Posted on 03/29/2008 6:53:35 AM PDT by no dems
FARGO — North Dakota State University officials are investigating after complaints about a skit in which a black-faced white student portrayed Barack Obama receiving a lap dance.
Presidents of the NDSU Saddle and Sirloin Club and sorority Alpha Gamma Delta publicly apologized for the skit at an NDSU town hall meeting this week.
The skit was performed March 18, for 500 people at the Mr. NDSU Pageant, which raises money for diabetes research.
People who attended said a pageant contestant from Saddle and Sirloin dressed as a woman from the Internet video "I Got a Crush on Obama" and performed for another student who was wearing dark makeup and an afro wig.
In the background, two male students dressed as cowboys simulated anal sex while holding an Obama sign that one student ripped at the conclusion of the 30-second performance.
Malika Carter, an NDSU assistant director of multicultural student services, said students complained the skit was racially insensitive and homophobic.
A hearing officer will decide if the organizations face any sanctions, said Amy Graff, an NDSU associate director for student activities.
In a written apology, Saddle and Sirloin President Jenna Schmidt said the students were trying to re-enact the YouTube video and did not mean to be offensive.
"We realize that this action was not appropriate and all involved in the skit have expressed their remorse," she said.
Obama is to speak at the state Democratic Convention in Grand Forks next week.
Russell Danielson, the club's adviser, said the students involved are from rural North Dakota communities with little diversity. He said he plans to talk to NDSU's diversity officer about arranging sensitivity training. The club is for students interested in agriculture.
"It wasn't malicious and it wasn't racist in any way," Danielson said. "They're very apologetic and they realize the mistake that they made."
Josh Reimnitz, the NDSU student body president, who was in the audience, said some booed the act.
"My jaw just dropped. I didn't even know what to think," Reimnitz said. "I didn't know what the point was of the entire skit."
While it’s not my cup of tea either, some whinies get up in the mornings merely to see what they can be offended by.
Any satire directed at Obama will be deemed racist.
I guess Saturday Night Live will have to have those white guys stop portraying Obama and Jesse Jackson.
Whatever happened to the picture of Bubba wearing an afro wig? It seems to be absent from the Internet recently.
“Russell Danielson, the club’s adviser, said the students involved are from rural North Dakota communities with little diversity. He said he plans to talk to NDSU’s diversity officer about arranging sensitivity training.”
translation: thought control training coming to NDSU. Don’t you dare think differently from the approved script.
Perhaps this would be an appropriate time to mention that the original Obama Crush Video was written and produced by a man.
http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2007/07/ben-relles-obama-girl-producer-talked.html
And Obama did a findraiser in a strip joint.
MSNBC Uncovers Obama Fundraiser in Club With 'Striptease Sundays'
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1887266/posts
If anyone has the pic I’d sure appreciate seeing. All I can find are news articles mentioning it. But the reporters were strongarmed into not releasing them.
July, 2000
“Funky President Clinton may have gotten a little too far down last weekend at Martha’s Vineyard,” explained an isolated report on the New York Daily News gossip page, Sept. 10, 1997. “White House image tenders are praying that photos of Clinton wearing a vintage Afro-wig won’t see the light of day.
“On Friday, Clinton made an appearance at a party at the Hot Tin Roof, a Vineyard nightclub co-owned by Carly Simon. Kicking the jams out at the affair were ‘The Boogies,’ a band fronted by Carly’s fetching daughter…..
“One of ‘The Boogies’ thought it was proper to tug onto the Prez’ head a floppy wig that would have done Sly Stone proud.”
The Washington Post’s gossip maven Al Kamen picked up the action from that point:
“Clinton’s finely honed political instincts immediately shot his hand up to snatch the wig off. But sometimes with Clinton, unlike other skilled pols, goofiness prevails. Clinton put the Afro back on.”
Kamen reported that several off-duty press photogs had captured the Afro-bedecked Clinton image on film, but were warned by the White House that there would be retaliation if they printed it. “Arguably it was the most undignified picture in the history of the presidency,” observed Kamen, who finally obtained a copy of the sensational pic himself 11 days later.
The Post buried the Clinton Afro-wig pic, along with Kamen’s final column on the episode, on page A 21. The rest of the press completely ignored the story. Not even the New York tabloids, including the News, which had teased Kamen’s account, dared to run the photo.
Do the same reporters now hysterically covering Christie Whitman’s faux pas as the race crime of the year, still think a picture of the leader of the free world prancing around at a yuppie minstrel show is irrelevant? What about Rev. Sharpton — has he been asked to comment on the Clinton Afro-wig photo? (Answer: Are you kidding?)
Also:
Further, says Newsmax, in 1997 the White House threatened reporters in order to quash photos of Clinton wearing an Afro-wig while partying at a tony Martha’s Vineyard soiree.
If they had been Christian bashing every thing would have been fine.
It’s too bad the thought police try to control every action these days but I am surprised they went ahead with this skit and didn’t realize it would cause a problem. Now Obama and his supporters are going to use this as an example of rampant racism in America. IMO, “Reverend” Wright and his rantings are a far bigger problem.
I wonder if there will be more criticism now against Saturday Night Live for having the non black Fred Armisen play Obama. Maybe they think that’s OK though since Armisen is part Venezuelan.
There probably are not too many African-American homosexuals that are members of the North Dakota State University “Saddle & Sirlion Club”. They should have just stuck with the “Brokeback Mountain” theme.
Any student in school that is dumb enough to pull this kind of silly **it and not think they are going to look like fools are worse should not been in school to start with. They need to join the Darwin crowd.
GET A FREAKIN’ LIFE and LIGHTEN UP !! Your screen name is RACIST: “whodat”?
“whodat”? “whodat”? Everybody knows that is “Black New Orleans Ebonics”.
“Malika Carter, an NDSU assistant director of multicultural student services”
an adjunct of the campus thought police
If one is bound and determined to find racism behind every tree.....they will.
Who’d these idiots think their audience was....a bunch of FReepers?
The only way to drive a stake through the heart of political correctness, is to mock it at every opportunity
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