pointed out that none of these "kids" were of legal age to drink. Just another consideration.

 

[Margo/Mom]

I am failing trying to do the multi quote, but I expect it will be clear which posts I am responding to.

1. His apology seemed sincere to me because in his words he took full responsibility, no "if" as in "I'm sorry if anyone was offended by my actions" which puts the onus for the offense on the offended party rather than the offending party. True, his wording could well be the work of a PR firm. I'm optimistic enough to hope that it wasn't.

2. According to the Daily Mail article the full statement read: I admit it likely was fueled by alcohol consumed at the house before the bus trip, but that’s not an excuse. Yes, the song was taught to us, but that too doesn’t work as an explanation.

So he seems sincere to me that he's not making excuses.

3. The "seeking guidance" does sound illogical. In the best possible light, it could mean he's realized he has a problem with alcohol that he needs to address. He doesn't say that, though, so I won't assume that's what he means.

On another topic, what about the SAE house mom caught on video gleefully using the N word and trying to justify it by herself, and at least one poster here, with the excuse that she was simply singing along to a rap song?

She's a 79-year-old white woman, for crying out loud. I'm really to believe she is a rap music aficionado?

Maybe the lesson he has learned is that your good, good buddies in the frat will turn on you and use you as a scapegoat rather than to admit the inherent and systemic racism contained within the frat or the Greek system.

I don't care that the guy was expelled. Seems about right. And maybe he will engage in some learning before his next excursion into an institute of higher learning--although I would really prefer to see him go through a mandatory program of coursework examining the history of racism coupled with community service in a minority neighborhood. But, the focus truly needs to be how the University, inclusive of their Greek system, respond with education and change.

 

[Elley Mae]

‘Morning Joe’ hosts blame racist Sigma Alpha Epsilon video on rap music

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...-racist-sae-video-rap-music-article-1.2145443

The conversation started when co-host Mika Brzezinski mentioned that rapper Waka Flocka Flame cancelled an upcoming concert at OU after leaked video showed a bus full of brothers singing “There will never be a n----r SAE” to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands.”

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

EXCLUSIVE: 'Racism is part of the culture': Oklahoma State graduate reveals how SAE pledges were 'designated with a ''N***** name'' and made to pick cotton on the front lawn'

The graduate now in his thirties said: 'We hung the flags of the confederate states outside our house for a month every year'

He said racism was endemic at SAE - particularly in the Midwest and South

Oklahoma State University has so far declined to comment

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ignated-N-pick-cotton-lawn.html#ixzz3U6ynsrKz

 

[wfgodot]

EXCLUSIVE: 'Racism is part of the culture': Oklahoma State graduate reveals how SAE pledges were 'designated with a ''N***** name'' and made to pick cotton on the front lawn'

The graduate now in his thirties said: 'We hung the flags of the confederate states outside our house for a month every year'

He said racism was endemic at SAE - particularly in the Midwest and South

Oklahoma State University has so far declined to comment

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ignated-N-pick-cotton-lawn.html#ixzz3U6ynsrKz

No surprise there. For a decade, I was a prof at an OSU Regents institution and where I taught the same racist culture permeated the faculty as well.

 

[Hiandmighty]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/12281851/joe-mixon-rejoins-oklahoma-sooners-suspension-assault

OU Football player who used gay slur kept his athletic scholarship with tuition and board paid after punching a female, breaking her jaw and shattering her eye socket.


http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/oklahoma-stands-tall-against-racism-weak-against-violence-031015 "Oklahoma Stands Tall Against Racism, Weak Against Violence"


Anyone else see a problem here?

 

[shadowraiths]

Excellent interview regarding house mom's ("Mom B") response, and def casts her in a much less negative light.
link

 

[nrdsb4]

An African American professor has a different take on the expulsion of racist fraternity students:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/mariad...able-moment-how-ou-failed-transformation-101/

 

[shadowraiths]

An African American professor has a different take on the expulsion of racist fraternity students:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/mariad...able-moment-how-ou-failed-transformation-101/

Excellent piece!

 

[Nova]

If the situation is the same as the UCLA incidents 20 years ago, the racist songs were actually taught by the frat and pledges were required to learn them. It was a tradition. (I'm not excusing anybody. Nobody has to join THAT frat or any other. I certainly would not.)

