Stupid Is As Stupid Does and Another Media Feeding Frenzy is Under Way

[Pilgrim]

By now we've probably all seen or read about the outrage over the racist song of a fraternity at the University of Oklahoma and their resulting banishment from the school. Of course anyone familiar with college campuses knows that kids this age do stupid things, especially when under the influence of John Barleycorn. In this instance it's hard to believe they were this stupid considering the political correctness and racial sensitivity that's so pervasive at colleges these days. However, the punishment meted out was appropriate in that two students were expelled and the group is forever gone from OU. But the media feeding frenzy goes on, and seems to have spread to condemning not only ALL SAE chapters but to all Greek organizations everywhere, and anyone associated with them. They've even gone so far as to malign the 78-year old housemother who was recorded repeating the lyrics to a rap song that included the n-word. IMHO that is a bit over the top, even for the sludge that calls itself the MSM these days.

New video surfaces allegedly showing SAE house mom rapping n-word - CBS News

One must wonder how much responsibility should be assigned to the University in this situation since several articles have surfaced that claim administrators knew for years that this was a rouge chapter and chose to turn a blind eye to their activities until something like this went public; then they're shocked, mind you - shocked to learn this hive of scum and villainy existed on their campus, so off with their heads!

Remember, not that long ago that OU also had a few problems with drugs, alcohol and gunfire in the jock dorms when Barry Switzer was head football coach. He was summarily fired and the team put in the NCAA jailhouse for widespread violations. Maybe OU is not so different from Penn State.

 

[RLENT]

Maligned the poor old girl eh ?

How so ?

 

[Turtle]

"Somebody should have stood up and said, 'Hey, we should not say this,'" student JD Baker said.

And then right after that someone else should have stood up and said, "But I will defend to the death your right to say it."

 

[witness23]

"Somebody should have stood up and said, 'Hey, we should not say this,'" student JD Baker said.

And then right after that someone else should have stood up and said, "But I will defend to the death your right to say it."

Someone absolutely should not have stood up and said "I will defend to the death your right to say it." There's no "defending" anything that was on that video.

Why would you defend, ignorance? Strike that, that happens quite a bit here in the soapbox.

 

[Pilgrim]

"Somebody should have stood up and said, 'Hey, we should not say this,'" student JD Baker said.

And then right after that someone else should have stood up and said, "But I will defend to the death your right to say it."

Apparently these kids didn't realize that when they enter a state land-grant university, they leave behind their first amendment rights along with their high school letterman's jacket and senior class ring.

 

[Turtle]

Apparently these kids didn't realize that when they enter a state land-grant university, they leave behind their first amendment rights along with their high school letterman's jacket and senior class ring.

They reason they didn't realize it is, because it's not true. Your Constitutional rights don't get left at the door when you enter a public university, especially and specifically a state university (now, private universities, that's a different deal). The Supreme Court made that very clear in 1972 when they ruled that "state colleges and universities are not enclaves immune from the sweep of the First Amendment." And then a year later the court reaffirmed again that "the mere dissemination of ideas—no matter how offensive to good taste—on a state university campus may not be shut off in the name alone of conventions of decency."

 

[Turtle]

Someone absolutely should not have stood up and said "I will defend to the death your right to say it." There's no "defending" anything that was on that video.

Why would you defend, ignorance? Strike that, that happens quite a bit here in the soapbox.

I'm not defending ignorance, I'm defending the right to be ignorant. I'm not defending what they said, I'm defending their right to say it.

I have no problem with the national fraternity kicking them out, since the fraternity is a private social organization and they can set up the rules any way they want. But for the university to expel students for exercising their Constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech? Holy crap. Next you'll have students being expelled for telling other students that they'll go to Hell unless they accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, or because they said that George Bush, a C student, was the mastermind behind 911.

Freedom of speech took a hit on Tuesday, and that makes me sad.

 

[muttly]

Someone absolutely should not have stood up and said "I will defend to the death your right to say it." There's no "defending" anything that was on that video.

Why would you defend, ignorance? Strike that, that happens quite a bit here in the soapbox.

So you are for banning rap songs and other music with certain offensive words in it?

