Posted by Sam Richards
Really, this is getting out of hand and needs to stop. Not sure how or why so many people have taken it upon themselves to be such rat heads. But silly actions seem to build upon other silly actions and soon enough there is a mess to clean up. And then when the black and brown people jump into the mix, it really get’s complicated. I love how one or two people become the spokespeople for an entire group, as you’ll see in the video below. That’s very much a dead end to any conversation and dialogue.
Here’s an article that pretty well sums up what has been happening out in California: “California Campus Sees Uneasy Race Relations”
In a way I feel that we are de sensitized to the effects our words and actions have upon other people. A perfect example of ignorance was displayed in Sam' class this past Thursday with the website which allowed us to send in our responses without knowing one's identity. Within seconds, manipulated a situation which could have been genuinely productive to a circus. I must admit, the first few comments may have been comical, but enough is enough. Once ONE person said anything remotely racist, I felt divided. The class was visibly divided, blacks were upset as well as whites. And what made this division more unsettling to me was the fact that no one knew who was saying what. Everyone was able to sit in class and did not have to own up to their words. I feel like similar things are going on at the UC campuses. The perpetrators are hidden, anonymous and scared!
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If someone has something to say, say it to their face, and if you don't you are probably aware of your ignorance and the irrationality your statements hold. I feel at a loss, upset and hopeless when situations like this arise, because unfortunately it only takes one person’s ignorance to divide millions. I whole heartedly agree with Sam’s wife when in her book she claims that race relations must be dealt with person to person. It is only on the individual level that we can learn each other’s stories and struggles, and even make peace. I am fully aware of how difficult it is to do this, that one negative experience with someone of another race than your own and you may be back to justifying your reasons of dislike to those other than you.
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I am so sad to hear about what has gone on in California, and all over the world in terms of racism. I am such a sensitive person that frequently I cannot even stick around to hear the painful stories of others because they will infect my life with sadness and grief. Racism is an ugly monster which some cling onto, for what reasons, I do not know. All I may say in efforts to appease some is that unfortunately this world has always and will always wrestle with the notions of good and evil. There are some people in this world who are not good, they do not want to be and never will be, their oppressive nature is out of your and my control. We are only in control of ourselves, this is why I strive to live each day with the most positive outlook I can.
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The past events that have occurred at UC San Diego make me realize that this country has not learned enough from our past as I had previously thought. For these college students to think that it’s acceptable to mock an important part of our history with their so-called “Compton Cookout,” makes us realize that we still have a long way to go with the subject of racism and race relations. In regards to the party that they threw for Black History Month, I, personally, found it to be completely offensive. We talked about this party in our discussion group this week and I already expressed my views on how I thought it was offensive to the black community and the description of the appropriate actions and attire for the women was offensive to just women in general. They attack the intelligence of these women, inferring that they’re dumb and have a limited vocabulary.
In regards to the noose found in the library, I don’t fully believe that it had nothing to do with the lynching symbol. First of all, the whole scenario just seems suspicious. They claim that they were just playing around with a rope, but I know that I don’t sit around with my friends and tie ropes into nooses for fun. I mean I don’t know what kind of activities and what kind of nightlife are available to these students but I think that they could find better things to do with their time. To hang it in the library, in a public place, also seems a bit suspicious to me. It’s one thing to actually make a noose, supposedly for fun with your friends, but to then hang it in a public place for everyone to see just seems a bit too far.
The solution to these problems is not very obvious, apparent, or easy to carry out. I don’t think the solution of which they suggested (to hire other minority professors or encourage more minority students) is necessarily the right way to go. These incidents alone would probably be enough to scare off any kind of potential minority students, and for this reason there should be more actions carried out to ensure that there is more being done than just following affirmative action to the T. For example, there should be severe consequences of the actions those people took so lightly. There should be an announcement from the dean, and a way to address the entire student body in order to formally state to them that this kind of behavior/attitude will not be ignored or tolerated in any way, shape, or form. Obviously the teach-in was not effective enough in informing the student body of this very serious issue. This is a severe case of racism that should not be taken as a joke or something that represents young people “goofing around”. It is a racist issue of which needs to be handled with the utmost care and attention.
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This issue we talked about in our discussion groups. And for me, I am happy that I had zero knowledge of this party that some frat guys decided to have that created controversy. Because, If I saw how much of a big deal the media made it out to be, my opinion would have changed, and how I felt during the discussion group may have been different because of being influenced on the media. In our groups, we were handed a paper that was the copy of one of the frat parties and that college that they named “the Compton cook-out” or something like that. And while I agreed that what was said on there was terribly racist, and extremely wrong to relate the party to celebrating black history, In my eyes, it was just some college kids being stupid. And in my eyes, no big deal. However, I also said how I am not black, and I don’t know how I would feel if I was black, and it probably would offend me. There are always theme parties that frat boys (and even just regular house parties) have like the white-trash parties, and the jersey shore parties.
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These theme parties are poking fun at stereotypes. In my discussion group, I wanted to believe that these boys created this party just for fun and not to hurt anyone. However, once you start analyzing the invitation, and when you are looking at it from a race relations point of view, you begin to think “wow, this is racist and wrong. “ However, I couldn’t sit there in my discussion group and think that If I came across the invitation, I wouldn’t just sigh and think “oh just college frat boys being college frat boys.” Because truth is, that’s what I would have thought.
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But now, that I saw this media clip, and I can see how many people this has offended and outraged, things are a little different. But that’s the thing. Would this have been such a big deal, and would this many people have been that offended, if it didn’t reach mainstream media? If it wasn’t for the media grabbing the invitation and presenting it to the public, there’s a chance that the University wouldn’t be so divided and there wouldn’t be that much hatred. It really is depressing to look at those kids rallying. It makes it seem like we are digressing with race issues. This made me think of when my highschool had a walk our during my junior year. Everyone was mad because the teachers went out strike, which led to a month off in November and graduation being pushed into late June. But what caused the walk out was when the school canceled our pep rally due to bad weather.
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This seemed like the last straw..and people decided to walk out. And everyone was on TV for it. However, when I look back, were people mad?, yes. But most people just walked out to be a part of the event. Not because they were extremely offended. Now, I’m not saying that the people who are making a big deal about the racist party aren’t offended. But it may be that a lot of the people are protesting, just want to be a part of the action, and if this didn’t go to the media, it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal. However, my beliefs are also conflicted because there is a chance that they have been dealing with a lot of racism issues at their school for a while, and if this is the case, and then the party was meant to attack blacks, then my feelings would change again.
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The occurrence of events of this sort is almost tragic. To think we, as an entire country, have taken so many great measures to address racial, ethnic and sex related issues and to see something like this happen in California is negligent. One can argue that the parties may be inappropriate and out of line for the students who hosted, sort of like the previous thread on here about themed parties, but when events lead to swastikas carved on property, the construction of a noose in a library and a makeshift KKK rally hood, this is utterly unacceptable. Even if the noose was made by a minority, that does not make the situation better, I personally believe it makes the situation more heated and deserving of more attention. Although these schools in California are taking the heat from the media coverage, I believe the exposure to this unacceptable racism can only help with a better future outcome. If these situations are addressed properly, there can be more good coming from these racist happenings than bad. If it is known around the country that schools like UCLA, UCSD and others (which are regarded as top notch universities in the USA) are having racial issues, the most important aspect of this would be how the education systems try to address, help and alleviate the situation because these schools specifically are multi-racial and it could hurt not only their image but their state's image and overall our country's. College is a time to learn more about ethnicity, diversity and race. It is a time to understand that predispositions are unwarranted, unethical and unnecessary. Going to a diverse school is a time to learn more about yourself as a person, and the others around you who aren't necessarily "like" the majority or others. It is unfortunate that UCSD has to take the heat for these events because I'm certain there are other schools, in the south, midwest, northeast or anywhere that are dealing with racial profiling, racist events and other poor choices. I also believe that themed parties should not be the main focus of the media coverage, and the universities’ issues because it was way less severe than instances involving a noose or KKK rally hood. Although none of these issues should be taken lightly, it is important to address them appropriately so students can feel safe at their own schools, and to ultimately decrease the racial battles. It is understood that fraternities will have themed parties, and there will be racist students attending any university across the country. But that does not mean anyone should foster racism. I feel the school should address those involved, and the campuses as a whole to prevent any future occurrences as well as to manifest understanding throughout the community to make everyone feel at ease from this disheartening ordeal.
