Posted on 02/24/2010 6:58:28 PM PST by nickcarraway
UC San Diego administrators stage a campus-wide "teach-in" today about a recent spate of racially-charged incidents against African Americans on campus. Black student groups plan to hold a news conference before the campus-sanctioned event. The students believe these incidents reflect a deeper sense of racism at the university.
African American student Bijon Robinson is a top scholar and athlete at UCSD. Dozens of colleges tried to recruit her. Now she regrets her decision.
“We (her family) came from struggles and this was an accomplishment being here. But I would prefer to go somewhere else than to be here, knowing that I have to look over my back because people want me dead,” Robinson said.
Robinson is referring to a note found at UCSD last week that read "Compton lynching." The note surfaced about a week after a group of UCSD fraternity members organized a party to mock Black History month.
Students were invited to the so-called Compton Cookout. The invitation told women to come as “ghetto chicks” with “nappy hair” and “a very limited vocabulary.” Malt liquor and watermelon would be served.
Some say the Compton Cookout was just meant to be a parody. But Robinson and her bestfriend Eliz Diop are not laughing.
“The whole party was planned to dehumanize our culture,” Diop said. “They chose to emphasize the parts of our culture we have no control over. Who wants to live in the ghetto?”
Many minority students have said the incidents speak to a larger problem. African Americans make up only 2 percent of UCSD’s student population. The majority are whites and Asians. Plus, one small group of students has exacerbated the racial tensions by publishing inflammatory material in an alternative newspaper called The Koala.
Those students also appeared on a student-run TV program using racially offensive words in support of the Compton party. Now there’s a freeze in funding for student TV. Kris Gregorian is Koala’s editor in chief. He ducked an interview with a joke.
“The Koala communication protocol dictates we do not provide statements to the press unless beer is provided. The overarching goal is beer,” Gregorian said.
This kind of joking around is a sign of new generational trends, says San Diego State University sociologist Jean Twenge. She’s the author of Generation Me. She says her research shows young people today are increasingly self-absorbed – and few have any grasp of what something like the civil rights movement meant.
“They (students) maybe don't even have a lot of understanding of the history. They saw this as another group, and some of the people in this group do some things that they could have some fun with. And they don't understand the deep pain and the prejudice and discrimination that has happened in the past,” Twenge said.
A group of black community leaders hang their heads in prayer on a Saturday afternoon in Southeast San Diego. Many of them lived through the civil rights era. Now they’re meeting to discuss the problems young black people face today.
Baye Kes Ba Me Ra is with the Pan African Association of America. He says the problem at UCSD is bigger than just a few students.
“Its not just what the students did. It's a reflection of the individuals who run the institution,” he said.
Penny Rue is vice chancellor of student affairs at UCSD. She says the university has been trying to make the campus a more hospitable place for minority students. For instance, UCSD does send many admission letters to black students, but many don’t accept. They go to other schools like UC Berkeley. She says it’s a dilemma for UCSD.
“There are things that make it difficult. One is California law. Prop. 209 prevents us from using race in any way as a level of analysis,” Rue said.
Proposition 209 was the end to affirmative action in California. Rue says the university is trying to increase the number of underrepresented students on campus using other strategies.
And last week, black student leaders presented a list of 32 demands to help fix what they call a “racial state of emergency.” Officials say they will meet many of their demands. Minority students say the real test comes after the campuswide teach-in and once the media scrutiny fades.
Well, that means that any discussion of the topic is off limits - isn’t it? If we can not discuss the problem using plain English language, who will? I guess by your ideas, we should just shut up and let all comments go by without addressing them. Please, that is the worst thing that can happen - things need to be brought out into the open. You sir (or madam) need to get involved in the discussion, NOT try to stop it!
You will recognize that day when lame slights are brushed off as no big deal.
