MLK Party At Texas College Called Racist

(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.

[icudiva07]

MLK was about racial equality for everyone not just black folks. Read the "I Have A Dream" speech again. We all ought to be offended. Furthermore race relations are IMPORTANT. We live in a diverse country and it is a constitutional right to be treated equally. When that right is threatened or taken away it is everyone's problem. Allowing this to go on at an accredited institution (where students are being groomed for the real world) says that its ok to take this attitude into the real world. That same disrespect can & often does turn into racial profiling in the real world which has been known to affect the demographics in various career fields.If we expect to continue to progress as a nation we must leave the mistakes of the past in the past, & correct the mistakes in the present to ensure a better future for all.

[Dave Abernathy]

Here's a good place to read up on the CCC and some of its prominent supporters, including politicians:

www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=365

[bhappy2-2]

EXPOCBS,
Do they have a website? How about a link to it for those who want to check it out?

[Dave Abernathy]

Reading this thread, it's clear that bigotry is alive and well in America. I'm reassured by the knowledge that the cretins on this thread are not representative of America in general.

Hate speech, as sickening and ignorant as it is, is NOT illegal in the US. If you read the article with any care you'd know that the school is examining its own rules to determine if there was a violation.

Those that are whimpering about the lack of "white" organizations should wake up and get registered with the CCC (Council of Conservative Citizens), sometimes referred to as the "Uptown Klan." You'll be welcomed there as the bigoted brethren that you are.

[bhappy2-2]

Of course it's racist! It's white people! Someone call the NAAWP! Oh, thats right, we aren't allowed to have a white organization like that.

[sparkeee35]

OMG this is UNBELIEVABLE!!!! What about Jessie Jackson...Al Sharpton...Ray Nagin...Chris Rock and all the other "prominent" Black folks that get up & talk their "white folks" RACISM? They do it & get away with it. No one says "hey their being RACIST towards the Whites. Ray Nagin & his "chocolate city"...Al Sharpton & Jessie Jackson...being the BIGGEST RACISTS of all...they certainly aren't preachin the same message that MLK preached. Its ok for them to say their "white folks" slurs...but let a white person say something...& OMG the NAACP is all over that. This is RIDUCULOUS...there's sooooo much more IMPORTANT issues going on in our country than to keep harpin on this "racial card". It happens in EVERY society. Children are being raised to be racist...all over this country...its not just limited to the South. Racism is alive today...because of articles like this...that constantly keep it stirred up.

[olebd]

Playing the race card also pays a pretty good salary these days for some. Last I saw, Jesse Jackson was making $95,000 per public appearance. Not a bad living!!!

[laughaboutth]

What's really horrible is that being white today means you can't express yourself without being called a racist or an oppressor. People applaud when any other group shows pride in their heritage/ethnicity. When a white person shows any hint of this the people start talking. This country is headed in the wrong direction right now. You have the majority of the population not being afforded the same rules in the US society. People are frustrated. If having a party relieves some of their frustration, so be it. People poke fun to make each other feel better. It's better to joke than to be violent. People have the right to free expression. This message board has people talking about limits to free speech. Where do you want to live? The constistution/Bill of Rights does not gaurantee you won't be offended. The real problem here is the double standard that exists, not the parties that took place. We need consistency in the application of laws/rules.

[twilbury]

Since when is a dose of reality worthy of censure? Is it only racism when it's the white people making fun of those "of color"? Such a double standard. Truth be told, those "of color" are much more racist than their white brethren. Whether in school or the workplace, they scream racial prejudice first, if for no other reason than in an attempt to refocus attention from their own behaviors. There's nothing blatantly racist in any of the photos shown on the website, nothing at all. Since when is drinking from a bottle in a bag a race symbol? The same with headbands - how is that racist? Has KFC only made money in neighborhoods "of color"? People are shouting just to hear themselves scream.

[dipolito22]

i think these colored people, that are making an issue out of nothing, they should be flattered someone would take the time to spoof them. Imitation IS the highest form of flattery you know. here's the deal, the black leaders in this counrty are on a continious mission to keep the fight they started decades ago alive. They have made a career out of "black civil rights". This has done nothing for the black community except divide those who would wish to be part of a race less society and those who wish to see the country as white america and black america such as Donald Elder. The NAACP is the most racest group of them all.