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It is very interesting to me that this acts of racism are still going on today especially in a diverse state such as California. California is one of the most diverse states on the west coast. I don’t really think that people are becoming less racist. I think people are just more ashamed of having negative thoughts about certain ethnic groups. Deep down I think most white people feel as if they are superior to any minority groups. White people will never act out but they will always feel as if they are better because they are white. Not only white people feel as if they are superior some black people may feel as if they are better than Hispanics and Native Americans.
Some people who are committing these racist acts may not see it as disrespectful but just a harmless joke. Depending on who your circles of friends are it might just be something that is funny, but around a different group they might want to kill you for doing such a joke. Some white people when they are around there one black friend who has been brought up around white people might say really racist jokes. If the same person said the joke to a black person in the NAACP they would not find it assuming at all.
I remember when the popular radio DJ made the joke about the girl’s basketball team at Rutgers being some nappy head hoes he was fired the next day. This is a perfect example he is probably deep down really racist but he couldn’t really show it in public. The one time he did slip and say something that he probably thought was funny it cost him his career. When he is around certain black people he might have said that and everything would have been fine, but just the fact that he went on air and said it where thousand of people could hear what he was saying.
As for the students in UC one of the reading said that one of the noose that they found on campus was done by a minority. Some minorities do not know their history; do not know that doing certain things that they do are just making what their ancestors did seem pointless. The minority student that did make the noose was probably mostly friends with white people. That person was probably raised around white and received some of their views about race.
I think the UC University needs to have a week about diversity to stop the hate toward ethnic groups. That is the only solution that I could think of that will stop the acts of racism before they campus starts having hate crimes.
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I don't agree with what these people are protesting. Obviously these acts are uncalled for, out of line and completely wrong. However, to hold the university responsible for the acts of three or four students out of the thousand that attend these colleges is illogical and ridiculous. I went to a high school that had one incident where people drew a swastika on the inside of a bathroom stall. This led to a number of assemblies, lectures, and town-hall discussions to get to the root of the "problem." Now, don't get me wrong: its not ok that people are going around drawing swastikas in public places. That being said, I felt as though our administration overreacted to the incident. There was no indication that this was a continuous problem, or that this kind of thing would happen again. It was an isolated incident of some dumb teenager trying to cause problems. Now, just because this one idiot drew something in a bathroom stall, the administration reacted as though they had a school full of racists roaming the halls, which was completely false. So, while there are two ways to go about it (overreact or not do anything), I think that not overreacting is more important than making not such a big deal out of it. We are young people. Most young people do the things they do to get reactions out of people. I believe it is of little coincidence that these incidents have been popping up more and more frequently after the initial incident got so much publicity. Another thing I'm not sure I believe is that the noose came about after a few students were just messing around with some spare rope. The noose was formed and then put in a public place. There was clearly an attempt at shock value, which they succeeded. However, I don't believe it should matter if the student was a minority or black or anything. A noose is a noose, and it symbolizes something very disturbing and powerful, especially in America. I think that after the first one or two incidents, it now becomes en vogue to make outlandishly racist statements and there are copy cats that are going to pop up. These people are not necessarily racist, but they feel they can shock people and maybe become famous(more like infamous). I don't think that we, as outsiders, can necessarily label the people that came after the original incidents racist. You can't convince me that UC-San Diego is the most racist campus in America. Because, if you were to go just by the incidents that are happening here, you would think that is the case. It would be interesting to do a test at another school in the country and see if there is a domino effect from racist incidents. For example, go to any school that isn't overtly racist or liberal, and see what happens after two racist things happen like what have happened at UC-San Diego. I would be willing to bet that copy cats would arise just like they have at UC-SD.
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This party incident that they’re referring to in the video is kind of ridiculous. Asking people to “dress ghetto” for a party? That’s called a theme. Lots of people, white, black or brown, have theme parties. I could ask you to dress up like a cowboy, but no one in Texas gets offended. I could ask you to dress like a ninja and none of the Asians will get offended. I could even ask you to throw on a sombrero and come to a Mexican-themed “fiesta”, and no one of Hispanic decent will get offended. And you know why? BECAUSE IT’S JUST A THEME. Everyone knows it’s just a theme. It’s not you being racist. It’s not you making fun of the way Mexicans dress. It’s just another stupid excuse to eat a lot of yummy food and drink a lot of yummy liquor and then do stupid and regrettable things later on in the night. So why would “dressing ghetto” be any different than “dressing Mexican”? And besides, it’s not even only black people who live in the “ghettos”. So why aren’t the white and brown people getting all offended about that statement? And they mentioned in the video clip that it was apparently a black student who asked the fraternity to hold this party in the first place. So is this guy racist against his own racial group? Because that’s pretty rare. Or is this guy the only guy on the UCSD campus who understands what a theme party is?
Now while the ghetto thing is kind of ridiculous, the noose thing is less so. I wish they had mentioned in the clip what racial group that the minority student who hung the noose was from. It doesn’t particularly matter what racial group the student was from because hanging a noose is offensive no matter what, but it would have been interesting to know. I don’t understand how anyone would think that hanging a noose would be ok, considering how prevalent the topic of slavery is in the history of the United States. I think very few people would fail to understand that a noose represents the racial lynchings of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s.
Aside from these two incidents, I find it hard to believe that the entirety of UCSD is a racist campus. I have several friends who go to UC schools, and from what I understand, all of their campuses are very diverse. In fact, at UCI, I think the majority of the student body is of Asian, and not white, decent. The same is true of UCLA and UC Berkley. You’d think that a school with this much exposure to different racial groups would have a hard time being racist, which makes it seem unlikely that any significant portion of the student body at UCSD is racist.
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This topic of debate has definitely sparked a lot of controversy at the University of California- San Diego, and through the media, plenty of other places as well. While I think things are getting slightly out of hand, I believe this combination of events at one campus does deserve the attention it is getting. The argument of racism and racist acts has plagued this country for decades. While we would all like to rid the world of unfair treatment and discrimination, it seems impossible. There are some people that will never in a million years change their ideas and opinions to non racist thoughts. This is wrong no doubt, but it is hard to see how you can change someone’s long standing attitude. In this particular case of the University of California- San Diego, I think that the minority students definitely have a right to be outraged. There have been multiple instances where someone/ some people are mocking and threatening them for being of a different race. The reporter in the video kept repeating that the alleged student who organized most of these acts were minority students themselves, but I do not see how that makes the situation any different. Color should never matter in any circumstance, whether it be committing the crime or being the target of it. Now I have to admit that when I first read the article, the idea that this all started with a theme party was baffling to me. I understand why minority students would feel like they were being mocked, but I feel that the initial intention of this party was for fun and fun only. Things do get a little sticky when it comes to the fact that the party planner had so many details figured out. Besides that, I think that the students have a “ghetto cook out” was just something to fill their boredom. Plenty of students have theme parties that could be seen as politically incorrect, but in most cases it is just an immature way to have a good time. The noose in the library is something completely different in my opinion. I think that that act was way crossing the line and extremely offensive. The noose has been a symbol of the unfair treatment minorities have had to face in this country for decades. It holds so much emotion and hate; by putting that in the university library seems to be sending a direct, racist message. I think that the minority students at this school have a right to be offended, outraged, and threatened. They should and are standing up so that the school knows that they can not have such terrible actions happening on that campus. By standing up they are helping to try to change those minds are the people it seems impossible to change.
