Check out this article. Has America progress or regress in the battle over racism? CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) -- White students at Tarleton State University in Texas hold a party in which they dress in gang gear and drink malt liquor from paper bags. A white Clemson University student attends a bash in blackface over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. A fraternity at Johns Hopkins University invites partygoers to wear "bling bling" grills, or shiny metal caps on their teeth. From Connecticut to Colorado, "gangsta" theme parties thrown by whites are drawing the ire of college officials and heated complaints from black and white students who say the antics conjure the worst racial stereotypes. University officials, the NAACP and others have condemned the parties as insulting and inexcusable under any circumstances. At the same time, some black academics said they were not surprised, given the popularity of rap music among inner-city blacks and well-to-do suburban whites alike. The white students, they said, were mimicking the kind of outlaw posturing that blacks themselves engage in in rap videos. They suggest the white students ended up crossing the same line that says it is OK for blacks to call each other "******," but not all right for whites to do it. Whites often don't realize their actions are offensive because they are imitating behavior celebrated in music and seen on television, said Venise Berry, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Iowa who has researched rap music and popular culture. "The segment of rap music that is glamorized and popularized by the media is gangsta rap," said Berry, who is black. "It has become an image that is normalized in our society. That to me explains clearly why they don't see it as wrong." At an off-campus "Bullets and Bubbly" party thrown by University of Connecticut School of Law students in January, pictures showed students wearing baggy jeans, puffy jackets and holding fake machine guns. The University of Colorado's Ski and Snowboard Club advertised a "gangsta party" in September, with fliers featuring rappers and fake bullet holes. The theme was dropped after complaints, but some students, who didn't get the message, showed up in gangsta garb, hoping to win prizes. Often such parties go unnoticed outside campuses until students post pictures on Facebook.com and other Web sites. That's how images of the Clemson party surfaced this week. One student wore blackface; another white student put padding in her pants to make her rear end look bigger. Harold Hughes, a black fraternity member at Clemson whose frat brothers attended the party, said white students "see this on MTV and BET they think it's cool to portray hip hop culture." Hughes said he found it especially offensive that the party was held over a holiday created to honor the slain civil rights leader. Many white Clemson students said they did not believe the party was held to intentionally offend blacks, and after news of the party reached beyond the campus, organizers issued an unsigned letter of apology. Still, school officials are investigating, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said the party was not harmless fun. "We once lynched African-Americans as good fun and humor," said Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP. Clemson President James Barker said he was "appalled, angered and disappointed" by the party. "If you don't understand why this is harmful to the community, then you need to start asking questions and learn," Kurt Strasser, the interim dean of the UConn School of Law, told faculty, staff and students at a meeting last week to discuss the party there. One hip hop insider, Chris Conners, programing director at Columbia radio station WHXT HOT 103.9, said he has no problem with whites imitating certain aspects of black culture -- driving cars with flashy rims, for example. But he said students who put on blackface or padded their rear ends crossed the line. "They weren't really celebrating hip hop culture. They were making fun of African Americans, and that's what really concerns me," he said.' James Johnson, a black psychology professor at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington who has researched racial attitudes and teaches a seminar on race and prejudice, said he is more discouraged by the rap performers who perpetuate stereotypes than by the "clueless kids" who imitate them. "In the civil rights movement, you didn't have blacks who called themselves '******s' and who called their women 'b****es' and 'whores' and who glorified being violent and being thugs," he said. "Now these white kids are kind of confused." These incidents come at a time racial tolerance on college campuses is perceived to be steadily improving. But the truth may be more complicated. A University of Dayton sociologist who analyzed journals kept by 626 white college students found the students behaved substantially differently when they were in the company of other whites than when they were with other races. When the students, who were asked to record their interactions with other people, were alone with other white students, racial stereotypes and racist language were surprisingly common, researcher Leslie Picca found. One student reported hearing the "n-word" among white students 27 times in a single day. The results suggest white students have little sense of shame about racial insults and stereotyping and treat them as simply a part of the culture. "This is a new generation who grew up watching 'The Cosby Show,"' Picca said. "They have the belief that racism isn't a problem anymore so the words they use and the jokes they tell aren't racist." Picca said she found it "heartbreaking" to see so many well-educated students perpetuating the stereotypes.
