From Yahoo News:


It seems to me that the fraternity had a party in bad taste, they apologized, they're kids, and it's turning into a racial event. Just my opinion. More to come.


Questions for debate:

1. Are actions such as these genuinely racist? Does the Word "hood" have racial connotations that are racially prejudiced?

2. Should the Fraternity kick them out? Should the school expel the kids?

3. Is it appropriate for the NAACP to talk about legal action?

Yes they are and no it doesn't. Hood doesn't have racial connotations, but it does when used in conjunction with a lynched skeleton and the Facebook message. What this fraternity did was racist and disgraceful, the university is right to take action against them, I hope they penalized severely.

I don't understand the question, should the frat kick who out? I don't think anyone should be expelled, but the fraternity should be suspended for a semester [no public appearances, no on-campus socials, etc.].

No harm in talking about it, but suing here seems a bit silly to me. I'm sure there's some hate crime [sorry for the redundancy ] law underwhich legal action would be possible, but again, I don't think this is THAT big of a deal.

CP

Maybe it's me, but I honestly do not see how this could be seen as a racist action. According to my Ebonics Dictionary hood derives from the word neighborhood. And a pirate skeleton hanging on a noose has very little to do with the racial history of the U.S.. But then again maybe I am not seeing the whole picture here

1. Are actions such as these genuinely racist? Does the Word "hood" have racial connotations that are racially prejudiced?

The litmus test for whether something should be considered racist is whether or not it carries a suggestion that one race is inferior to another. Nothing in the above description entails such a suggestion. So the actions are not racist.

2. Should the Fraternity kick them out? Should the school expel the kids?

No, and no.

3. Is it appropriate for the NAACP to talk about legal action?

Not just no, but hell no. Even if it was racist (which it wasn't), it's still protected speech. Only defamatory, threatening, fraudulent, or otherwise injurious speech should be subject to such legal action. And no, merely making someone uncomfortable isn't an "injury".

The suggestion might have been slight, but I think it was there. They seem to be mimicking a group. To mimic a group is rather to make fun of them at least slightly. And that is to imply your own ways are superior. The noose says quite a bit. It was racism - subtle, not vicious.

It was not worthy of the commotion. I wonder if the protestors went directly to those who were offensive to them. I would guess they did not because they enjoyed the protest as much as the others enjoyed the party.

I once got some girls riled up against the principal at school because of sexual discrimination. We made signs about how unfair it was and planned our protest march. It was wonderful. Except for one thing. One of the girls was so upset about the injustice that she talked to the principal directly and reported back to us. The principal realized the regulation was sexist and changed it. No protest. No picket signs. No demonstration. Just justice. It was nice, but not near as exhilarating as it would have been to have marched with those signs and obtained justice in that way.

Are actions such as these genuinely racist?

As opposed to artificially racist? While the "hood" theme - and the accompanying references to bling, ice, grills, and hoochie hoops - isn't as bad as overt white supremacy, it does traffic in stereotypes. And stereotypes are often symptomatic of racism. Sure, "hood" derives from "neighborhood", but the current usage, especially among college students, clearly denotes "ghetto" (with all of its current connotations). I've heard of "Pimps and Hoes" themed parties in the past, which is tasteless enough, but Sigma Chi goes a step further - they make it personal. Baltimore has a majority black population and a large urban underclass (to say nothing of a burgeoning hip-hop scene). The reference to "regional clothing from our locale" is not only casually racist, it also specifically sneers local residents. This strikes me as particularly insensitive - and unnecessary.

On the other hand, I seriously doubt that the hanged skeleton was an oblique reference to lynchings. It looks to me more like a reference to Pirates of the Caribbean - a relatively popular cultural artifact this year. I suspect it was a frathouse decoration that was more or less independent of the "Halloween in the Hood" party itself.

Does the Word "hood" have racial connotations that are racially prejudiced?

If stereotypes with generally negative connotations are a sign of prejudice, then yes. But it is a term that has entered the broader vernacular, along a lot of other "gangsta" slang. Though its use here to characterize the locals is, at best, mean-spirited mockery.

Should the Fraternity kick them out? Should the school expel the kids?

Expulsion might be a bit extreme - particularly since it would probably only serve to inflame the situation. I don't think the skeleton was intended as any kind of threat, but do feel that the themed party was stupid and juvenile. Then again, this is a frat party we're talking about - and I don't believe they are widely known for being class acts.

Is it appropriate for the NAACP to talk about legal action?

It's not inappropriate to talk about legal action, I suppose, but it doesn't look to me as though any laws were broken or that there are any demonstrable damages - except, perhaps, to the dignity of Sigma Chi. I doubt they'd have much of a case - and the NAACP has more important battles to fight. Those involved in the event are sophomoric boors - and there's little remedy for that.

I assume Sigma Chi is an all white Frat? Well they just tend to be ignoramouses overall. Parodies are in bad taste, a slap on the wrist and some racial sensitivity courses may be in order. OR, have the party-Crash SOME REAL 'HOOD' TO THE PARTY as a lesson and let them 'play' thier 'fake hood' in front of the people they think they are making fun of. Watch petty white boys run, slinging their 'bling' between their legs and that lynched 'pirate'....stammer, stutter, overall, at the end of the night an understanding would be reached that would last a lifetime, and a great party had by all.