It's a bonding exercise akin to hazing. "We" do this forbidden thing (sing racist songs, make new members swallow goldfish, etc.) which makes us different from everybody else. It's part of how a group defines itself.

Although I understand the need for all-female or all-gay groups, I'm really not a fan of homogeneity myself.

 

[Nova]

Lynchings were pretty much equal opportunity in the early history of this country. The Hatfields and McCoys feuded over a pig and a lynching and mass destruction followed. My family moved to Texas when I was in the third grade and I was referred to by the teacher as a Yankee. It's part of the culture that apparently still permeates.

JMO

If you're trying to mitigate the behavior in question, I don't get it. Yes, horse thieves were lynched by vigilantes in the Old West, but in the past century it is a practice primarily associated with the treatment of African-Americans.

 

[Nova]

That does not mean you take rights away from one group to give them to another.
The people in this case are beasts. I can not imagine the idea that it is okay to speak that way about people. I am glad they are off the campus.
This is what comes from raising people to go along with the group. To not stand out. To not have integrity.

You can not govern how people think. You can not govern what people feel. You can make them legally obligated to comply but it will not change their soul.

I don't know about that. I know it isn't a cure-all, but making certain behavior off-limits at least sends a message to those who find it "normal".

But the legal point is the climate in which minorities have to study and/or work. The law CAN make such places less threatening to those who are different.

 

[IzzyBlanche]

A commentator last night pointed out that none of these "kids" were of legal age to drink. Just another consideration.

I thought of that this morning too.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Protesters gather outside Texas home of racist University of Oklahoma frat boy chanting 'Racism is taught'

A group is staging a peaceful protest outside the childhood home of University of Oklahoma student Parker Rice in Dallas, Texas

This after Rice was captured on video leading a racist chant at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity event over the weekend

The protesters chanted 'Racism is taught' as they walked up and down the street

Rice issued an apology for his actions saying he was 'deeply sorry' and that what he did was 'wrong and reckless'

He and his family have left their home due to threatening phone calls, and he has been expelled from Oklahoma

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...boy-chanting-Racism-taught.html#ixzz3UAjGChfi

 

[SStarr33]

Protesters gather outside Texas home of racist University of Oklahoma frat boy chanting 'Racism is taught'

A group is staging a peaceful protest outside the childhood home of University of Oklahoma student Parker Rice in Dallas, Texas

This after Rice was captured on video leading a racist chant at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity event over the weekend

The protesters chanted 'Racism is taught' as they walked up and down the street

Rice issued an apology for his actions saying he was 'deeply sorry' and that what he did was 'wrong and reckless'

He and his family have left their home due to threatening phone calls, and he has been expelled from Oklahoma

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...boy-chanting-Racism-taught.html#ixzz3UAjGChfi

Idiots.

 

[gitana1]

I said the n word WAS an equal opportunity slur. Times have changed.

The N word derives from the word for black in Dutch "neger" and in Spanish and Portuguese, "negro". It has never been an equal opportunity slur. It originated from slave traders to refer to their "cargo".

If the situation is the same as the UCLA incidents 20 years ago, the racist songs were actually taught by the frat and pledges were required to learn them. It was a tradition. (I'm not excusing anybody. Nobody has to join THAT frat or any other. I certainly would not.)

It's a bonding exercise akin to hazing. "We" do this forbidden thing (sing racist songs, make new members swallow goldfish, etc.) which makes us different from everybody else. It's part of how a group defines itself.

Although I understand the need for all-female or all-gay groups, I'm really not a fan of homogeneity myself.

What's next, bonding over a good ol' fashioned lynching? Come on. Nonsense. First of all, if anyone tried to get me to chant something like that I would leave, even at 18. Second, this was no hazing exercise. These jerks had adopted the chant as their mantra and were gleefully and vigorously repeating it along with several of their sorority sisters. Disgusting.

I love Jon Stewart's response to this. Fox commentator's attitudes when black people may be victims or have done something wrong is "pull up your pants and take responsibility". But a white guy does something wrong against a black person and someone else made him do it!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...e-for-reaction-to-racist-fraternity-incident/

 

[gitana1]

I said the n word WAS an equal opportunity slur. Times have changed.

Idiots.

Who? The racists or the protestors?