Racist, Stupid or both...

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

While the second option is a given since it's Tarleton State, the others are certainly possibilities.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0125071mlk1.html



Outrage Over Texas College MLK Day Party
Event featured Aunt Jemima, gang apparel, fried chicken, malt liquor

JANUARY 25--Students at a Texas college threw a Martin Luther King Jr. Day party that featured attendees wearing gang apparel and Afro wigs, carrying malt liquor, handguns, and fried chicken, and even one woman dressed as Aunt Jemima. Photos of the January 15 event were discovered on a Facebook.com page by a Tarleton State University sophomore who heads the school's NAACP chapter. A selection of party photos can be found on the following pages. When he discovered the images, Donald Ray Elder told TSG, he sent an e-mail to Tarleton student Jeremy Pelz, on whose Facebook page the photos were placed in a folder titled "MLK." In a reply e-mail, Pelz (seen in the picture at right) told Elder that he would rename the folder in which the photos were placed "so it does not bring any disrespect to Mr. King." Pelz noted that the party was started a few years earlier "because one of best friends is black or African American, whichever you deem politically correct, to be his day not to dishonor him." He added, "So I do apologize if you felt any disrespect because none was intended." School officials have launched an investigation into the party and the university's president, Dennis P. McCabe, has denounced the photos as despicable. In a subsequent post, Pelz--who has yanked the party photos from his Facebook page--stated that the party was not meant to be "racist or discriminating." (18 pages)

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

And let me be the first to say it:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/art3/0125071mlk1.jpg

I'd hit it with butter and syrup.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

A picture is worth a thousand words, and I wouldn't even attempt to try.

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5450/0125071mlk40rh.jpg

[Spurminator]

Looks like the party had a huge turnout....

What is there to investigate, though?

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Stupid. Very, very, very stupid. I can understand how the idea of it might have been funny to these guys, but to actually do it, take pictures, and put them on the web? Very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very stupid.

I understand Tarlton has offered Norcal a full ride though.

[Kori Ellis]

What black person would wear this?

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/art3/0125071mlk7.jpg

[MajorMike]

Spike Lee?

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

There were gay sharecroppers back in the day.

[Samurai Jane]

What a load of ignorant crap!

[Extra Stout]

You mean inbred East Texas crackers did something stupid? I'm shocked.

[rayray2k8]

This is just fucking stupid! All these kids care about is getting wasted!
But seriously, I see fucking white kids try to dress like this now a days as well as mexicans.

Do they look anything different from this???
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/2927/hating2ks.jpg

[ashbeeigh]

There's a reason why you have restricted facebook profiles and albums. So this doesn't happen.

[101A]

I don't see what the big deal is. They had a theme party mocking our culture. I think it was pretty funny and you have to be a pretty big fucking crybaby to be offended by this.....it was meant to poke fun and have a good time. I seriously doubt it was in any way meant to offend. But like always in this world people will bitch and moan.

No worse that Pimps and Hoes and toga parties and all that other shit.

If it wasn't in East Texas you'd probably have a point.

True Story:

In 1991 the MAYOR of Madisonville, Texas told me he could solve ALL of the problems in the country if we could just change ONE policy...

"DEEEEEESEGRAGATION" he said. "It's ruined this country".

There IS no other word than the "N" word for African Americans in East Texas.

[Kori Ellis]

I don't see what the big deal is. They had a theme party mocking our culture. I think it was pretty funny and you have to be a pretty big fucking crybaby to be offended by this.....it was meant to poke fun and have a good time. I seriously doubt it was in any way meant to offend. But like always in this world people will bitch and moan.

No worse that Pimps and Hoes and toga parties and all that other shit.


I thought they were making it a big deal because it was for MLK Day. If it was just a regular theme party, it probably wouldn't be newsworthy.

[Spurminator]

I wouldn't call Stephenville East Texas... It's much more similar to West Texas towns than those East of 45.

[Samurai Jane]

I lived in San Angelo for 4 years. Considered west Texas, but the same racist attitude exists there. I think I even read in the paper once that a black guy was killed for having an interracial relationship there not long after we moved to San Antonio. I told my husband that it looked like we moved just in time.