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I do agree that this part of this incident has gone far enough. Putting a noose in library? Really? If that’s not inappropriate I am not sure what is. That is going far out of one’s way to offend others, which is quite ridiculous that someone cares that much. I wish I could blame it on someone without education and not knowing what is wrong, but I cannot. This was a student, obviously a well educated student, who did this. They knew what they were doing and made the conscious effort to pursue it, despite the negative connotations that came along with this symbol. Nothing good could have come from doing this, at all. So that individual, who may have thought this was funny or important to do, really wasn’t. There is no way this could have brought any happiness to anyone on campus and I am sure many other students there have felt the same. Furthermore, one has to look at this action as an individual’s and not as a group’s. Clearly it didn’t take a mass amount of people to do this. And the entire campus should not be held responsible for the action, even though it will tend to. Now when people think of that college, this will definitely be linked to the hanging of the noose and that really isn’t fair to the rest of the student body.
Secondly, I do not feel that dressing ghetto is offensive to one’s race. It’s more of a culture perhaps. There are plenty of black people that are not necessarily “ghetto”. So no one can really group all black people as ghetto. Themed parties are just a way to get people to dress different than they normally would. It is something fun to do and really shouldn’t offend anyone. They aren’t in place to do so. I would not be offended if a black fraternity held a themed party that told people who are attending to “dress white” or “preppy”. I mean really, it is just a style. And also, frats have parties with plenty of different themes and no one else is offended by them. One example is “office ceos and hoes”. Girls aren’t offended what so ever and still attend these parties and dress for the occasion. When you sit back and think about this, it’s more degrading to women than men, however, no one really says anything about it being sexist because everyone just wants to have fun. No one looks that far into things, or at least shouldn’t. Fraternities do not intend to offend anyone; they just try to throw successful and fun parties. After all, most fraternities are multicultural and are a primarily social group. I don’t think these themed parties denounce anyone or anything. They are just there for entertainment.
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I’ve seen people do dumb things, but this is by far the dumbest thing I’ve seen any person do. My only question is why? Why was it necessary to act that way towards a specific type of person? It boggles my mind every time I see people do things that hurt other people of other skin colors or cultures or of varies ethnic backgrounds. Whatever the case may be, it’s wrong.
I can’t really do much from here on the East Coast, but if something like that occurred at our campus, my voice will be heard. Such actions are unacceptable no matter what reason a person could come up with.
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I wish I could stop being amazed by how stupid people can be. I'd really love to know what was going through the heads of the people who organized the party. It's not even trying to disguise their racism. Sam's right though, it always snowballs into more and more stupidity. It's like a half a step forward and ten steps back every time something like this comes up. It's even more sad that I can use "every time something like this comes up". Any other time of the year this would've been insulting enough. Then they do it during black history month to add insult to injury. I wouldn't even call these people human beings. Zero compassion. It's disgusting. The people responsible need to be held accountable for their actions and jail time would be appropriate for the person who hung the noose. At the risk of sounding like brain-washing is the answer, every person on that campus needs to participate in the race relations project. They clearly all have a lot to learn.
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I am a little confused on this matter. We discussed the “Compton cookout” in my section last week and there were a lot of people with different opinions about it. Some people saw it as nothing more than a harmless prank while others thought it was a horrible display of racism. As for what I think, I don’t really believe that the people who threw the party were racists or wanted to try and be racist. People throw Jersey Shore parties or “white trash” parties, which are basically just stereotypes of a small amount of people, and nobody has protests over them. So I imagine the students probably did not mean for this to start a huge racial debate on their campus, but then again, maybe they did, who really knows.
As for the noose in the library, I may be being a little bit naïve here, but I would like to think that it was just a prank to try and stir up the students even more and that the student who put it there probably was not racist, especially if that it said on the video was true and the student who hung it there was a student of color.
I get what Sam is saying about one person being the representative for a whole group of people. I can see that the kid on the video was really offended by these acts of supposed “racism” but does that mean that all people of color feel the same way he does? Or does that mean that UCSD has always been a racist campus and people are just starting to do something about it now?
Although these acts were directed at African Americans, I would have liked for the CNN video of the New York Times article to interview or voice the opinions of other minorities on campus, students and faculty, and even some white people, to try and get a better idea of how the majority of campus feels about this issue. I know the video showed people protesting with signs and yelling, but it didn’t really express why those people feel the way they do.
I feel like it is probably going to take a long time for this issue of racism to be resolved on this campus that may not have been that racist a few weeks ago. When I was watching the video, I felt like that student wanted the students to just do things on their own without the help of faculty run programs, but I am not sure if he realizes how hard it is to organize mass amounts of students without the guidance of faculty. I’m not saying it would be impossible, I just think he should be willing to use the resources and the great faculty that are present on the UCSD campus. Like the professor in the video (although I didn’t agree with everything she said) there are other faculties that have studied race relations and deal with these kind of things every day. Which brings me back to my other point, the video and article could have been made much more reliable if they would have interviewed more professors and students of color. The opinions of a two or three people can not represent that opinions of a whole minority.
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to clarify, I do not believe that the Compton cookout was a good idea by any means, I certainly believe it was wrong, I just think that as far as the video and articles go, there should have been arguments made and different opinions shown.
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My race relations discussion group actually centered last week’s discussion around this party and I left feeling that that was the most enlightening discussion session I had attended this entire semester. I feel extremely lucky for being in the group I am in – we have a very diverse number of perspectives, easily disproportionate to the actual PSU population. Last Wednesday a TA in our group started the discussion introducing this “Compton Cookout.” It was a fraternity party where the guests were encouraged to dress “ghetto” and the girls were encouraged to go so far as to act “ghetto.” They were told to move their heads around in an exaggerated manner, snap their fingers, grunt, and use words that sound real but are not. As a white boy with a lack of experience with racial diversity (my hometown area is very diverse, however my high school was strictly white and asian kids. We had two black kids and they were dating – I am not kidding) I immediately starting thinking like the CNN journalist “Oh my God, how grossly insensitive,” which reminded me a lot of a few passages in Mulvey’s book pertaining to the topic of white people who try to make things better and really want equality however since the lines of communication are not very strong between races on the individual level, “we” (well intended white-folk) don’t know what is ok, where to start, what language to use, etc. After my discussion group and watching this interview I think the problem with white people today is that we as a group are not as up-to-date on the current race relations status and therefore do not know how to approach it effectively. A lot of white people in race relations dialogues are 1) tremendously afraid of offending someone of a different race and shaping their end of the conversation skipping around perceived land mines that I am coming to find are not even usually there and 2) misinformed with out-of-date information from another era of race relations. I have come to find that in my experience thus far well intentioned white communities think of the Civil War and the 1960’s when they think about “race.” Some immediately feel the guilt of the centuries of slavery, most feel empowered by the bravery and exemplary behavior of the black community picking themselves up by their collective bootstraps and overcoming an overtly racist system to plant the seed of equality – a value that is above all others in my America. The problem lies in that today it is 2010, half a century later but with the same approach (by white people). If the lines of communication between groups are taken as the first priority in this issue, every step taken collectively as a nation will be more effective in taking all of us to the end-point which is the same for every group, unification and a “tearing down” of the sociological Berlin Wall in America.
