MLK Party At Texas College Called Racist

Pictures Show Frat Members At Tarleton State Eating Fried Chicken, Drinking From Paper Bags

(AP)  Known for its award-winning rodeo teams, Tarleton State University is a usually quiet campus nestled in the state's biggest dairy community.

But that wasn't the case Thursday, a day after more than 400 people attended a campus meeting to discuss a Martin Luther King Jr. party last week that many here found racially offensive.

Photographs that partygoers posted on Internet sites showed some fraternity members and others eating fried chicken, drinking malt liquor from bottles wrapped in brown paper bags and dressed in faux gang apparel.

From sidewalks to the student center, discussions about the party and what should happen to the participants were all over campus.

"It was rude and disrespectful," said Lindsay Springer, 21, a senior from Bronte, Texas, who is white. "I think it came off as a group of people trying to have a good time and not offend a particular race. I think things just got out of hand and turned into a bigger deal than they wanted."

Others were angered and said disciplining the students would send a message that racism will not be tolerated on the campus, which is about 10 percent black.

"They did it on Martin Luther King Day — if anything, that made me angry," said R.J. Chisum, 20, a football player and junior business marketing major from Dallas, who is black. "He's the reason I get to go to school here today. People may be raised like that and think it's nothing, but if nobody stops them, racism will never stop."

One picture shows a young white woman wearing a kerchief on her head and a red-and-white checkered apron and holding Aunt Jemima syrup. Another shows a young white man wearing a kerchief on his head and holding a pitcher and a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag. Handwritten on his T-shirt is "I love chicken."

The pictures, posted on Facebook.com until a Lambda Chi Alpha member shown in some of the photographs removed them, are now displayed on www.thesmokinggun.com. The president of the school's Lambda Chi Alpha chapter, Devan Hanson, has said the party was at a member's home but was attended by members of several groups. He denied the fraternity had anything to do with the party.

The party highlights the need for diversity education on campus, said Donald Ray Elder, president of the school's chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"Laughing and joking openly or behind closed doors — especially pretending to honor a civil rights activist such as Dr. King — should not be tolerated anywhere," said Elder, a sophomore.

Of Tarleton State's 9,000 students in the spring semester, about 900 are black and 7,000 are white, according to the college.

Tarleton State is the second-largest university in the Texas A&M system. Tarleton rodeo teams have won the national championship six times — including in 2005, when the men's and women's teams both won — and have had 13 individual national champions since 1947.

It is a major employer in Stephenville, a 16,900-resident agricultural community about 60 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Erath County is the state's top dairy producer, according to the Texas Farm Bureau.

In October, a group of first-year law students at the University of Texas at Austin were chided by the dean for participating in a "Ghetto Fabulous"-themed costume party and posting pictures online. Partygoers carried 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor and wore Afro wigs, necklaces with large medallions and name tags bearing historically black and Hispanic names.

State Rep. Garnet F. Coleman, D-Houston, said Thursday that he was outraged over news of a similar party at Tarleton State.

"If you look up the definitions for stereotype, bigot and prejudice, you will see they all mean the same thing. All those words are based on prejudging another class of people, which is exactly what Dr. King was fighting against," Coleman said in a statement. "What these students did and the day they did it on shows they were trying to be purposefully ignorant and prejudiced."

Many students and university officials said it seemed to be an isolated incident and that racism was not a problem at Tarleton State.

In an e-mail obtained by the Stephenville Empire-Tribune, one student in the photos apologized to Elder and said the MLK party tradition started "a few years back."

The university continues to investigate to determine if students will face disciplinary action, which could range from a warning to suspension, said Wanda Mercer, vice president of student life.

"We have to determine is this a violation of university rules or is it free speech?" Mercer said.

[bluestardad]

leave those kids alone!

[limited94]

I don't know why....and I feel really bad for it....but I find this hysterically funny.

[badbrown126]

To dadrees:

With respect. It is possible that they were just having fun ... and to be quite truthful in our society it is a little dangerous to take ourselves to seriously.

Think about this .. they are using Abraham Lincoln and a groundhog to sale sleep aides now.

It is still OK to have a sense of humor in todays society.

What are your thoughts?

Take care ... B

[limited94]

"Laughing and joking openly or BEHIND CLOSED DOORS %u2014 especially pretending to honor a civil rights activist such as Dr. King %u2014 should not be tolerated anywhere," said Elder, a sophomore. "


Yep, you heard. No more joking behind your own closed doors. Welcome to this PC world that we live in. Bye bye opinions, bye bye humor. Hello lawsuits, hello stick up a**.

[limited94]

It's so funny that people still try and use that old adage "THIS IS FREE SPEECH". Don't they know that will never work? We lost the rights to free speech a LONG time ago.

[limited94]

Ever seen the movie "Friday"? Isn't that kind of a stereotypical viewpoint of blacks? Why didn't that make the news? Oh, that's right, it was presented to us by blacks. Nevermind.

