Petr
12-07-2005, 08:09 AM
I remember how FadeTheButcher posted on the old Phora about how his university fraternity had celebrated one of these wigger-mocking parties - with pictures and all...
:p
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/13319322.htm
Insensitive attitudes are nothing to party about
By Richard Gonzales
Special to the Star-Telegram
Posted on Sun, Dec. 04, 2005
Recent news reports of high school and college kids wearing blackface, throwing "ghetto" parties or celebrating "Thug Day" expose young hearts of darkness. Youths should challenge social prejudices, but some embrace racial caricatures with the enthusiasm of a pep rally.
How sad that one college official dismissed complaints by saying that students didn't know any better.
Ah, but didn't parents and teachers know better? If so, shouldn't they have taught their brilliant children that mocking other cultures is insulting and reminiscent of Jim Crow and minstrel shows?
When several students at the University of Chicago in October held a "Straight-Thuggin Ghetto Party" in a dormitory, some minority students were offended. Chicago news media swarmed the campus, wanting to know how racial ridicule thrived at such a prestigious school.
In spite of the students' intelligence, they couldn't suppress their loathing of black, inner-city culture. Behind closed doors, the veneer of intelligence was replaced with hip-hop music, bandanas, low pants, exposed underwear and caps turned sideways. One student was seen toting a brown bag with a leaking bottle.
According to the Chicago Maroon, an independent UC student newspaper, no formal disciplinary actions were taken against the students. The administration wished to treat this as a lesson, an unnamed co-host of the party told the Maroon. How academic!
In October at Stetson University in Florida, an all-white female softball team wore basketball jerseys, corn-row hair and fake gold teeth and painted their faces black to imitate their school's basketball team. University officials said that they didn't tolerate such behavior but decided against punishing the students. They explained that the students didn't understand the historical significance of blackface.
Again, treating this as an act of ignorance instead of racially motivated bias, the university required the students to attend diversity training. This included viewing a documentary about stereotypes and reading a novel about racism.
In October at Highland Park High School in Dallas County, students held their annual senior "Thug Day." Students wore Afro wigs, fake gold teeth, bandanas and baggy jeans. On "Fiesta Day," meant to celebrate Hispanic culture, a student brought a leaf blower to school. No students were punished for the mockery. Some were told to remove the bandanas and gold necklaces.
As quoted in The Dallas Morning News, Principal Patrick Cates said: "The bottom line is that we need to maintain a healthy learning environment with no disruptions. When a few students take the opportunity to dress up and use it to make an inappropriate statement, we have a problem, and we will address that problem."
That problem is social isolation from diverse cultures and contempt for the poor. This separation breeds misperception, a reliance on stereotypes and a lack of tolerance or respect for class and ethnic differences.
In Fort Worth, Maria Ortega, a cheerleader for Carter-Riverside High School, blew the whistle on Birdville High School students with an Oct. 31 letter to the Star-Telegram. She complained that at a football game between the schools, some Birdville students flashed signs that read, "Eagles aren't legal," "Go back to the river" and "I live in a van down by the river."
Perhaps Ortega misinterpreted the signs. As Mark Thomas, Birdville school district spokesman, is quoted in a Nov. 4 Star-Telegram report, "Eagles rhymes with legal. There was no malicious intent in the hearts when they made those posters."
Somehow Ortega thought the signs alluded to illegal Latino immigrant students and parents. And that the word river referred to the Rio Grande. But then, Ortega didn't have Thomas' ability to look into the hearts of students.
Perhaps if all the blackface-wearing students had seen the Jet magazine photograph of 14-year-old Emmett Till's black face, they could begin to understand the depravity of human hatred.
While visiting Mississippi from Chicago in the mid-1950s, Till dared to break the Southern taboo against a black whistling at a white woman. He paid the price with a gouged eye and battered facial features from severe bludgeoning. An all-white jury acquitted the men who were accused of killing and torturing him.
Anglo students playing gangstas, rappers and maids in blackface and Afros lack racial empathy and compassion. A quick fix is for parents to model racial tolerance in speech and action and to speak with their children about the past.
Parents, teach your children well -- lest they grow up with hearts of darkness.