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Wow how shocked was I to find out that the person that hung the noose was a minority student. Are you serious? At first I was expecting it to be a white person because that’s who you usually hear about doing these type of racial incidents, but to find out that it was a minority really set the tone to this subject. What is going on in the minority community where people think that it’s funny to hang nooses? Are we serious people? How immature do you have to be to do something as ridiculous as that? It really makes no sense. I read a comment that someone posted of how can someone be racists against your own race and you can be racists against your own race. As an African American I have seen many blacks portraying racists’ thoughts and actions towards their own race when they refuse to date someone of their own race. Now that’s racism against your own. It comes down to more than having a preference and that’s what people don’t understand. The party that was thrown by a black fraternity of a ‘ghetto party’ I really have no words to say about that. Honestly, when I found out that it was a black organization throwing the party I wasn’t as upset as I would’ve been if I found out that the people that threw the party were white people. I know it sounds a little crazy but it is the truth. It hurts more when it’s a race that is not your own making fun of the stereotypical image of blacks, but I would question why the party was thrown during Black History Month. What was the point of that when Black History Month is supposed to celebrate being black and all of the trials and tribulations that blacks have gone through to be where we are now. I think those students should be reprimanded even though I don’t find the party as offensive but the fact that they hung a noose in the library when they portrays so much negativity then they should be punished. The fraternity that threw the party I don’t know if they should be punished or not but the simple fact that they threw the party during black history month does boil under my skin. I don’t know what to say honestly because a lot of opinions change when it’s your own race that’s the cause of these racial situations. I don’t know how much more you can talk about situations like this though because there will always be racial issues and especially with blacks against blacks. Light skinned vs. dark skinned…etc…etc. I do think these people should be punished but it’s not going to stop much at the end of the day.
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When looking for colleges, students obviously want to stay at a safe environment. However, after seeing this video, "looks can be deceiving." A lot of the universities like to advertise that their university is greatly diverse and show that their university has a friendly and welcoming environment. I find this very deceiving for minorities because racism, prejudice, and discrimination will always exist and will not completely disappear. I find it very appalling to see how a student would spend his time and energy to hurt others by displaying a noose at the university library. This behavior is very immature and childish. I think serious measures should be taken by the administrative in order to prevent something like this to happen again. A solution to help ensure a safe environment, is by offering classes similar to Soc 119, because this way people can open up and speak their minds and also try to understand different viewpoints about different people. People are just really ignorant and need to be more mindful and understanding. But also keep in mind, racism is very hard to fully relinquish not only from this society but also other societies.
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This themed party controversy is getting way too old. There is no reason for any person of any race or culture to ever get upset about what people decide to theme their party. Black, brown, and white people alike all dress "ghetto" and flaunt the baggy jeans and baseball caps. The fact that this campus as a whole got upset about it seems like they're just playing the race card. The noose thing is really messed up, but at the same time this kind of thing happens all the time at colleges. Maybe not with a noose in a frat, but racial slurs are thrown around every weekend when kids are out drinking and carrying on. Unfortunately when the shit hits the fan it has to come down on an entire college instead of the few groups which are actually dishing out the slurs. It's hard to stand back and look at this objectively because it is such a touchy subject, but I think the problem on this campus is going both ways. Obviously there are some idiots, as there will be in any college atmosphere, who have stupid viewpoints, but at the same time the black people here aren't always right. Sometimes the race card is warranted, such as the noose incident, but sometimes it is just excessive. If I complained every time a black person made fun of me because of some white stereotype I wouldn't have much time to even write this blog entry. And what happened to an all white fraternity? Or a "Miss White Penn State." I never understood that. Not that I think there should be one, but what is the point of having a fraternity that is selectively for African Americans? There are tons of politically correct answers to throw out there, but to me it only creates more separation between races. I wish there was a right answer for all of these racial issues, but they are slightly unnerving problems that may never get resolved in our lifetime. While the discussions in class are enlightening and outside of the box, I would like to hear from an Asian American or Native American as to what they see between blacks and whites. There is too much resentment and history between these two races to just say that you have an objective and unbiased opinion. And the list of unwritten rules that are a part of the interaction between the races is growing with every instance like the one at this college campus. I just hope that this kind of scandal does not occur on our campus, because with forty three thousand undergrads, the tension that would surface may just be unbearable for the university.
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I think it is wrong to judge to UCSD campus off of certain acts of particular students. I do feel hanging a noose is a very vulgar action and someone really crossed the line, but I am not making assumptions about the entire student body. I hope that the student responsible sincerely regrets his/her actions. When it comes to the Fraternity party, better known as the Compton cookout, I would completely understand if black people took offense to this. In discussion group we visited Jiggaboo Jones’ webpage, the man who sponsored the Compton cookout. Jiggaboo Jones is a black male who considers himself the number one N word. He actually stereotypes black males and I feel he shines a bad light on them. When I first heard about the Compton cookout I figured it was the idea of all white males and I thought it was very offensive and inappropriate. Once I realized this party was Jiggaboo Jones’ idea I felt less anger.
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Although this party was offending to many people I do not think this was the intention. I truly believe this party was sponsored by Jiggaboo Jones because he wanted to get his name out there and bring in money. No matter what the circumstances were this themed party was very unnecessary and insensitive. Also, this party was degrading to many African Americans because they all do not dress and act the way the students at this party were acting. I am sure African Americans do not appreciate the misrepresentation. I feel that it was not right for the students to take part in this party and feel that it was ok just because a black male was hosting it. It does not change the fact that this party was stereotypical towards all African Americans. I agree with David in the video that a two hour teach in is nowhere near enough time to speak to students about racial issues. Obviously, a whole semester or more could be spent on discussing racial issues.
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WOW, this video definitely caught me off guard a little. Although I was very surprised about the actions that were reported in this video, I do think the media played a role in blowing the details out of proportion. After all, that is what the media does with news these days. I don’t think it is necessarily correct or moral to consider the campus to be “racist” just because of a couple incidents that occurred there. These kinds of misdemeanors can occur anywhere and everywhere so we should have a substantial amount of evidence before we refer to a specific campus or location as “racist.”
I am certainly not denying the fact that these actions are wrong; they are definitely intolerable and it is sad that we have to read and hear about these kinds of actions in the news everyday. However, I personally do not think the campus is “racist”. The things that happened there are simply a result of the failure to see the world from others’ point of view. So I can see how people would right away think the campus is racist but I don’t think there is enough proof. I also think the campus has too many students for it to be considered racist based on the actions of a very small proportion of its students.
What is ironic about the situation, though, is that it was a black student (from a minority) who thought of the ghetto-themed party and hung the noose. This is another reason why I don’t think the campus is racist. I agree with many of the comments before me in that the student was simply kidding around with his own people or trying to spark the controversy that now exists. If a white student had committed these acts of shame, then I could definitely understand where the argument is coming from. But coming from a minority, I don’t think any racial intentions were involved. He was probably just seeking attention. I could be wrong, but this is just my opinion.
With all this being said, I don’t think we live in a racist-free world. I just think there needs to be numerous occasions among the majority of a population before you can consider that group or place to be racist. There are definitely certain people we need to avoid and others who need our help and protection. Yeah, it’s unfortunate but I don’t think we can dodge the truth, nor do I think racism is something that will not exist in the future. We will never stop hearing about it in the news and that is something that we all have to cope with. However, it will be less of a problem if these “jokes” that were reported here are eliminated. If the people who do these things realize that what they are doing isn’t right, there will be more and more people who are less intimidated by racism.
