Posted on 03/09/2015 5:25:21 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
Sigma Alpha Epsilon's national headquarters closed its chapter at the University of Oklahoma Sunday after a video emerged purportedly showing members of the chapter singing a racist chant.
The video quickly gained visibility online. It was obtained and posted to Twitter by Unheard, which describes itself as "an alliance of Black students organized for change within campus administration and atmosphere," shows young men on a bus chanting "There will never be a n----r at SAE."
The tweet, directed at OU president David Boren, says "Racism is alive at The University of Oklahoma."
Students at the university plan to demonstrate on the Norman, Oklahoma campus at 7:30 a.m. local time. A prayer vigil was held Sunday night.
Chelsea Davis, one of two co-directors of Unheard, said the video was recorded during the weekend. Unheard was begun at the beginning of the semester to demand change, especially relating to diversity issues, Davis said.
"Clearly in that video, that is nothing new. That is nothing that just sparks up overnight. That is a chant that was well known, well versed, and seemed to be okay with everybody that was involved," said Davis, a junior at the university.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Interesting that we have some FReepers thinking it’ll be a justified “beat down” or “kill” too.
Would be fine by me.
I really don’t see porn as free speech and would not defend it. I won’t defend muslims, either. And “radically militant gays”? Not sure - but I don’t like them.
This is crude behavior, for sure, but is it really worthy of a violent revenge fantasy?
The university did not close - the campus fraternity did.
We initiated the first black guy in the state, which practically got us “black listed” from some chapters. One of our pledges who was black wasn’t allowed to be initiated because the school punished us for something. He transferred to another school and they refused to let him Rush.
How is this not a first amendment issue? I can see the National fraternity's point about kicking them out, that's a freedom of association issue, but the University? For what they said?
Are you only allowed to have certain opinions to go to University, or do you have the right to express opinions that others don't like?
Yes, they were stupid asses for putting forth such a reprehensible opinion, but how can we accept coercive retaliation for their expression of such opinions?
People are calling opposition to Homosexuality "Hate" speech nowadays. They are forcing people to accept Homosexuality whether they wish to or not, and they are using coercive tactics to force their agenda on everyone else.
We are moving towards a time when dissenting opinions will not be tolerated. I'm more worried about the official response to these @$$holes at OU than I am about what they said. Let intolerance for ideas/speech get established as official policy and we will have much bigger problems to worry about down the road.
Actions have consequences. I think what these boys (not men) did was inexcusable. What were they thinking? It was so mean-spirited and just proved they are idiots.
“You’ve done it this time, buster! No more Sigma Alpha Epsilon! I’m calling the national office! I’m going to revoke your charter! And if you wiseguys do one more thing, one more, I’m going to kick you out of college! NO MORE FUN OF ANY KIND!!”
I don’t get your connection. Why would I want FR shut down? Individual posters are responsible for their own opinions and Jim has kicked people out as a result.
Remember - from the FR rules:
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I agree that that is unacceptable.
But I was referring to whether it was acceptable for “all black” organizations to do the same.
I agree that the SAE national organization has a right to kick them out and not be associated with them, but I am more concerned about what the University does in regards to retaliatory action.
If the University takes any action (other than condemnation) then that's a bridge too far in my opinion.
>> shows young men on a bus chanting “There will never be a n——r at SAE.”
Let me guess, it wasn’t a frat of bros that might otherwise toss the n-word about...
No, I haven’t seen the video.
They chant about hanging them from a tree. I find that chilling.
It is my belief that the first amendment was primarily designed to protect political speech. It was a rejection of "Lese Majeste" for which people had been prosecuted for criticizing Governors and such before we became a country.
It was never intended to apply to such things as "Porn" or the right to disgust people. If it doesn't have an obvious political component, it really doesn't come under the first amendment protection in my opinion.
Because it’s a state school, the First Amendment protections are stinger than if it were a private one.
The National Fraternity did the right thing in shutting the chapter down. They also did the smart thing by beating the school to the punch in doing so.
That having been said, this would appear to be an explicit admission by the chapter and a number of its members that they engage in racial discrimination in choosing their membership. Which isn’t protected by the First Amendment. If I was part of the school administration THAT’S the angle I’d be pursuing.
Stronger, not stringer ...
“If the University takes any action (other than condemnation) then that’s a bridge too far in my opinion.”
Via twitter a few minutes ago:
“University of Oklahoma severs all ties with Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter due to racism allegations - @BijanHosseini”
I think you are right. I sure don’t see this as a free speech matter. I see it as idiot white boys trying to show how cool they are. People can have whatever opinion of others that they want, but I just wonder what they were thinking. And I wonder who sent the video out and why. I would be very ashamed of my child if they did something so mean.
If the membership is indeed all white (or even disproportionately white beyond school demographics) then the chant is an explicit admission of racial discrimination.
Which is very much actionable by the University, at both the organizational and individual level. And has been well established as such within US law and legal precedent since the 1960s Civil Rights Acts.
Problem here is one of SAE in general. They have been notorious nationwide and have been thrown off of many campuses.
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