(and nobody's laughing)
"Frat Boy" isn't a term used in
praise or admiration or affection very often and if you went to college
where fraternities flourished, you'll know why. Perhaps you have
embarrassing memories. Fortunately for us old folks, none of it is
likely to have been recorded for posterity in the days when nobody had a
video camera in their pocket. Boys will be boys you know,
and by "boy" I mean drunken irresponsible idiot.
I
have no way of knowing whether the SAE brothers at the University of
Oklahoma will look back 40 years hence with embarrassment or anger at
the day when their fraternity was shut down following the surfacing of a video showing some of them on a bus chanting: “There
will never be a n***** in SAE.” Perhaps that's a self fulfilling
prophecy as the University immediately closed the fraternity despite the
formal apology by the fraternity.
I
never pledged a fraternity although I investigated a number of them,
preferring the increased freedom, or license if you prefer, in finding
my own housing off campus. I do clearly remember visiting one frat and
hearing the song "There'll never be a Jew in Sigma Nu" which, as you
might expect, disappointed me a bit, even though I still suspect the
implied anti-semitism wasn't all that deep. But there were no
consequences back then, in the tumultuous early 60's. There were only
short term consequences when some black students ran into similar and
worse attitudes in other places, but the repercussions were short lived
and involved deep snow drifts and frat boys in their underwear, but I
won't elaborate. The school took no actions I'm aware of. Of course
there were plenty of fraternities free of such retrograde nonsense and
with diverse memberships as I'm sure there are at Oklahoma.
But
things are not the same, despite the bizarre assertions by some that
Selma changed nothing with regard to racism, our tolerance for it and
the consequences of racially motivated actions. Of course today,
conversations about race and many other issues across the political
spectrum are dominated by institutions, which seem to demand that we use
only certain terminology, accept certain axioms and discuss things only
within a certain framework before beginning. I'm sure someone reading
this will already be writing something about how I'm just an old white
man and don't understand my privileges -- or copying it from some
pamphlet or tract. I'm too old to care, but old enough to remember well
when the consequences of racist epithets and actions were few to none
and denigrating jokes were many and frat houses mostly Caucasian.
Face
it, it's better now. It's a lot better and if progress threatens those
who prosper by protesting the lack thereof, perhaps it's time to shut
down other fraternities on and off campus.
According to Bloomberg News:
ReplyDeleteFounded in 1856 at the University of Alabama, 92% of the original membership fought on the Confederate side of the Civil War and an inordinately high percentage of alumni joined the KKK. In November 2014, fifteen SAE members at the University of Arizona were accused of assaulting members of Alpha Epsilon Pi, a historically Jewish fraternity. Deeply rooted in the Confederate South, SAE has a long tradition of racism and anti-Semitism. In addition, SAE has the dubious distinction of being the “deadliest” fraternity in terms of hazing and binge drinking incidents.
Why now after 160 years, I ask? One more sign, IMO, that this country is headed down a retrograde path – retracing its ugliest chapters in history with increasing frequency.
We see this in right blogistan. It provides the veneer of anonymity for the bigots/racists.
ReplyDeleteWe remain tribal even today and see "our own", those who look like and think like us as being superior. We are after all still primates.
Perhaps in another 1,000 years?
I was in a fraternity suit once.....but I told the court I had never met the woman, much less had relations with her...but they.....oooops...dyslexia again. nevermind.
ReplyDeleteSeveral of my relations are women. Should I worry?
Deletenah.....not as long as they can run reasonably fast.
DeleteYes, but the difference between today and the yesterday I was part of is the overwhelming national and local reaction to what would never even have made the local papers. Expulsion and dismantling of the fraternity shows that our society doesn't accept what really is a minority position today. Human nature includes the victimization of minorities or anyone perceived as vulnerable. It's been a bit longer than 160 years. Hell, people still think there are supernatural powers dwelling in rocks and pieces of metal.
ReplyDeleteThat our educational system isn't all about education is obvious. That we accept drunken rowdyism as normal is obvious, but that we now react officially, quickly and in great anger to racist rhetoric is obvious too -- even as much or more when it's just rhetoric as when someone gets hurt.
I just don't see evidence of an increase. I see an increase of reportage and an increase in public reaction. Are we, as an electrical engineer might ask, confusing amplitude with frequency? Again, SAE at Oklahoma is no more and the students involved, whether carried along by alcohol and peer pressure or truly hate filled are expelled. What else, what more should have been done? I'm pretty sure this kind of consequence is rather new and on the increase. I clearly remember when there would have been no consequences and probably no notice taken. I clearly remember when lynchings and shootings and beatings and more were swept under the rug and remained unpunished. We're talking about words here. That alone is a huge advance.
If one despises racism, one should be encouraged that justice was (in my opinion) done, but I see an equal and opposite reaction portraying every increase in public reaction to racist attitudes as retrograde and if human nature is nasty (and it is) a growing ability and willingness to control the nastiness is to be applauded not used to stir up despair.
Stirring up panic and fear and framing every event as a portrait of doom is a standard tool of nefarious interests (republicans) and why do we discourage ourselves when we are gaining ground? Are we afraid that success will give us no further purpose? I suspect that with a few individuals that's a real fear, but of course to expatiate on that regularly earns me the title of "racist" a term which too often only means one is straying from the political canon. The witch hunt business is more profitable when you find witches everywhere.