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I was so surprised at the amount of students that were openly expressing their rage. I respect the students that were open about their feelings and it is good to know that these students will not put up with racist acts regardless of which race they are towards. I think it is very important for a campuses climate to be very welcoming and hospitable towards every race. I think that UCSD is doing a good job working towards this welcoming environment and they have made it very obvious that racial and social injustices will not stand a chance in their community. I hope that Jiggaboo Jones realizes in the near future that it is not ok to encourage stereotypical themed parties. I am sure that the students’ outrage has shown him that it was very insulting.
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I suppose I shouldn’t be so shocked, however. I see segregation still exist at Penn State. Although, I must say there is a clear difference between this segregation that I witness and discrimination. Students seem to segregate themselves amongst groups that they are the most comfortable with. It is not that any of these groups are being treated unfairly; rather, it just seems that we all manage to separate ourselves. If you don’t believe me, go into the HUB any day of the week. Take a look around the food court area tables on the lower level. You will see that all of the black people sit together, all of the Asians are together, the white people, the Indians all together. Subculture groups segregate themselves as well. Sorority sisters or athletes all manage to find their territories. It is quite similar to the cliché high school stereotypes that separate themselves in the cafeteria.
One of my best friends here at Penn State is Asian American. She is in an Asian sorority. We were roommates last year and still keep in touch this year as well. It’s funny because she’s mentioned to me before that I’m her only white friend. I always think she’s exaggerating, but in fact she’s quite right. Nearly all of her best friends are Asian. I always know exactly where she’ll be when she tells me she’s in the HUB because she’s sitting with her sorority.
I’ve come to know many of her sorority sisters well and we all get along. Yet, I cannot help but feel that they share some sort of bond that I don’t share with them. I’ve questioned whether black or Asian fraternities (or any other race for that matter) are hurting themselves by secluding themselves to a small social network that cuts them off from being in a brotherhood with other races. I do understand the common bond they share however, and think they should continue if they would like. Coming from a family that is very strong in their traditions, I know how close I feel with someone from the same race as me.
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Okay, I think the fact that someone themed a party “the Compton Cookout” isn’t necessarily racist, or maybe it is inadvertently racist but I don’t think the intention was malicious or hateful towards African Americans. There are plenty of themed parties that can give off racist undertones but no one has ever attacked or accused those of being racist. I think the party was more of a satire for stereotyping than clearly pointing and laughing at black people. I think the way the “hood” is portrayed in most rap videos and movies than should be attacked if you’re going to attack students who just perpetuate that scenery. I mean there are so many other themed parties—gangster parties, white trash parties, golf pros and tennis hoes—so many of those themed parties that probably go on at that same exact campus and no one seems to be attacking those. Look, I’m not saying the particular theme was a good one, or that it wasn’t racist—but it always has to come down to black and white. I think we’re being racist—black and whites aren’t the only ones with issues. Let’s target everyone and everything if we’re truly going to reveal the prevalent racism that is enrooted in the capitalism and wealth of this country.
Also, the most alarming—most overtly racist thing I found about this whole thing was the noose hung in the library. But the noose was hung by an African-American? I’m very confused by this. Why did he do it? It makes me think he wanted the community to maybe think it was a white person and further fuel the current racist debate originally sparked by the Compton Cookout. Can you imagine the outlash if it were to be a white person? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have to be in this race relations course to hear about it. I think the situation obviously spun out of control rather quickly, and should have been settled or addressed more calmly. I think most things like this are a simple misunderstanding between races. I think the real racism dominating out country is institutional and hidden. People are often times too cowardly to be racist like this as the whole world watching. They probably had no idea the party would be perceived in the way it has.
I think—yes a line has to be drawn between having fun and poling fun at a specific group of people—but the point is, there is no way to control this type of behavior when it is perpetuated in all of our mass media outlets. How are we going be outraged at the “Compton Cookout,” and ignore such movies as “White Girls”—a movie that clearly pokes fun at the stereotypical white girls of another part of California? My point is—as a society we can’t just pick and choose certain situations under the same criteria wrong—while other situations completely acceptable. When we’re racist across the board, we have to condemn it all. Not just certain “races.” Otherwise, that’s just really racist man.
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crm5184 Reply:
March 17th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
I agree in that I don't necessarily see the "Compton Cookout" as racist. Yes, I think it's totally immature and stereotypical and is reflecting a mindset that shouldn't be held by college- level students but I don't think it was intended to be racist in any way. Especially because I see it as directed at a specific subculture, not a race. In one of the early classes this semester we talked about how each and every one of us belongs to so many different subcultures, completely distinct from race. For example, Sam showed us pictures of Russians with "bling" and Asians wearing baggy pants, so I don't see this themed party as necessarily being racist. Also, I agree that there are obvious instances out there in the media where white people are clearly being stereotyped and made fun of, such as the "White Girls" movie as the above poster pointed out and the song we listened to in class yesterday "White and Nerdy"…yes that song was made by Weird Al (a white person) but they now believe that a black person had the idea for the Compton Party, so what's the difference?? However, I think the noose being hung is absolutely ridiculous and goes way beyond immaturity to just plain offensive and insensitive, regardless of the skin color of the person who hung it.
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Race drives our lives. With this said we should all be more conscious as to what we do or say. It is completely preposterous to hear about such vulgar actions occurring at an institute of higher education. History seems to always repeat itself, a few years ago nooses were found on Columbia University campus. As I watched the video and read the article my mind just seemed to come back to Penn State’s campus. What if this happened here, being as though the Penn State campus is predominantly white as well? As a campus we seem to be very respectful of each other, each other’s cultures, and sensitive topics. Does this unity allow us to avoid such drastic situations? Or are we walking on thin ice, just avoiding the conversation? Will this happen here? I doubt it and hope not but things of this caliber are usually started by only a select few ignorant people who come in all shape, sizes, and shades!
I must admit I am not truly convinced that minority students started the events that occurred at University of California at San Diego. It seems like a cheap cop out of the racial conversation. It seems like a scheme to get the White students and the administration as a whole out of hot water. A way to say it can’t be that bad if it was done by their own people. Its funny how the student, David Ritcherson, was not even aware that this was done by a person of color. More importantly, we must realize that no matter the color this is still an act of hatred that must be ended and the campus officials should be taking the lead in this. As the assistant professor of ethnic studies, Sara Clarke Kaplan, said it starts with learning. Let’s take the noose situation, many student had to see the noose hanging, why couldn’t any one just remove it before someone else walked by and saw it? In the same aspect, if students were aware of how others feel about touchy situations, less people would probably have shown up for the “black” party. That is why I honor the race relations project, it allows us to talk with one another and moreover be educated on the words, systems, beliefs, and actions that are offensive to others who may not look just like us. In this aspect, Penn State is making steps that should be mirrored by the rest of our country. Speaking from the perspective of a person of color, Penn State is far from racially equal and discrimination free but I doubt anything of that caliber would be able to thrive on our University Park campus. The reason is because we allow ourselves to be educated even if this only on a surface level, about others. Being a predominantly white school I anticipated much more obvious discrimination and I was pleasantly surprised that it is not so, nothing too monumental occurs, if things do occur it is easy to just reprimand the few knuckleheads causing the ruckus.
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This is yet another example that racism is alive and well in the United States of America. It serves as a prime example that misunderstandings and struggles between races of people is real. This is completely absurd that these students thought it was fine to hold a Compton party and mock Black History Month. I am not sure how we can combat actions such as these. There has been much race relation discussion throughout the country and there have been many changes. All we can do to fight these actions are to simply continue to live a good life. There can be no retaliation by the minority students at the University of California – San Diego. They must simply bite the bullet and strive to be the best and live morally. Many people are ignorant and many people will remain ignorant. This is a fact that is real. The only way to combat ignorance is to be successful through one’s self and to make those that are ignorant eat their own words.
