1950s dance theme shot down by Harvard student committee because it’s racist

The College Fix ^ | 7/14/2016 | Greg Piper

[Hube]

The 1950s mean one thing and one thing only for a subset of Harvard students: RACISM.

Exclusive emails obtained by the Young America’s Foundation show “the outcry of a few students” after the residents of Adams House voted to host a dance with a “1950s theme.”

The committee ended up ditching the will of the voters and changing the theme to “sock hop,” either unaware that sock hops became popular in the 1950s or counting on the ignorance of their residents. (It ended up being well-attended and reasonably diverse, so probably ignorance.)

The initial response to the 1950s theme was mostly sarcasm:

“Will there be a separate water fountain for us at the formal?” Other students chimed in asking, “Are we even allowed to buy tickets? Or are we only allowed in as serving staff?” Some went even further, alleging more injustices, such as, “What sort of quotas will be in place for Asians entering/emigrating into the house? What is the policy on communists?”

[Organic Panic]

Sock hop with everyone invited = Racist.

Coloreds only microagression free safe zones = Just fine.

[Steve_Seattle]

When I was a kid - a white kid in an all white neighborhood - my heroes included Hank Aaron, Elgin Baylor, Sam Cooke, and Fats Domino, along with whites like Elvis, Dion, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Later on, I was introduced to bluesmen like Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed, Ray Charles, and Howlin' Wolf. My favorite band was The Animals, heavily influenced by black music. Race was never an issue, and it enrages me that I'm told I'm a racist because I'm a conservative.

[Steve_Seattle]

Chuck Berry: the brown-eyed handsome man. He immortalized himself. LOL. One of the all-time greats.

[JoeProBono]

[Clintonfatigued]

Ridiculous! A lot of talented black singers hit the charts during the 1950’s and achieved prosperity they would not have won in earlier times.

[Steven Tyler]

Cannot wait for these yutes to return home and turn in their parents for racist speech, cultural appropriations, and inherent priviledge

[Mears]

Bill Russell was HUGE in Boston in the 50s.

.

[Steven Tyler]

Send in Kevin Bacon, time to cut loose and get footloose

[reg45]

Too many white poodles on the poodle skirts.

[i_robot73]

Maybe the problem at Harvard is the students special snow-flakes didn't have any real connection to the 1950s history nor facts. All they know about it is what they read in a textbook indoctrinated by the college in their 'safe-spaces'.

Fixed it for you.

[LadyDoc]

Dick Clark's afternoon dance program in the 1950s was integrated at a time when such things were legal but socially frowned upon.

[wardaddy]

Threads like this demonstrate how ignorant so many posters are of historical reference

And that we have concern trolls here always at the ready to pretend to be reasonable about race to hide their real agenda which is anything but conservative

So many freepers are so stupid about black people

It’s mind numbing to see it day in and day out here

[Albion Wilde]

The amazing Chuck. Do you know, I actually saw him live in Alabama, doing just what he is doing in that photo, and my companion and I were in the front row. What a great entertainer!

[Albion Wilde]

Dick Clark's afternoon dance program in the 1950s was integrated at a time when such things were legal but socially frowned upon.

My recollection is that he had the black kids on one day a week, and the white kids on the other four days. But the entertainers could be black or white for either group. Times were different. But at least he gave all kids a showcase, and watching the different dance moves and just plain fun with both groups was influential in breaking down barriers. Really, rock'n'roll was responsible for at least 25% of the successes of the Civil Rights era.

[smalltownslick]

So incredibly true!!

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

Harvard is above the Mason-Dixon line. Was there any official (as opposed to sub rosa) segregation up there during the 1950s, i.e., separate public accommodations?

The liberals called it "defacto" segregation. Kids went to schools in their own ethnic neighborhoods. Supposedly, black kids were getting crappy teachers. Then Judge Arthur Garrity ruled in the 1970's that Boston had to bus black kids to white schools. He singlehandedly ruined the school system and ethnic neighborhoods. Nevermind that black kids could attend the citywide exam schools. Those that did deserved the enrollment based on merit. True the percentage of blacks as a percent of their population was smaller than those of whites, but that was a result of circumstances within their culture.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Where I went to school Carlsbad, NM the were held at the National Guard Armory. I remember when the Twist was BANNED there!

[PubliusMM]

Raisin’ a damn generation of sissies...and, privileged sissies, at that.

It’s a dance, kids! A dance. It’s not a political debate. It’s not a street demonstration. It’s a dance.

Get over yourselves. Lighten up, Nancy!

[bgill]

Lock the whinies in a safe space room and never let them out.

[xrmusn]

As stated, the 50’s were the start of integration...
Presley etal admit their style of Music was born from the Black Spirituals of the time.

I have ‘always’ contended that if the integration of Public schools would have started with kindergarten and worked its way up, it would have been ‘easily’ accepted after a few years.

What ‘they’ basically did was say “Integration starts this fall. Effective immediately THIS will be your NEW school”, then proceeded to bus people around to their new schools, not mattering what grade you were in.

That was a ‘mind boggling experience, especially for people who had been going to the same system with friends et al for their entire school career.

My mother moved me in 1956 - as a Senior - from a small town in NY State to a High School in Glendale CA that had more students in the graduating class than we had people in the small hamlet in NY we were living in. I quit on my 17th birthday as a Senior and went in the Navy.

Imaging uprooting ALL students like that - then sit back and wonder why such a great plan (barf) never worked.