 

[Pilgrim]

So you are for banning rap songs and other music with certain offensive words in it?

Funny you should mention that. As it turns out, a certain rapper that calls himself Waka Flocka had been booked to perform at an SAE party at OU, but cancelled because of the racist video that surfaced. A word of caution to any non-black person on a college campus: don't get caught - especially recorded - repeating the lyrics of one of this guy's "songs" (using the term loosely). Warning: XXX rated:
WAKA FLOCKA FLAME LYRICS - Hard N Da Paint

Even more ironic is the following link mentioning Flocka's decision to cancel his performance, which would have been cancelled anyway considering OU's president David Boren kicked the frat off campus within hours of the video being released. Notice in the cropped picture (not sure if this is the SAE chapter at OU) that there are 3 BLACK MEMBERS shown, not sure what the entire picture looks like.

Waka Flocka Cancels Show At Sigma Alpha Epsilon In Oklahoma | Bossip

The first things that come to mind here are the Duke Univ. lacrosse team scandal and the Univ. of Va rape hoax published by Rolling Stone. Is the entire SAE chapter at OU really as bad as it seems on a 10 second video taken on a bus?

 

[muttly]

Funny you should mention that. As it turns out, a certain rapper that calls himself Waka Flocka had been booked to perform at an SAE party at OU, but cancelled because of the racist video that surfaced. A word of caution to any non-black person on a college campus: don't get caught - especially recorded - repeating the lyrics of one of this guy's "songs" (using the term loosely). Warning: XXX rated:
WAKA FLOCKA FLAME LYRICS - Hard N Da Paint

Even more ironic is the following link mentioning Flocka's decision to cancel his performance, which would have been cancelled anyway considering OU's president David Boren kicked the frat off campus within hours of the video being released. Notice in the cropped picture (not sure if this is the SAE chapter at OU) that there are 3 BLACK MEMBERS shown, not sure what the entire picture looks like.

Waka Flocka Cancels Show At Sigma Alpha Epsilon In Oklahoma | Bossip

The first things that come to mind here are the Duke Univ. lacrosse team scandal and the Univ. of Va rape hoax published by Rolling Stone. Is the entire SAE chapter at OU really as bad as it seems on a 10 second video taken on a bus?

The OU President's decision was political. He can't afford to have the University be dragged through the mud with the negative publicity. Regardless of the free speech issue, public sentiment was that type of language wasn't allowed on their campus.
To me the chant on the bus was appalling,but is it much different than someone caught on tape lip syncing the song you posted? Or the older woman in the video? If were a non white person lip syncing the song, isn't it similarly offensive? I get that it is somewhat accepted in the entertainment industry for blacks to use offensive/ racist language that other races can't, but when a person is on a college campus( regardless of race)and caught in a similar video, the repercussions should be the same. A good argument could also be made that the repercussions were way too much.

 

[Pilgrim]

Let's compare this situation to something much worse. In late January two Vanderbilt football players were found guilty of raping a girl that had passed out drunk at a party. The rape took place in the jocks' dorm and was video copied my multiple players who did nothing to stop it. The two main perps were found guilty and sentenced to prison after 19 months of legal process, yet the football team still exists and business goes on as usual. This is a drastically more serious crime than a racially offensive chant sung by a few drunken fraternity boys, so using the same logic one has to wonder why the Vandy football team wasn't eliminated within hours. Wonder if OU President David Boren - a clown in his own right - would have disbanded the Sooners football team if a few players had been videoed singing a similar offensive song?

Vanderbilt rape trial: Defendants found guilty on all charges

 

[cheri1122]

I have to agree with Turtle: I deplore what they said [sang, actually], but I too, would defend their right to say it, because : free speech. Which also protects the rights of those who would respond with whatever they feel appropriate.
The racism, excessive drinking, rape culture, 'hazing' - all these "cherished traditions" of fraternities are counter productive to the whole purpose of higher education: gaining maturity and knowledge. As far as I can see, the only purpose of a fraternity is to have people to 'party' with while in school, and to have contacts to network with later in life.
Do they do enough good to outweigh the bad that has always been blown off as "boys will be boys"?