Richard J. Gonzales is an Arlington resident and free-lance writer.
:p
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/13319322.htm
Insensitive attitudes are nothing to party about
By Richard Gonzales
Special to the Star-Telegram
Posted on Sun, Dec. 04, 2005
Recent news reports of high school and college kids wearing blackface, throwing "ghetto" parties or celebrating "Thug Day" expose young hearts of darkness. Youths should challenge social prejudices, but some embrace racial caricatures with the enthusiasm of a pep rally.
How sad that one college official dismissed complaints by saying that students didn't know any better.
Ah, but didn't parents and teachers know better? If so, shouldn't they have taught their brilliant children that mocking other cultures is insulting and reminiscent of Jim Crow and minstrel shows?
When several students at the University of Chicago in October held a "Straight-Thuggin Ghetto Party" in a dormitory, some minority students were offended. Chicago news media swarmed the campus, wanting to know how racial ridicule thrived at such a prestigious school.
In spite of the students' intelligence, they couldn't suppress their loathing of black, inner-city culture. Behind closed doors, the veneer of intelligence was replaced with hip-hop music, bandanas, low pants, exposed underwear and caps turned sideways. One student was seen toting a brown bag with a leaking bottle.
According to the Chicago Maroon, an independent UC student newspaper, no formal disciplinary actions were taken against the students. The administration wished to treat this as a lesson, an unnamed co-host of the party told the Maroon. How academic!
In October at Stetson University in Florida, an all-white female softball team wore basketball jerseys, corn-row hair and fake gold teeth and painted their faces black to imitate their school's basketball team. University officials said that they didn't tolerate such behavior but decided against punishing the students. They explained that the students didn't understand the historical significance of blackface.
Again, treating this as an act of ignorance instead of racially motivated bias, the university required the students to attend diversity training. This included viewing a documentary about stereotypes and reading a novel about racism.
In October at Highland Park High School in Dallas County, students held their annual senior "Thug Day." Students wore Afro wigs, fake gold teeth, bandanas and baggy jeans. On "Fiesta Day," meant to celebrate Hispanic culture, a student brought a leaf blower to school. No students were punished for the mockery. Some were told to remove the bandanas and gold necklaces.
As quoted in The Dallas Morning News, Principal Patrick Cates said: "The bottom line is that we need to maintain a healthy learning environment with no disruptions. When a few students take the opportunity to dress up and use it to make an inappropriate statement, we have a problem, and we will address that problem."
That problem is social isolation from diverse cultures and contempt for the poor. This separation breeds misperception, a reliance on stereotypes and a lack of tolerance or respect for class and ethnic differences.
In Fort Worth, Maria Ortega, a cheerleader for Carter-Riverside High School, blew the whistle on Birdville High School students with an Oct. 31 letter to the Star-Telegram. She complained that at a football game between the schools, some Birdville students flashed signs that read, "Eagles aren't legal," "Go back to the river" and "I live in a van down by the river."
Perhaps Ortega misinterpreted the signs. As Mark Thomas, Birdville school district spokesman, is quoted in a Nov. 4 Star-Telegram report, "Eagles rhymes with legal. There was no malicious intent in the hearts when they made those posters."
Somehow Ortega thought the signs alluded to illegal Latino immigrant students and parents. And that the word river referred to the Rio Grande. But then, Ortega didn't have Thomas' ability to look into the hearts of students.
Perhaps if all the blackface-wearing students had seen the Jet magazine photograph of 14-year-old Emmett Till's black face, they could begin to understand the depravity of human hatred.
While visiting Mississippi from Chicago in the mid-1950s, Till dared to break the Southern taboo against a black whistling at a white woman. He paid the price with a gouged eye and battered facial features from severe bludgeoning. An all-white jury acquitted the men who were accused of killing and torturing him.
Anglo students playing gangstas, rappers and maids in blackface and Afros lack racial empathy and compassion. A quick fix is for parents to model racial tolerance in speech and action and to speak with their children about the past.
Parents, teach your children well -- lest they grow up with hearts of darkness.
Richard J. Gonzales is an Arlington resident and free-lance writer.