[limited94]

Keep in mind these are just my humorous opinions....please be gentle.

[dmotte]

Give me a break.The blacks can have their own organizations with the word black in the title of whatever oranization it might be,but why can't the caucasion race have their organizations referred to as a white organization? What's the problem?

[sunshyne205]

Whew! I'm glad I'm Mexican, I don't have to deal with what blacks go through, thanks white people.

[dmotte]

Did you swim over or are you here on a green card?

[badbrown126]

To sunshyne205 :

With respect may I ask a question:

If a Mexican of spanish decent crosses the border to the US are they an American of Spanish descent ...IE: a European American ... or are they a Mexican American. Would one status qualify as a minorty and not the other?

What if the spanish speaking person can trace there roots in the US to before there was a US ... portions of Texas and California. Would they be considered a minority?

I am not trying to be smart. I just wanted to get other opinions on the subject.

Migration and minority status are a very tricky thing.

B

[sunshyne205]

Sure, I slipped through the fence,came across your back yard and looked in your bedroom window to see you having *** with your daughter.

[limited94]

Easy now.

[sunshyne205]

to B. we're just coming back home. While blacks are still public enemy number one in this country, that makes it easier for us to come back to reclaim our land.

[random_radar]

"why can't the caucasion race have their organizations referred to as a white organization? What's the problem?
Posted by dmotte at 02:03 PM : Jan 26, 2007"

Because it would be racist. I would never join an a white organization because I am not a racist.

"Whew! I'm glad I'm Mexican, I don't have to deal with what blacks go through, thanks white people.
Posted by sunshyne205 at 02:04 PM : Jan 26, 2007"

Si, que suerte. Si usted fuera blanco, le acusarman de ser un racista. Asi es la vida.

[limited94]

It's friday, and I'm in a wonderful mood, so I'm going to take all of this arguing that I predict is fixing to happen in good humor. TGIF everybody.

To dmotte: Why were you having *** with your daughter? Even more so, why did you leave the curtains open?

[dmotte]

That's bad but not as bad as when I was in the Marine Corps and was down in Tiujuana and saw your mother sc rewing a donkey.

[limited94]

He's got you there.

[limited94]

I went down to Tiujuana and watched one of those shows, you know, where a woman is ****ing horse, and it was, like, a woman ****ing a horse. I kinda felt bad for the horse.

[dmotte]

Besides limited94 all ******** and ******** look alike.Do you fit either one of these catagories?

[bliz179]

I'm Irish so I guess I should be offended at the green beer, people dressed up like leprechauns, and drunk irishmen jokes on St. Patrick's day. Lighten up people. Jeez.

[pv2mangum]

As a Young black man I know that these kids are only going to get a slap on the butts and sent on their way! When black people make movies about they way we live its very muck O.K. When white people do it they are entering into a subject that they have no knowledge about and when they do try to poke fun at certain situations they do it in such poor tastse that it then becomes racist!

[dmotte]

To a black person,*** is an offensive word.Why is it that the word is used by blacks calling black s *** and it"s not offensive? Seems to me,that's calling the kettle black.

[pv2mangum]

attention: dmotte

thats the problem you said " The Blacks" right there you are seperating "black" and "white" people! If I said "The Whites" of "Those Mixicans" I would sound real racist that's where many of minorities get the idea that "White people" are racist. Look at how we are refured too

[pv2mangum]

That word was never used in my house growing up ignorent people use that word ! The word is also used to describe ignorent people in the past that word was used to bring down the moral of african americans and now when the word is said no matter what race says it they just make themselves look dumb!

[dmotte]

Pv2Mangum,|Look at a lot of the black movies that are coming out.What do you see? Black actors calling other black actors the n word.What does that say to young whites and blacks that might be friends and see these movies or be around other blacks and hear this this type of language.The white kids would probably think that it is not an offensive word.

[camcd1]

That is so funny! What a great idea. Incase you all haven't figured it out by now, anything white people do that might be fun for them will be and is considered racist. Face it- the race card will be played inevitably as often as possible until the day we die.

[delsamrott]

Black America, The United Negro College Fund, Black History Month, Black Entertainment Television, need I go on? If they were black students doing the exact same thing they would be "paying homage to Dr. King". White people do it and immediately its racism. Black people call each other the "n" word and its okay, white people do it and its racism. Black people in New Orleans get hit by a hurricane and its the white people's fault for not rescuing them. White people in Denver get slammed by snow and nobody cries that they are not being rescued, shoot, the press gave more footage to the stranded cattle than to the people!!! Black people are never going to stop using the racism card. Ever. Why should they when whitey lets them get away with it?? Let me ask you a question, if someone were to smack you around, whip you, starve you, hurt your family, would you allow it? Would you let it happen? I personally would DIE before I would allow anyone to make me a slave. Can you guess what color MY skin is? Shame has no color.