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Honestly, why can't we just all get along?…The reason why people being so-called “racially insensitive” (especially towards people of color) in today's society receives such strong reactions is because racism and the sense of inequality it brings with it still exists. I'm going to say upfront that being an international student, I'm not familiar with what connotations that the noose and the foods provided at the festival brought. Couldn't the world be a more simple but peaceful place if this very ignorance was the reality that defined the peace between White and Black People? Supposing that was the reality of the situation, these events would not have to be psychoanalyzed down to the minute details in regard to their racial correctness – it just really exasperates me at times and forces me to ask just what the world has come to when even the choice of food provided at a supposed simple, innocent event is scrutinized and consequentially labeled racially insensitive.
As we have been discussing in class and reading through the books, the road to making peace between our colors is going to be a long and bumpy ride for both side(s). Having understood that, we should gradually become less critical of each others' faults and shortcomings when it comes to issues of race relations. Rather than spitefully shooting down and condemning any and every racially insensitive act we come across, we should instead seek to understand and educate. Hate and conflict over race should be a sad memory of the past, and a painful reminder of the painstaking changes to our cultural psyche. Race relations is a subject best broached where both sides come into the discussion with the attitude that neither is an expert and both are simply coming to terms with their feelings, views and trying to make up for their “racial debt”.
Speaking of which, I have just remembered what racial connotations the hanging noose brings; Lynching – where groups of white people would gang up on individual or small groups of black people and beat them up, even to the point of hanging them by a noose, back in the day courtesy of my high school class in American history. I could bet that in maybe another 1 or 2 generations where black and white people grow up together in situations of nearly no segregation, the noose will be just like the jim crow laws back in the 60s or 70s, long lost.
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This really is too much, these things use to happen when slavery was around, it shouldn’t happen now. I mean come on how many years does it take people to fully understand the sociology behind racism, when are we going fully developed. I cannot believe that this is happening, especially at a graduate college, are they that ignorant? I would understand if it was a high school that was not educated enough to know what the heck is going on. University of California, San Diego is actually one of the colleges I was considering going to for pharmacy school, but I have definitely changed my mind now that I have seen this video. It is not one group, or one organization that has hate toward black people, it seems like the whole school dislike them, this is ridiculous. I do not know what to say, there isn’t really anything that we can do to help these people, except maybe try to educate them and hope they will bypass their racist thoughts next time they pass by a fellow student of a different color. This just shows how little this world has developed since slavery. What can we really do, I don’t understand where people get these racist beliefs from. For a whole campus to act that way, you can just imagine the environment they live in, the people they talk to, this is truly a sad environment that should not exist. This is extreme racism, and I doubt that it is the first of it is kind, many people are discriminated against in school, but having almost the whole school support it is definitely an outrage. They mentioned that there isn’t that many African Americans working at the college , which makes me think that the college itself have something to do with the extreme racist nature that have developed in university of California, San Diego. From the looks of it, the school seems to have a lot of African Americans students, therefore they should at least have the support to attend the school without any racism, this must have been an issue for quite some time now, this hatred does not just arise from noting, it obviously comes from somewhere. Whether the students are uneducated or just plain racist, this behavior is not acceptable anywhere in today’s society and they should realize that. I never ever thought that I would see this kind of news in this era, I hope this school actually make any actions toward this incident that are effective in any way because if this keeps happening, we won’t be any better than the people who stared slavery in the past, because there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for anyone to discriminate against another based on the color of their skin.
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OK soooo we talked about this entire “controversy” in our discussion groups last week and I mean the bottom line that I came up with was that yes it’s ok to have a theme party . HOWEVER it is not ok to literally bash a race for what they wear, and even to go as far as to how a certain race may even talk! It’s problem yes with the whole idea of the party but I mean is it being blown totally out of proportion?! YES I mean here we have this video with theses to very “qualified” representatives of the whoever or whatever and what’s their solution to get more “Black” faculty members with tenure? Hmmmm I mean that’s the most logical way to solve EVERYTHING?! Right? Normally there would be no problem with this idea but to throw that out there as well that would solve the issue? Now it just sounds freaking stupid. Also the whole noose thing that was put up Yea in my opionion It seems somebody possibly white could have done it yes but when I found out that a supposed African American did it? Now lets look at this and think, would this possibly be way to frame a white person that could have done it ? I don’t know but maybe. Also this school is primarily white school apparently I mean I don’t know what to say about that. But Penn state In my opinion seems to be a primarily white school as well does that mean we have to start accepting more black people as well as fire some professors in order to make room for a more diverse faculty? NO that’s freaking RETARTED! Also should we start to not accept that many white people so as to make the campus more diverse? NO Mabey it just so happens that more white than other minorities happened to apply here thus they got in? Sounds kinda good right? Temple University is a very diverse school for both faculty and students go there if we want diversity.
Just like Sam stated I don’t get how certain “qualified” people get to be the spokes persons for an entire race and come up with Dumbass Solutions that they personally feel will solve everything. I just don’t understand how big of mess it has become. And I’m sure those that created the party have no idea neither. It’s actually pretty sad that it has come down to this that whenever this is racial problem it seems like people get involved who have no idea what they’re doing and seem to think whatever it is tnhat they are doing is going to solve all the worlds problems. When in reality their just doing nothing not helping nor causing a problem, just kind of getting involved trying to portray a crazy attempt at being defensive because of one or two persons mistakes. I sat in a race relation group last week and there was a girl who was black and had not taken Sams class, and throughout the whol conversation it just seemed as though she was being defensive on all fronts whenever it came to the black subject which IS NOT FAIR AT ALLLLL!
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I think that the fact that a student hung a noose, an African-American student no less, anywhere in this school is ridiculous. Not only is this a symbol or racism, but it is also grotesque. It really boggles my mind how someone could promote something so racist about their own race. Even if this was intended merely as a joke, it should have been left a private joke. By placing the noose in a public venue, the "joke" becomes public and the student who placed the noose there becomes responsible. In regards to the "ghetto" themed party, I think that it is dramatic to think that this is a racist action. Ghetto is a way of life, more than a race thing, and by even questioning it as being racist, people are propagating the term as a racist stereotype.
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It is about time that people start speaking up about these so called "Theme Parties". Many people will disagree with me because they enjoy going to such events, but the reality is that it is simply wrong. University of California in San-Diego went too far with the so called "Compton Cookout". It had the word "wrong" written all over it. First of all, it was black history month, a month every African American cherish for everything positive we have overcome and accomplished all over the world. So, a party like this, is basically a slap in the face of every African American and other minorities in the country. Second of all, the whole theme of the party is very stereotypical towards black people. It said the guest were told to wear gold tooth,baggy clothes, eat "watermelon", and other shenanigans. So, is this really a party geared towards honoring black history month, or a party that's mocks and degrade the culture and the perspective of an African American.
Ghetto themed parties are so offensive in so many different levels. As somebody that comes from the so called "ghetto" it is much more offensive. I am from the South West Philadelphia, one of the "hardest" and "meanest" area to live in the whole city of Philadelphia. This stereotypes makes me very upset because how the "hood" is viewed is not really how it is. Majority of the people living in these areas are not some "baggy clothes wearing, ignorant, water-melon loving people". An average male or female is struggling everyday, trying to make a living in the society. The "white fraternities" have no idea what is like in the hood. They get the ideas from how media portrays black people in the ghetto. I am from the ghetto and I am proud of it because it has definitely made me mentally and physically stronger than the majority of the people on campus, who have had it easy their whole life.