Sometimes people just dont know what they are doing is wrong. We need not overreact to every situation, ie:legal implications-however! Its very important to set the situation straight.

I'm personally tired of America's culture of pandering. I believe if someone was offended by the party, they shouldn't attend. Fraternities own their own homes, recruit their own members, and should be allowed to do what they'd like, tasteless or not.

The problem with this whole situation is that these guys, albeit ignorant, did something that they thought was going to be funny, and now the NAACP is involved. Good Lord. It's making national news because some stupid kids promoted a stupidly themed party. If Omega Psi Phi had a "hillbilly party" and wore "bubba teeth" and overalls... what would people say about that? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Folks just might laugh. Frankly, I attended a party just like this in the mid 90's, and we had a great time. The Omega's played silly country music like "Achy Breaky Heart" and we acted like fools the whole night...

Our nation has gone entirely too far at worrying about the feelings of people. If these guys are really "petty white boys", then why do minorities on campus care? Why does the NAACP care? I'll tell you. For the same reason that those poor Lacrosse players were indicted without ANY real evidence. Being a white man in America is automatically a sentence to being doomed to uber-political correctness. These kids surely didn't mean harm... and WHAMMO- someone's "offended" and they're suspended... being threatened with litigation. If it were truly about "understanding", it wouldn't be a news item at all. This seems just vindictive and vengeful, whether warranted or not.

Artemise, I'd have to say that your suggestion might be valid. If these groups would've sat the President of the Fraternity down and said "hey- this offends us", chances are the dude would've just had the party's theme changed or tweaked to be more sensitive. Everyone would've learned from it. Is that what happened? Absolutely not. The University should've facilitated a meeting with the offended groups, asked that the party's theme be "toned down" or changed to make everyone feel better, etc. The University, the NAACP, those who started this mess, and the Fraternity men should all feel ashamed. This was, in my mind, a Edited to remove attempt at bypassing profanity filter all around.

Well... who's pandering to who?? and why??

Look, if they own their home what does it matter if the fraternity is suspeneded?? What are the consequences if I may ask.

Well, simply put... cracking jokes on the stereotypical ideas of the "hood" is not wrong. It's done all the time by both White and Blacks. But I think that the two incidents TOGETHER is what brought the commotion.

If you are going to do a party ridiculing Blacks or "hood life", don't have any Blackface make-up, don't have people getting whipped, don't have people in chains, and don't, please lord, have any nooses ANYWHERE!!

If you are going to have any of the other things... don't have anything that deals with Black people be your theme..


Think about... the theme of the party wasn't any more tasteless than a lot of other themes... It's halloween.. let it go

A skeleton hanging from the noose is a Halloween decoration....

By themselves... no problem!! Put them together, you got protests!!! Cause chances are some White frat brothers were trying to be slick and got caught.

1. Racist? No. Maybe these frat kids are a bit immature and insensitive, but that's not a crime. That's not even a misdemeanor. This doesn't remotely rise to the case of genuine and deliberate racism.

2. For what? Annoying people who weren't invited to the party? Heck no, they shouldn't be kicked out or expelled. The party may have been in bad taste, but if you threw every kid off a campus because they did silly stuff pretty soon the only schools open would be divinity schools.

If every White person who wanted to bite Black style were to be locked up we could start with Eminem, Justin Timberlake and work our way down the list. Kevin Federline would definitely get life without parole.

(and this is a joke before anyone thinks I'm a White-hating Black bigot. I don't really want to lock up Eminem and Justin Timberlake. K-Fed, on the other hand, deserves a serious beatdown. J-o-k-e! )

3. There is something fundamentally flawed about the NAACP which is why I've never seriously considered joining it. Perhaps one reason is they waste time and money over trivial crap like this. Nobody said the frat was burning a cross on the lawn and roasting wieners. They annoyed some Black students. Big deal. Get over it. There are a lot of legitimate reasons to look for acts of racism. The problem is some Black victims of racism count more than others---even to other Black folks.

NEW YORK -- A man who was attacked in a suspected hate crime and hit by a car while trying to escape died after his family decided to take him off life support, officials said.

Michael Sandy, 28, died Friday. He had been in critical condition at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center after running into traffic on the Belt Parkway on Sunday evening.

Three young men have been charged with hate crimes in the assault and robbery of Sandy, a gay man investigators believed was lured to a Brooklyn street corner with the online promise of a sexual encounter.

Gary Timmins, 16, John Fox, 19, and Ilya Shurov, 20, were all being held without bail after being arraigned earlier this week. link

Michael Sandy is a real victim of a racist hate crime. Where are the protests and demonstrations and threats of boycotts for him? Why isn't Al Sharpton demanding justice for him? Why hasn't Jesse Jackson parachuted in to vow the perpetrators face the harshest punishment possible?

I'll tell you why. Because Michael Sandy wasn't just Black. He was gay and that means his life doesn't mean as much as it would if he were straight. Not in a community as homophobic as the Black community. Black gays and lesbians are supposed to keep it "on the down low." Out of sight and definitely out of mind.

It doesn't surprise me in the least the NAACP picks the soft target and the easy fight instead of taking a long look in the mirror at a problem only Black folks can resolve.

Within the Black community, some hate crimes count and some don't. If you're straight; you count. If you're gay ; you don't.