[brackattack]

its just away to cry how unfair certain minorities are treated..even when its somethin stupid..im part cherokee indian..do you think me seeing someone dressed up in a big headdress with a tommy hawk or what ever is offensive or acting out an indian character from a cheap western flick...not in the least..people take things to literal these days...and just becasue its texas doenst mean a thing.it happens all the time people pull the race card, or women pull the *** card and get stuff stirred over nothing. Im also gay too and alot of gay men and lesbians do the same thing with sexual orientation..stir up trouble for nothin

[dmotte]

I was born and raised in south Georgia on a tobacco farm,with black families living on our farm.We got along great becaused I was raised with them and grew up with them.The problem in the last 20 to 30 years is the the blacks that have grown up during this period of time thinking that the white man owes them something that happened hundreds of years ago.I or any other white man or woman owes them diddly.They need to quit killing each other and grow up,get an education and take care of their own and let the white race look after their own.I live 20 miles from New Orleans and |I know about the murder rate here and the majority is black on black,mainly because of drugs.All I can say to the majority of blacks is ,get a life and quit killing your own people.

[xNineseveNx]

Oh my god, get over yourselves. These dumb kids did this all behind closed doors, it's no one else's business. No one was hurt, no property stolen or damaged, so who cares? If I make polish jokes in my living room, should I be fired from my job? I looked at the pictures and thought they were funny, or at least as funny as pictures from "Dress Like a Nerd Day" and other such stupid things.

Every time someone pulls the race card and cries about this, the rest of us 'non-activist' people turn slightly away from the 'movement'. You'd all be better off focusing on the real instances of racism that actually cause harm or damage (hurt feelings don't count) than focusing on what some stupid, drunk college kids did during a private party and other such trivial BS.

[jt92202]

This is not funny at all!! Dr. King deserves to be respected for all he did for this country no matter if your white or of color! The Students should have been taught respect before entering the real world!! I am White, I'm also NOT a Lib!! I am totally offended by their actions!! I respect Dr King and the struggles people of color went through in their past and people need to think about what they are doing before they do it!

We continue to segergate this country by doing stupid things like this and by having different types of special titles like BET, The Negro Fund and so on. As long as we continue to Segergate our selves from others we will always have problems!!

[olebd]

Lighten up y'all because....

All in all we're just another brick in the wall.

[olebd]

We don't need no education.

We don't need no thought control.

No dark sarcasm in the classroom.

Teachers, leave them kids alone.

[olebd]

HEY, TEACHERS...LEAVE THEM KIDS ALONE!!

[fthrkns]

Good Grief %u2026 We had a Pimps and Ho%u2019s party %u2026 I sure hope the Pimps and Ho%u2019s don't find out???

[olebd]

Yo, yo Jt92202 keeping it real dogs. It's all good, know what I'm sayin'? Yup, yup. Word.

[bluestardad]

Next the Party police will bust in doors to make sure no one is not being politically correct in all their drunken fornication and parties.

[olebd]

If MLK were around today, I think he would feel somewhat defeated by witnessing the inner city gangsta rap/hip hop culture that has taken over and those who look up to and try to emulate the thug life. Babies out of wedlock, dead beat dads, black on black violence. It certainly has to be worse in that respect then when he was around.

[bluestardad]

Hey when we wore white sheets and got drunk in college it was called a toga party is that bad now?

[bluestardad]

The only people who are getting mad at these kids are the *** that were so ugly in their college days that no one would invite them to parties and now they are the teachers trying to get back at the kids for the fun they did not have.

[bluestardad]

theskanks

[bluestardad]

I have some sensitivity training for you right here on the sausage!

[bluestardad]

you have a african american week at school and you are griping about these kids having fun. smoke this pal!

[olebd]

Down there in Texas, you'd think they'd do a Mexican themed party around the 5th of May.

[olebd]

The PETA folks ought to be mad too. They ate chicken!

[limited94]

To the guy who said all of the stereotypes about Texans - dumb, Nascar, redneck, Bush, etc. Isn't that kind of hypocritical? You're griping about blacks being stereotyped by stereotyping Texans. Hmm. I'm a chemical engineer from Texas, and I happen to love NASCAR. Think you could calculate the wind resistance per square inch on a 2007 Chevy Monte Carlo Cup Car? Why are some people so retarded?

[limited94]

What about the wind speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

[beheard20]

Granted, this story is far from headline news, especially in Texas. However, this is not an issue that should be merely shrugged off as "stupid kids having fun." Although these idiotic stereotypes were played out in "private," these young people will be more likely to express in public what they practice in private. Ignorance should NEVER be rewarded and giving this ignorance media attention has been reward enough.

[banaf]

First off I am a Texan and A student at tarleton state while I am very dissappointed in my peers that gives you know right to say texans are just a bunch of red neck nobodys. My mom and dad which by the way are not cousins taught me very much wrong from right....I do love my school and am very proud to attend here we are not a racist school just to let you know dispite what my peers have shown.