That we support strong consequences for words spoken requires that we become far more careful. What would we suggest doing about students chanting against Communists, Mormons, secular humanists or refusing them membership in a private society? I tentatively support the actions of the University, but I think we need to ask ourselves just where the limits of free speech begin and where they end. Peer pressure -- the need to support our side with zeal -- can lead any of us into places we never intended to be. As a student war protester in the 60's I remember pressure on the school to sanction and restrain us from people quite sure we were dangerous subversives. After all bombs were detonated somewhere. The townies were convinced we were agents of Ho Chi Min. Sure, there's a difference, but it's not easy to define and requires a good deal less self assurance than we exhibit at times.
ReplyDeleteNews as of 12:32 today:
ReplyDeleteTwo students have been expelled. Not enough for me. I won't be satisfied until the entire busload is gone.
I'm not being the Devils advocate. he doesn't need one, being an advocate himself as the Bible tells us. I'm being an advocate for free speech. I think the right to attend a public university isn't easily washed away by expressing an abhorrent opinion, particularly one that conveys no threat. I'm being an advocate for tome of the academic freedom we allow professors.
ReplyDeleteI stopped being a Democrat when they started demanding that public hysteria take the place of due process., that the voices of zealots trumped judged, juries and the law. I hate racists with a real passion, but I like freedom of speech too - to say the least. I dislike having to prove I'm not a racist by supporting things I think are wrong, I can't support what, if other opinions were substituted, would be labeled McCarthyism and it smells of "it's OK when we do it."
I don't know if there are still no Jews in Sigma Nu. I don't care and I think they have the right to accept or reject anyone. The university wasn't discriminating, it was only a handful of teenagers, whose real opinions are not discernible.
"I'm being an advocate for free speech."
DeleteAnd I am exercising my right to free speech by taking a moral stand and calling out behavior I find reprehensible. Furthermore, I am unwilling to defer or subordinate my right to free speech out of consideration to racist assholes.
This is an old argument whenever the specter of "politically correct" is raised by bigots and foul-mouthed Republicans who wield it in order to shut down civil debate. The term "politically correct" imposes a double standard that basically says, "I'll say what I want, but you do not have the right to call me out." I refuse to fall sucker to this kind of sophistry.
But as you see, I never use that soggy old phrase nor do fault you here for calling anyone out. I'm just trying to keep it in proportion and to counter the argument that every incident of name calling is not evidence that there has been no progress since the 60's and things are getting worse. There has and it isn't.
DeleteIf there were available data points for a graph on racism, my graph would show a sharp increase on January 20, 2009 – the day President Obama took the oath of office.
DeleteMy first data point starts with Rush Limbaugh’s infamous words, “I hope he fails.” Other data points on my list:
Then Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell saying, “Defeating Obama is my number one priority;”
Historically high levels of partisan deadlock and gridlock;
Abuse of the Senate filibuster on every piece of legislation promoted by the president;
Deliberate legislative attempts to stall economic recovery and engender resentment towards Obama;
Repeated attempts to repeal ObamaCare – 56 times;
Legislative hostage taking and the government shutdown;
The “Dear Tehran” letter signed by 47 Senate traitors;
Racist innuendos and email spam flooding the Internet, such as cartoons of watermelons on the White House lawn and the First Family represented as chimpanzees;
Defamations and daily harangues on rightwing media raised to the level of screech, etc.
No, nothing ever witnessed in my entire adult life rises to this level of this bullshit. I could spend weeks - even months - compiling a catalogue of abuses along partisan and racial lines. Let this suffice for now.
No one can deny that the Republicans are stirring up racists as a tool to take over the executive once again, but it's my opinion that it doesn't rise from any general increase in race hatred. Just another tool and that it's only part of a wide assault seem obvious when we look at examples such as sabotaging a popular ant-human trafficking bill. They did it to Clinton and they will do it to any non-Republican.
DeleteAll I can do is state my opinion that in general racism is on the decline in terms of the number of racists if not in the ability of a few to use modern communications to make a lot of noise and trouble. Obama was elected twice. It couldn't have happened not too long ago.
"... public hysteria ..."
ReplyDeleteThe reference to "lynching" more than justifies the outrage.
But does outrage justify anything?
ReplyDeleteFace it, racism is a shadow of what it used to be. I listened to Colin Powell's reaction to this and that's just what he said: it's getting better and the young today are far less racist than their parents and grandparents. That's not to say you won't always find enough drunken racists to fill a bus, or enough people to run a death camp, but we have black people in the highest offices now and the most powerful man in the world is an African American. Nobody seems to remember the race riots of 1919 or even that when I was a kid there were no black secretaries of state much less presidents. It's not getting worse by any means, it's just getting more hype.
Yes, there are racist cops and there are cops who are not. Guess who is in the majority and you'll probably guess wrong. Sure Black people are profiled more often as suspects and more often mistreated, but guess again, the city with the most questionable shootings by police is Albuquerque and the "victims" are Mexican. Native Americans are much more likely to be killed by police than anyone else and we don't hear a peep because our outrage is conducted, choreographed and fed by leaders and organizations who thrive on it. There's no money in telling people that Mexican lives matter or Lakota lives matter or that all lives matter and real stories are ignored while we continue to pretend Michael Brown was on his knees begging for his life and that racism is on the increase. It's bullshit and I want no part of it. There is no center to hold and the rude beast has long since shuffled off to CNN to be broadcast.
That's what the NRA does, for what it's worth. I get all kinds of e-mails about how Obama is making this or that item illegal and plotting to take our precious guns and people believe our freedom is declining and our deficit spending soaring and conservatives being victimized. If the public is foolish for believing this hyperbolic hysteria mongering, than it's foolish for believing there's a renaissance of racism against Black people.
No one has been lynched and when liberals stand up against free speech, I have to start calling them, or me, something else.