[Extra Stout]

I wouldn't call Stephenville East Texas... It's much more similar to West Texas towns than those East of 45.
Oops. I should focus more closely on reading comprehension.

[ALVAREZ6]

retarded.

[ALVAREZ6]

I lose penis contests

[ponky]

doesn't matter that it's east texas, same stuff happens all the time at u.t. austin with the frat boys...i've seen black *culture* parties, drunk border mexican parties, 9/11 arab parties, seems like those boys get in trouble every year for doing something stupid...and ignorant.

[timvp]

:lmao

The pictures were damn funny. Although I don't know many black people who wear t-shirts that say "I Love Chicken".

[slayermin]

I see wiggers all the time. What are you gonna do?

Probably in bad taste considering it was on MLK day.

[TheSanityAnnex]

Like Kori said, the only thing that could be considered a problem was the timing of the event.

[Nbadan]

...The black guys must have been busy sleeping with the white women...

[phyzik]

You cant be just racist, racist are inherantly stupid as well.... However you can be just stupid.... which these guys are.

[Guru of Nothing]

I wouldn't call Stephenville East Texas... It's much more similar to West Texas towns than those East of 45.

Yeah, back in my West Texas minimum wage days, I used to work with several guys who went to Tarleton State (I worked for a tractor dealer, it was to be expected).

Still, I'm sure Tarleton has a bit of East Texas in it - that Plano redneck ruffian motif thing.

Tarleton does fulfill a vital role in Texas, namely, providing ag teachers.

[lil'mo]

i hate themed parties

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

The kids over at UConn Law School gave it the ol' college try.



Another Celebration Of Black Culture
UConn law student party featured gold teeth, do-rags, gang signs

JANUARY 25--Seems that questionable parties were not limited this month to a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at a Texas college. Turns out students at the University of Connecticut School of Law also opted for do-rags, gang signs, gold teeth, malt liquor, and a fake machine gun during an off-campus gathering last weekend, just days after the civil rights leader's January 15 birthday. One future attorney even wore fake tiger claw tattoos on her chest, an apparent homage to the rapper Eve. As with the Texas party, photos from the Connecticut bash turned up on Facebook.com, where they were downloaded by a fellow classmate who was offended by the images. The pictures can be seen on the following pages. The party, dubbed "Bullets & Bubbly" by organizers, has been criticized by many UConn students and led university officials to schedule a schoolwide roundtable today to discuss concerns about racial insensitivity. Party attendee Michael Nichols, a graduate student who sits on UConn's board of trustees, told the Hartford Courant that while the party was not meant to be "mean-spirited," he has since learned that "many of our friends and fellow students were hurt. For this I am truly sorry." Kurt Strasser, the law school's interim dean, told the Courant, "I hope the students will come to realize that pictures that are put on the Internet are likely to be available to potential employers, clients, and parents." (7 pages)

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/0125072uconn1.html

----

Also, I'd post more pics, but the Texas girls are a lot better looking (except maybe for the maybe pregnant law student swigging wine).

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/art3/0125072uconn5.jpg

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

Well whaddaya know...

U of Delaware students love Cinco De Mayo!

-----

http://www.campuslaraza.org/racism.html

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070509/NEWS/705090356/1006/NEWS

Latinos mocked at UD party
Fraternity is asked to expel members
By SUMMER HARLOW, The News Journal
Posted Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Members of a University of Delaware honor fraternity who dressed up as Latino gardeners and gangsters and attended a South of the Border-theme party have stirred up outrage and cries of racism on the Newark campus.

Cinco de Mayo party photographs that appeared online this week have prompted the Campus Alliance de La Raza, a Latino student organization, to demand the fraternity expel participants. The apparent off-campus party was not sanctioned by the Phi Sigma Pi honor fraternity.

The university, which has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination, also is investigating.

The photographs, which appeared on a student's Facebook Web site page, depicted students, some dressed as gardeners wearing work shirts with "Pedro" and "Jose" name tags, and a racist slur scrawled across the back. In formal apologies posted on La Raza's Web site, students said they did not believe their costumes would be offensive, nor were they acting maliciously.