I think it's a little of both. You mean they are not "vile pieces of crap" as Rocket River proclaimed?
Yes they are WOW they got a 'black' person to say it ain't their fault so . . it must be true. . . I guess that in those cases where the girl dressed sluttie were *asking* for it too huh? Yea .. the poor lawyers in progress were victimized ONCE AGAIN by the thugs making them put on blackface and think it is kewl I know i would never want to be a defendent in any of their cases Rocket RIver "Well your honor. . u know how THEY ARE . . . " - Law student from the Racist party 10 yrs from now
But why would African Americans embrace acts or language that are degrading to the African American community? That is a total mystery to me.
this 'outrage' is stupid. who cares? nobodys getting hurt and kids are just having fun. nobodys allowed to poke fun at anybody else. black comics like chris rock build entire standups making fun of white guys, but god forbid youre white and you make fun of a black guy. lets just send all these kids to jail and kick them out of school. it's ridiculous...all races should be allowed to make fun of each other without crying about it. i mean, come on. lighten up this isn't a micheal richards situation. lifes to short to be huffing and crying about white college kids wearing fake grills.
black on black crime. ...but seriously...you do know that all black people don't think the same and make group agreements on how they will treat other black people at secret black conventions.
So you are saying Venise Berry isn't black? Let' go to her website... http://www.veniseberry.com/ .. she looks black to me. Why don't you email her and call her "black". venise-berry@uiowa.edu In fact I'll do it for you and get her opinion of your statement.
*shrug* there are various reason for various people but it doesn't give folx free license to be offensive I mean .. goto you boss and call him a b*tch then go . .well I heard you wife call you a b*tch or . .I heard you and your best friend call each other b*tches I serious doubt he/she would appreciate it .. even if it were true H*ll . . just because your friend's friend calls him jimmy doesn't give you license to call him jimmy . . esp if he don't want you too Rocket River
I'm so sick and tired of this. This is just not true. Listen to XM Comedy and you'll hear numerous comedians make the same kind of jokes towards black people as black people make towards white people. Guys like Robin Williams. It's the intent that's under fire. And not one person who's defending these ass clowns has answered this question. What kind of person wants to make fun of someone when it offends them? Whether or not you think it should offend them is irrelevant. What kind of person would still make fun of someone if they knew it offended them? I call them dicks or assholes, personally.
But read the article. They claim they didn't know they were being offensive. And the black professors support their claim. Then you can dismiss the educated professors like Rocket River does. Can we ever get to the point where blackface is not offensive anymore?
James Johnson is a coward. There's always one who blames his own people for the act of others. It ain't the rappers on MTV or BET's fault that a white guy came up with an idea "hey let's mock blacks (possibly used the N word) on MLK weekend, yea! Call up all the guys!". I bet he's the type that thinks "Well I'm not a n----- or a rapper so why should I be offended". Cowardice if I ever knew it. Every time I read the response that it was only a joke and all in good fun I remember the movies and historical text where the words "Aww come on sheriff we was jus playin wit tha boy" as the black man's tied up covered in blood. Yes that's an extreme reference in regards to this type of situation but anyone who studies racism in america cringes when these "jokes" arise year after year. For anyone who thinks I'm over-sensitive about this I believe if you are black and not sensitive toward this act then you are a coward, this didn't happen on the release day of a rap album or tupac's birthday, this came on MLK weekend!! This isn't a hiphop celebration!!
Racism will never end. As long as there's multiple races, there will always be racism. Ignorance goes a long way.
So, if an educated professor agrees with students who say they didn't know they were being offensive while they're under fire for said party, we're not allowed to disagree with them? Could you please provide a list of professions that we must never disagree with? TIA. Oh, and blackface will probably not be offensive at the same time my black friend doesn't face disparaging remarks about his race at random places like at a bar playing poker or at the mall when ordering food (I've been a first-hand witness to both of these).
I think Meowgi would disagree w/ you. There's no such thing as racism now, just overly-sensitive people.
Well you might want to listen to people who dedicate their lives to these issues. People here want to dismiss them in favor of thier own hatred.