The whole hanging a noose from bookcase in the library is so offensive. The worst part about it is that a minority was guilty of the act. The fact that a minority student was guilty of this made it even worse, in my opinion. And if he was someone I knew, I would definitely strip them for all the respect i have for him and I will not view him as a fellow minority. This is not a joke, it is not funny. I live in a dorm where diversity is somewhat visible compared to other dorms at Penn State. Last semester before the "white out" game, two white dudes wanted to wear a pillow case on their head to the game. They ask their "black" next door neighbor to so the same so that it would not be considered racist. He was not sure if it was right, so he asked me if it was a "good idea". I simply told him that he do it and I see anyone with a pillow case outside, that I will make sure that they all get what they deserve. I was not trying to threaten him or anything, I was just trying to let him know that it was an horrible idea. The two "white dudes" decided not to do it because he disagreed with the idea. If they would have went on with that, only God knows where they will be right now. I believe it is a great idea that the minority students are protesting. If they never spoke up, I'm sure a worst event would have happened at that school
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I think one of the most important things said in the video was when the reporter said that the incidents at UCSD need to be turned into a “teachable” moment. I completely agree with that especially pertaining to the use of the word ghetto. We had a discussion about this word during our section meeting and there was a mutual agreement that a different word should be used to describe urban culture and lifestyle. We did decide that the word “urban” was probably our best bet. I think that the word ghetto is thrown around too easily and with little understanding as to what it actually means. The most important way to make strides in race relations anywhere but especially at UCSD is to educate people. There needs to be open and honest conversations where both sides of the situation talk maturely with one another. It bothered me that the Black Student Union leader refused to participate in a teach-in that the university had initiated. Even though he disagreed with the means of communication, he should have still participated to show that he is willing to speak about the issue with school officials. As a leader in his respective community, he should set an example that a dialogue must be pursued and that the administration is at very least making an effort to understand the needs and desires of every student. I really do hope that the student leaders did in fact have their own private discussion without the administration present. If they do not want to participate in the university-led discussion, they should definitely make an effort by themselves to speak peer-to-peer. Students speaking to students on a personal level are probably extremely effective if both sides want to listen without prior prejudice. This campus could be a really good example for tons of American colleges around the country. If students are ignorant or blind to race relations, then there are bound to be racial issues. These issues can surely be avoided though if students take the time to talk to students who are different then themselves. In college, it really depends more on if students want to take the time to talk to other students. Of course, there are faculty members who want these talks to happen but students are more likely to influence their peers. At UCSD, it is imperative to continue talks within all different areas of their campus. It can’t just be minority students talking to other minority students. Everyone needs to be engaged in the conversation on their campus. This needs to include Greek life, athletes and any other type of organization that has a major influence. Students, especially at a campus that has been so caught up in racial tensions, need to take the first step towards a solution and engage in a real and honest conversation with one another.
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The whole being dressed ghetto thing could be seen as a style statement if not put under this kind of context. I thought the noose in the library was absolutely absurd though and completely uncalled for. Can you imagine if something like this happened in our school? How is It that even kids in today’s day and age still are not only willing to set up student organizational events such as this, but also establish a following. I thought that we were a different generation than those before us, but it turns out that racism will never disappear in this society. It’s always the same stuff but different time period.
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When I first heard about this story my reaction was different to what it is now. When it was brought up in our discussion group I originally thought that this was just a themed party that some fraternities were using to have fun. A lot of kids do various themed parties and I didn't think it was that big of a deal. But once we read the Facebook description of the party my opinion seriously changed. The way they described what students were supposed to wear and act took things way too far. The descriptions of a "ghetto" girl and how to "dress black" were disgusting and were clearly evident of a deeper hatred and/or misunderstanding towards black people. The fact that this school has very few black people as well probably only hurts this problem even more because rich kids in San Diego probably haven't even had few interactions with black people in their entire lives. If the party was just in the realm of trying to have fun and poke fun at how particular people dress (plenty of white people dress "ghetto") it wouldn't be as big of a deal but it appears that this party was aimed at insulting black people, not how a particular subculture dresses.
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The part in the video about the party that invited students to dress “ghetto” style is interesting. It seems to me that white people use the word “ghetto” as just another way of saying black. My high school was about half black and half white students. I remember one time walking by a white girl that was complaining about how many “ghetto” kids congregate near her locker every morning before homeroom. I remember walking away thinking that if she had replaced that word with black, the statement would have the same exact meaning. The word ghetto I thought was supposed to define a style of dress that is common amongst black people. However, I’ve come to realize that the term is often just masked racism.
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This seems a bit crazy to me that in light of the recent or possibly ongoing racial tensions that minority students would be the ones perpetrating these acts. And for the president of the black student union to say that that doesn’t change anything is interesting. It would be my thought that who does these things would change everything such as that there does need to be some sort of racial education for the entire school population not as he said that he wanted more of a student run education I think it would be great for the school to have certain classes and even mandate them for all students because the key is simply education.
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I don’t think that the campus USCD is racist but at the same time I think they’re a campus who lacks education and needs to be taught. When we discussed this topic in my discussion group about the letter that was made and sent out to the campus by the fraternity I was outraged. I found it very offending that they people would even attend such foolishness. I was even more outraged at the characteristic traits that they were portraying black people as. The thing that just ticked me off more was the simple fact that if anyone where to see this letter straight off the back if you have common sense you honestly would know that’s its wrong and that its racists and many ways. The fact that you tell people to come out and paint their faces black and eat watermelon those things were negative for a reason. I feel as though as a culture the African American community has come along way and it’s a slap in the face to us as a people when we are still pigeon-holed as the people who dress up in jerseys and drink kool –aid and talk “ghetto” Its just down right wrong. I also think the other person who was Identified as the other black student who said it was okay to have the party is just a ignorant and un-educated as the people who wrote the letter as well. As far as the finding of the noose that just goes to show that just some people are just plain ignorant especially since it was an minority student whether they were black or white it was still wrong and I think that situations like that should be taken care of. As far as the campus in whole I think they need to be taught the values of respect. Just because one thing to you maybe considered a joke to others they could find it massively offensive and I know for a fact that if a frat at Penn state would have done something like this they would have gotten their asses kicked. I think that students should rally and put a end to this foolishness of what is being taken place because its just not fair I feel as though and blind person could see that the circumstances of that party were wrong and that it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. I think that people should have enough respect for others to know what’s right and what’s wrong. It wasn’t like they were making fun of a specific person they were insulting an entire race of people. I personally believe it was wrong on so many levels and that we need to put an end to this ignorance or else it will still continue its 2010 we shouldn’t have to keep bringing race issues up.
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nyd5007 Reply:
March 13th, 2010 at 5:09 am
I totally agree. People like this just lack the proper education. People need to be taught about other races, cultures, and nationalities. It is sad because some students childishness affects the whole campus. Instances like such are examples of children being a product of their environment. The proper education starts from home with the parents. Parents need to teach their children at a young age the importance of political correctness especially when it is time for their children to go off to college. It is a shame that people’s ignorance causes such madness across a college. It is wrong insulting an entire race and they should be punished.
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I can't believe that this happend recently. I mean this type of news might have been in the news like a while back but it shouldn't be in our news today. The fact that college students are still arguing over ratial matters is a problem. Personally I think the worst part of this is the noose that was found in the university. I don't care how funny of a joke or whatever the person was thinking it would be, it is horrible. I think that hanging the noose in the university only made the situation worse. If the noose wasn't put in the unitversity things wouldn't be too bad. I mean the theme of the party is still a problem but people would not be in mass protest is the noose wasn't in the university.
I hope something can be done to fix this situation. Something needs to be done to prevent things like this from happening, Even though race relations has come a long way, we still have a long way to go.
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If the hatred portrayed in the Facebook event description wasn't enough, the noose thing is entirely out of control. There is no reason why that student shouldn't be expelled once he/she is found. How stupid and ignorant can you be to still truly hate someone of a different race so much? That person should not only be expelled but once someone finds him/her they ought to teach him/her a lesson. You have to be seriously sick in the head to do something like that. It's bad enough that kids in the frats were disrespectful and took the party beyond what would have made it ok, but the whole noose thing is absolutely ridiculous.