Wow. So I have to adjust my “sensitivity level” to deal with knuckle-headed comments, stereotyping or assertions. And then everything will be just fine. It sounds so simple.(sarc)
Now that is interesting. Of course the party kids behaved stupidly but having a black history month with no white, asian or indian history month is condescending, and racist.
But we aren’t discussing the problem, are we? We are simply re-hashing your excuses for racism....by blaming black people for the racism. And the usual suspects names (Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton , blah, blah, blah) will be trotted out to explain why it is okay for white kids to act this way.
to celebrate supposedly “good” racial characteristics
Black history month is not about celebrating “good” racial characteristics (whatever that means.) Its about highlighting black contributions to history, science, the arts etc. I can’t see why that is considered a negative thing to have a knowledge of that information.
What they know is the media characterize found in shows like What’s Happening or Good Times.
If anyone hates Blacks it is the media first and foremost that 1. created the stereotypes 2. enforce the plantations rules.
Oh for goodness’ sake. Do you get offended when Jeff Foxworthy does his You might be a redneck shtick? Do you laugh when someone makes a trailer trash joke? It’s humor. The best way not to the butt of jokes is to not do things to be the butt of jokes.
What they know is the media caricature found in shows like What’s Happening or Good Times.
If anyone hates Blacks it is the media first and foremost that 1. created the stereotypes 2. enforces the plantation’s rules & 3. maintains the stereotype while pretending not to.
Geez, I can see that it is impossible to discuss anything with you...
Just because you’re black is no excuse for rudeness and disrespect for others. You have drawn way too many determinations with your post and it is actually disturbing. I think that you are the racist here...
I was really wanting to discuss the problem here, but I can see that is useless. Many here either feel privileged or seem to think that such a discussion is beyond them.
“Well, you can call me Baye, or you can call me Ba, or you can call Me Ra....”
When people quit being different.
So pretty much never.
What they know is the media characterize found in shows like What’s Happening or Good Times.
My goodness, how old are you? Are those the only black shows you have any knowledge of? There have been plenty of shows that show normal and positive black people on television and in the media. These young people would have been exposed to them.
I do laugh because my mother is a black redneck. She used an old broken tv console as a TV stand for her new TV. Her butt crack shows when she is weeding in her garden, she kills snakes with a shovel. She uses paper towels more than once.
Like what? Bill Cosby?
it is actually disturbing
....no your lame excuses are disturbing. And you are right, I have no respect for them. My husband (white guy) would be pretty surprised to find out that he has been married to a racist for all these years. I am glad you feel secure in your bigotry.
Mercy, I don’t give a damn who you are married to... don’t you get it - you are the one that has problems! You are projecting your problems onto me and I am sorry, will not accept them... You need to understand and solve your own problems, I have nothing to do with them.
Sure, and: My Wife and Kids, The Bernie Mac Show, the Fresh Prince of Belair, Girlfriends, The Game, Meet the Browns, House of Payne, Family Matters, Lincoln Heights and others.
Black history month is about separating Americans. Black history as it occurs in this country is simply American history - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
There’s nothing special or ordinary about being black or white or any other color/race. The Founders happen to be Caucasians, but they’re the Founders for all Americans.
Black history month is about maintaining victim-hood and racial divisions. The result is that instead of learning about George Carver or Booker T. Washington as Americans and a part of our history, all our history, they remain the separate province and property of a race. That’s the divisive goal of socialism.
Going back to the story, the point is to make these girls feel different and unwanted, to keep them separated under a conspiracy of racism. We laugh at Italian, Polish or other ethnic jokes partly because there is some truth to them. The ghetto lifestyle certainly isn’t something to be celebrated in a positive way. It is ruinous to the kids that take it on as a lifestyle no matter what their race.
I’m not projecting my problems onto you because YOU ARE THE PROBLEM. People who make excuses for bad racist behavior are the problem no matter what their race is. And if by discussing (because you claim that was your problem is not being able to discuss) , you mean I’m supposed to listen to your views on the matter, but you don’t need to listen to what I have to say.... is very telling. Don’t you get it?
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