Other photos pictured a trio of the students in red, white and green shirts with the word "Mexico" on the front, and "Spicy," "Full of Tequila" and "Hott" on the backs.

"In no way were these outfits, or these pictures meant to offend anyone," said Jacqui Croteau, one of the participants, in a statement. "I did not fully understand, at the time these pictures were taken, how harmful the idea of dressing in this way could be to a community."

Lauren Boroski, a sophomore, wrote, "I dressed in an offensive costume with a stupid and hurtful saying written on it, and I feel awful knowing that this costume has hurt so many people. What I did was wrong and insulting."

Other students who issued formal apologies were Justin Snow, Jason Weingarten, Nikki Jacobs and Joseph Randall. They did not return calls seeking comment.

Craig de Mariana Aleman, graduate student adviser to La Raza, said that as a Mexican-American, he had to "take a few minutes" after viewing the photos before he could advise the group on how to proceed.

"It hit pretty hard," he said. "It's throwing this message at me that Mexicans are drunk, they indulge in alcohol or are sexually promiscuous. That was equally as hurtful for me as looking at the gardeners."

La Raza and Phi Sigma Pi are conducting a forum at 8 tonight at George Read Hall to discuss the party and allegations of racism.

The "politically incorrect twist" on Cinco de Mayo, as one partygoer called it, is not the first such college student party this year with racist undertones.

In February, at the Jesuit Santa Clara University in California, photos surfaced on the Internet of a similar South of the Border-theme party where students dressed as Latino janitors, gardeners and pregnant teens.

Students, faculty and staff organized a protest march through campus that drew about 200 participants, said university spokeswoman Deepa Arora. Students, who are subject to a code of conduct even when they are off campus, also went through the school's judicial process for dressing up at the party. Arora said she could not comment on whether disciplinary action was taken.

Brian Brady, president of UD's Phi Sigma Pi chapter, said the party was not an organization-sponsored event, and that disciplinary action is being taken against the members who attended the party.

"Both local and national entities of our organization have condemned these actions and do not take them lightly," he wrote in a statement. "We hold 'freedom from prejudice' in extremely high regard, and do not tolerate bigotry or discrimination in any form."

In a statement on the La Raza Web site, he called the actions of the students "unacceptable."

"Embracing diversity, different peoples, different ideas and different cultures are among our highest of ideals. Sadly, a number of our members apparently do no not share these ideals," he said.

On its Web site, the honor fraternity touts itself as fostering leadership qualities, promoting and advancing the welfare of humanity, and fostering nondiscriminatory, fraternal fellowship.

A statement released by the national chapter of Phi Sigma Pi, which also is investigating the incident, said the organization "does not condone discriminatory conduct or behavior. Moreover, this conduct is contrary to our mission."

Jissell Martinez, president of UD's La Raza, said that considering the controversial debate over immigration, she wasn't too surprised that such a party occurred.

"But to find out members of a coed honor fraternity were involved with it, it's disgusting," she said.

She likened the costumes to people who have painted their faces black and dressed as gangsters for other parties she has heard about.

"They're trying to impersonate what they think Latinos are," she said. "It's wrong. You don't see people within the Latino community or the black community throwing white-people parties."

[The sone]

but... if some "souf"-siders threw a "honky party"...well thats just good humor, right?

[Mixability]

Damn, the first and second time around, I thought this thread was about NorCal.

[Johnny_Blaze_47]

For those who didn't click the link:

http://www.campuslaraza.org/n11315020_32939836_9696.jpg

http://www.campuslaraza.org/n11315020_32939842_1144.jpg

http://www.campuslaraza.org/n11315020_32939843_1375.jpg

When will these people learn that there are privacy controls on Facebook?

[ashbeeigh]

:lmao This makes me laugh. What a bunch of dumbasses.

[Summers]

Wow. Have you ever noticed the first thing racists say when you point out their racism is, "I'm not a racist! Hell, my best friend is black!" How come his best friend didn't make it to the party?