UCSD is going to have a tough time shaking this from the attention of the media, which sucks because it really shouldn't be a reflection on the school. It should only be a reflection of the few idiots who don't realize that no one should be treated differently just because they're black, white, blue, orange, or yellow. School officials should make everyone take some form of race relations class before they graduate in order to not only educate students about race, but to make a statement that it won't be tolerated. As for the frats that participated, I'm surprised that there isn't more investigation as to eliminating the UCSD chapters. As for the person who hung the noose, find them and expel them. It's surprising and disturbing to even hear a story like this because like most people, I thought that this stuff was almost non-existent anymore.
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Wow okay, so these things get more and more interesting every week.
Let's address the "Ghetto Theme Party" here. First off, to determine if it were REALLY racist, you wold need pictures from the party to see how they were dressed. Did they highlight and address ALL TYPES of ghettos? Meaning the real definition: the place where people live in extreme poverty to sleep together in bundles and WEAR poor-quality clothes. There's ghettos in all seven CONTINENTS ranging from England all the way to Beijing, and right on back to America. Did they dress as people from all types of ghettos? Chances are, they didn't… which is why the campus would make such a big deal about the party theme in the first place. The dress code there was probably to imitate their interpretation of Colored people from "the hood", projects, etc. Their interpretation is most likely one made up from the media i.e a music video.
Next, The noose thing is entirely ridiculous, not to mention its obviously racist. Who in their right mind would place one there? There's NO way to argue the justification in putting one up there! A child doesn't even randomly place a tied-rope on a wall. Its just ridiculous.
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Watching this video I had mixed feelings about the situation and how the representatives handled the events. As the boy in the video was talking about the teach in I couldn’t help but feel sort of angry at him for the way he look at it. The university held an event to try to make the situation better and he was saying it was not their place to have a teach in and that they should have done more or other things. I just kept thinking that the University would of course have an event and see how the students responded and engaged in the activity. He said he wants the university to do more but I think he was counteracting that by walking out of the first event. If the university sees that students are walking out and not participating in the events that they hold then they will stop holding events. Even if he thought that it was not the responsibility for the university to organize it he could have spoke about that at the teach in and said that he feels more violated because of their actions. If he just left the university officials would have no idea why and would settle on bad student participation and discontinue their efforts. If he would have spoke out as they were asking maybe he could have made a change in the university’s plan.
He also says it is the responsibility of student organizations to hold the teach in events, but he did not mention any organizations that were planning an event to get the word out about it. If the organizations are not stepping up and holding the events than why is it so bad that the university is. What is the difference of who starts it, as long as it is happening I would think that he would want to get involved and speak up with his ideas.
Overall his withdrawal from the event angers me. If he thought there was a problem there he should have spoke up about it there as that is what it was intended for. Instead he held off and waited to bad talk the university on the news when they have no way of responding or defending their actions. The university would not hold the event if they did not think it would be helpful and were probably hoping to see where to go from there. If there was no feedback from students such as the one in the video then how should they know what to do next?
I am not saying the university did the best they could to combat the racist issues, I just think that the boy in the video was victimizing himself and saying how bad it was and that it needed to change, but he did not do his part to make that change. I think this is often the case when black and brown people look at racism; it is easy to point the finger at white people and say they need to change, but as Sam said for every finger you point, three point back at you. If you are going to cry discrimination, you have to ask yourself if you are doing just as much as you are asking of the white guy next to you.
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While reading this article I was astounded that only 3.8% of the students that attended the school were black. That number is so low and I honestly had to double check to make sure that I was reading the number correctly. I was surprised that somebody would hang a noose in the library. Why would anyone do that? I just don't understand their thinking. However, I think that the school’s chancellor, Marye Anne Fox, while responding slowly still is doing the right thing. She met with the leaders, promising more attention to their concerns. I think that is showing that she wants to help the situation in any way that she can.
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daw291 Reply:
March 17th, 2010 at 6:45 pm
While watching the CNN report, I was thinking to myself that this news report was just an immature, irresponsible act that happening on a college campus and receiving too much media coverage without real significance. However, in reading ACL's statistic about how less than 4% of the UCSD campus is comprised of a black community, this gives more of a logical explanation as to why a noose was hung in the library by a black student. Obviously, the noose is being used as a symbol representing the underrepresentation of the black community on the campus. Black students feel alone and discriminated on their own educational grounds, and this was the way it was brought to the university's attention. Although probably not the most effective way, this act definitely made a statement. In my opinion, much unnecessary controversy was caused for such an issue to come to the attention of campus faculty and administration. Blacks, and many other minorities, want more representation on campus, just like the student featured in the video said. While hanging a noose in the library was not the best way to convey this message, the important thing is that this issue was brought to the attention of the University administration, students, faculty, made national headlining news, and action is being taken to address and alleviate controversy on campus.
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I find this article very disturbing. The fact that all these events are happening on that campus is really messed up. It gives such a negative image to the University of California San Diego. Many people around the country, including myself, are thinking of only poor things about this university. I would imagine the university has some positive things to offer but this takes it back a huge step. All of this happening during black history month just puts the icing on the cake for me. This university is disgusting.
When I first watched the video, all I heard was that there was a ghetto themed party. I didn't think it was that bad. This is because all they were doing was dressing up ghetto. Being ghetto has nothing to do with being black. Ghetto refers to poor economic wealth. So to me, this didn't seem so bad. But then I read the article. The students had a Compton Cookout to mock black history month. Now that is rude and ridiculous. I don't even see why someone would want to mock black history month.
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Only 150 years ago, almost all the black people in this country were slaves. Slaves being forced against their will to do whatever their "owner" said. Today, black people share equal rights to people of every other skin color. It truly is amazing how far we have come. I don't think that we have come far enough yet, but this is truly an amazing accomplishment. So we use black history month to acknowledge our country's accomplishments and honor those who have gotten us this far. It's disgusting to see people disrespect those accomplishments. Those people are not only disrespecting blacks and minorities, but white people as well. Many white people, including our ancestors helped make this country what it is on a racial level. I'm disgusted to hear someone mocking black history month.
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A noose being hung in a hallway is yet another ridiculous thing to happen at this campus. There is no way that college students should be doing something like this. College students are supposed to be the educated ones, helping eliminate racial issues among people who are not knowledgeable on the racism. I couldn't believe that it was a minority student that did it. I would think that of all people, a minority would understand what black people have to go through day in and day out.
Reading this article brought some anger upon me. There is no room in this country for racist acts such as these. I was thinking, maybe people who are found guilty of committing racist acts should be punished to a further extent. Let’s not put up with this garbage anymore. Lets enact large fines and maybe even jail time to those found being racist. I'm not talking about only white people being racist towards black people. I am also talking about black people being racist towards white people, although I realize this doesn't happen nearly as often. I’m sick and tired of racism and this seems like a decent way to achieve the results most all Americans would like to see.
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This is crazy! And that’s not the only thing to describe it! Outrageous, immature, irresponsible are a few other words to describe this topic. Further we get into this class more I realize how racism still exists in so many aspects of not only the world but throughout our own country of the United States. I would like to think that people enrolled in college are above these disrespectful actions, like hanging a Neuse. What makes this topic at a college located in San Diego even more outrageous is that because of stereotypes we would all presume that it would have been a white individual who did this act of racism, but it reality it was a minority who hung this Neuse in a public place located on campus.
I feel as if these actions are childish and immature and should be taken care of in a mature manner, and these individuals at this school should realize what they are doing is absolutely ridiculous.
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