<p>what happened to UF? (and his posts??)…was there a violation of CC rules?</p>
<p>I think an issue here is whether the person is being made a figure of fun in part *because *of his or her race. I don’t think that is the case for Michael Jackson. But the Williams sisters? I’m not so sure.</p>
<p>Its tough to find that fine line between satire or parody and offense or insensitive behavior.</p>
<p>Rodney-
UF openly critically posted in another thread about moderation, being banned, changing the IP address and re-registering. And-- <em>poof</em>*</p>
<p>Should’nt this whole thread be erased if one of the post sparked many comments. Anyone reading the tread has no idea what we were referencing with that one post being deleted.</p>
<p>I think all of the person’s posts anywhere on the site disappear.</p>
<p>Yup, I’ve got a few posts in another thread that dont make sense out of context b/c I didnt put the name pof th poster to whom I was responding and now their posts are gone. (of course, all my other posts make <em>perfect</em> sense 
)</p>
<p>I believe SNL has done some bits on the Williams sisters. They are more than ripe for poking fun at. Rich public athletes are open season.</p>
<p>I think Lehigh’s case is being reported since they have other racial incidents previously - the most well known case right after the Obama’s election. The president of the university convened a town hall meeting on race issues after that. I heard about some other anecdotal stuff since then also.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether Lehigh is a victim of “more news spotlight” on these issue, or whether indeed they have a bit of a problem in this domain - more so than other schools. It is surprising given that it’s within ~2 hours from NYC/Philadelphia. This mystifies me a bit. </p>
<p>S is trying to decide between Lehigh and Bucknell regarding where he is going to take his 4 year full tuition plus stipend ROTC scholarship, and to be completely honest, this kind of report and the reputation for overwhelming Greek culture are not helping their case. These two sort of get packaged into an easy stereotype (not saying this stereotype is correct, but it is sort of in line with the popular imagination a la animal house). On one hand Lehigh has an outstanding academic reputation, and then you hear things like this…</p>
<p>I think Lehigh has a bit of a PR problem.</p>
<p>Not knowing the details of course, it looks like these people dressed up as a couple of famous, public, respected, household name, figures who happened to be black as opposed to dressing up as a non-specific, stereotypical figure. Given that, I don’t see why it was offensive. Like the other poster said - if one were to dress up as Frankenstein they’d paint the face green, as a famous white person - white, etc. Isn’t the idea of the dressup like a famous figure to be recognized as that figure somehow which in this case would mean appearing black along with other recognizable attributes?</p>
<p>I think white people dressing up in Halloween costumes as famous people (and some who happen to be black), is not racist.</p>
<p>For years, people have bought president masks (Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Bush I and II) for Halloween, so certainly there were Obama masks sold the last couple of years. Would it be racist for a white person to wear an Obama mask for Halloween? I don’t think so, as long as there wasn’t something racially inappropriate to the overall message of the costume.</p>
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<p>My post #3 makes no sense now that UF’s post is gone. Looks like I’m disagreeing with post #2 , with whom I completely agree, and therefore am having some sort of inner dispute with myself! Oh well . . …</p>
<p>I think it’s very hard to draw a bright line at what is racially/ethnically offensive and what is just humorous. As a Jew, I think it would be fine for a non-Jew to dress up as, say, Jerry Seinfeld but not ok to dress as a Jewish stereotype of some sort. </p>
<p>The Williams sisters or Michael Jackson? Perhaps ok if not exaggerating some racial stereotype. But if emphasizing a stereotype? Not ok. (I hope that makes sense.) </p>
<p>I’ve been thinking of an incident at my S’s school several years ago when a group of kids dressed up at a party in blackface as pimps and whores. THAT was offensive.</p>
<p>wearing a mask is different from wearing black face make up, simply because black face make up is associated with the minstrel/vaudeville tradition. While there may be a revisionist view of that tradition (there seems to be a revisionist view of almost everything) I think its clear that in American memory that tradition is strongly associated with negative stereotypes of african americans, and rightly so, AFAICT.</p>
<p>hmmm… Doing “blackface” just to be a generic person of another race would definitely be racist. But to be specific celebrities? I’m inclined to believe it was less about race and more about guys dressing in drag. </p>
<p>Lehigh has had racial issues in the past, that’s probably why it hit the news. </p>
<p>(I think the “Mexican custodial staff” costume is offensive. But dressing as a specific celebrity, regardless of race or culture, wouldn’t be. JMHO)</p>
<p>
I’m not sure many of today’s college students would have that association pop into their heads - most of them won’t even watch a tv show or movie that’s in B&W. If you asked the average student what a minstrel show was they probably wouldn’t have a clue. Many would be clueless about what a vaudeville show was as well. I think the first association would be that it was simply part of the ‘costume’ they were putting on like the green Frankenstein face. I hope so anyway.</p>
<p>For the past few years Lehigh has had its share of accusations regarding racism. As I alluded to before, it appears to be a small group of students that bring every incident of perceived racism to the forefront of the campus administration. These students who I am sure have good intentions also appear to be trying to make a name for themselves as up and coming civil rights activists. It has been interesting to follow how many of the reported or perceived problems have erupted turning this colleges’ reputation into a school with major racial problems. This simply is not true. The racial “problems” are in large part perceived and being blown out of proportion by this small group of students. I do believe there is a hidden agenda to much of the hoopla, and that is unfortunate for both Lehigh and the students responsible for these public accusations. The way to make a name for yourself is to dig in and find the real problems not to turn some small immaginary and innocent situation into something more than it is. These students need to work on the real issues of racism in this country, and pave their way or they will lose people before they even begin. There are enough real issues in society to address, and I hope that these passionate young people will put their effort into creating the change that is important, rather than perpetuating the benign allocations of racism.</p>
<p>This is not just a Lehigh issue. As I stated in my post earlier, some students at Cornell also did the same on Halloween, except they just painted their face black.</p>
<p>momma three,</p>
<p>if you believe that it’s really a problem of a few agitators who are blowing things out of proportion out of their own agenda, please provide corroborating facts. tell us who these people are, and what’s their consistent pattern of agitation is. If you are making the statement as above, you must know something none of here know. Please share FACTS.</p>
<p>hyeonjlee…I wish that I could provide more info but if I did my identity would be obvious. Much of what has gone on at Lehigh started before the election of President Obama. Many of the Lehigh students were pro McCain and on election night there were obvious signs of disappointment as well as approval when the results came out. This sparked many controversies regarding perceived race related issues. I believe much of the negative rap that Lehigh has received will probably begin to simmer down once the 2011 class graduates.</p>
<p>Oldfort…Are you sure there was not a costume of some sort attached to the face painting?</p>
<p>I live very close to Lehigh and couldn’t find anything in our local paper about this at all. It may be the talk of the campus, but I think it’s funny that this is the only place I’ve heard of this incident.</p>