<p>Many of you may not realize what Italian Americans put up with not even 35 years ago because their parents spoke little English. They were not considered smart enough to attend college, and the schools treated them in a less than acceptable way. Instead of inspiring Italian American students to continue their education they were steered away from college, and told they could make good livings using their brawn instead of their brain. Their parents who needed to support children, took jobs in construction,masonry, and other jobs that did not require an education or knowledge of English. These same immigrants were proud when their children entered civil service careers, such as the police force and fire department because it was a sign that they were trully American and serving their American community meant they had been accepted into mainstream America. They were proud to see their children in respectable careers, and felt that their children had far surpassed them in attaining the American dream.</p>
<p>The beauty of it all has been in watching this generation (my children) attend some of the best schools in this country, and entering some of the most well respected careers. The point is that change needs to occur from within, and the way to make the change is to support education, and the family structure. There is not a single group that has not suffered some level of injustice either in the past or as new comers to the U.S but the way to remain in the background is to continue to shout injustice without recognizing that change in status could be made simple, just by becoming educated. This goes for every single group past and present. </p>
<p>As far as the students at Lehigh dressing up in costume and wearing paint on their face to accurately portray the tennis stars…it needs to rest. These students were not racist in intention, and as far as I am concerned it is the intention of the act which constitutes racism. Had this been done at any other time than Halloween than I would question the intention of wearing paint on their faces. This was not Blackface it was a costume and nothing more.</p>
<p>I think the issue is the intent of the young men who opted to dress up as the Williams sisters. Was it because they admired them, or were they mocking them, or was there some other reason?</p>
<p>I could be offended or I could feel pity for them or I might understand. It’s rather off-putting to read that people think I am too sensitive. What do you know of my experiences as a Black American to decide that?</p>
<p>When I was a freshman at U-Mich in 1974, a Black guy and his White friends donned a white hooded robe costume for Halloween. He and his White friends saw nothing wrong with it. The Black students were beyond offended. Truth be told, the Black guy just really had no clue. He got pitied.</p>
<p>^Yes indeed… To assume that the intent was racist is the same thing as saying every Jersey Shore costume was a slander on Italians. I would like to think on Halloween that both the Williams sisters and the Jersey Shore costumes were just costumes. It was Halloween.</p>
<p>Has anyone addressed Barack Obama costumes where children were wearing masks. There was no intent to hurt African Americans by dressing as the president.</p>
<p>One of my former bosses told us a tale of her elderly mother-in-law . . . She, her husband, and the mother-in-law got front row tickets to a basketball game. Halfway through, the MIL turned to them and said, with a big smile, “Isn’t it nice that black people have something to be GOOD at?” </p>
<p>Was that said in spite or with racist intentions? No! The old woman really thought she was paying black people a compliment! Was what she said racist? Yes, it completely racist. She just said black people aren’t good at anything but basketball. Racist.</p>
<p>I think it’s silly to refrain from educating yourself on issues like these, then claim everything’s okay when you offend someone due to not having educated yourself in the first place.</p>
<p>It was Halloween and the students dressed up at famous sport stars…This is crazy and over the top already. Maybe Halloween should be an abolished holiday because too many groups are insulted by costumes. Parents don’t send your kid out with an Obama mask because if the mask isn’t white than you will offend African Americans. Give me a break.</p>
<p>If the students went out wearing KKK hoods that is offensive and racist and they would deserve to get booted out of Lehigh but that is not what they did. </p>
<p>*The mother in law in the above post is a racist because she spoke in a hurtful way about a group of people…that generation was not very politically correct. The Lehigh incident is all about political correctness in a society that has taken things a bit too far in trying to right the wrongs of long ago.</p>
<p>When I was in college attending a sorority exchange I did something similar. The theme was Africa and most of the girls dressed up in cute cheetah prints and the boys as if they were going on safari. A few of my friends and I decided to be native black people and colored our faces black. On Monday we “got a little talk” from the sorority president about how inappropriate it was. We were absolutely blind-sided (and mad). There were no black people at the exchange and we felt it was all in fun; we certainly did not have any intention of being racist or offending anyone. I can also say that all of us had been brought up to know that racism was wrong. We thought it was funny (I am sure those wine-coolers had a little something to do with it) and people should have taken it that way. I know the lecture went on deaf ears.</p>
<p>Many years later I can say that I am ashamed of what I did and I would be ashamed if my children did the same thing. I was insensitive to the feelings of others (not on purpose but I just really didn’t know better) and how what I thought was funny was insulting to others. As an adult I know that fun at the expense of others is just mean. I do think that the boys may have done this indeed just for fun and did not really mean to offend anyone–the problem is that they did. We can debate all day long about whether another race should or shouldn’t be offended, but why? Do we really want to put that much energy into being “right”? And, until we actually walk in the shoes of another we cannot even begin to say we know how they should feel.</p>
<p>That little talk I got obviously struck a cord with me as I can still clearly remember it all these years later. I wasn’t ready to hear the message because at that time my world still was centered around me. When we start to take a less self-centered look at the world we begin to change our views. It is a good lesson to teach our children.</p>
<p>To any African-American parents (or students) out there, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for my ignorance and lack of sensitivity. I now know better.</p>
<p>I had a college student don blackface this Halloween to portray OJ Simpson while his girlfriend dressed up as dead Nicole Brown Simpson. </p>
<p>My student isn’t a racist, but because their Halloween photographs are now out there in FaceBook cyberspace, say goodbye to any high-powered political or public servant career. </p>
<p>Can you imagine Governor Schwarzenegger, Congressman Barney Frank, Governor Palin, Speaker Pelosi, New York Police Commissioner Kelly, or US Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts doning black face for Halloween (regardless of their harmless intent) and keeping the trust of the American people for exercising good judgment? </p>
<p>If the answer is yes, then we can end the debate.</p>
<p>^^ No one is suggesting that Halloween be abolished, nor do I recall any posts having a problem with masks. And if you equate a mask with black face you have totally missed the point. </p>
<p>As for political correctness, I’m not much of a fan, but I am very much saddened by what I see as a general lack of civility (which one friend defined as never unintentionlaly offending another). At the very least, the Lehigh incident is a reminder that we should take far more care of each other’s feelings.</p>
<p>Perhaps the Lehigh students (like the MIL in post #104 and the black student in #102) had absolutely no idea that their conduct was offensive, but ignorance is no excuse. If the students honestly had now idea their costumes were offensive, they should have apologized profusely (and gracefully accepted whatever the univ considered to be an appropriate consequence).</p>
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<p>post #106 - - Bravo!</p>
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<p>Post #107 - - Isnt it heartbreaking that these kids are so out of touch that they don’t/can’t see how hurtful dressing as OJ and Nicole could be (and hurtful on so many different levels). Also sad that they have no idea how these images will haunt them.</p>
<p>I think there’s a continuum here…to me, dressing up as OJ and dead Nicole is a lot more offensive than dressing up as the Williams sisters. For the sake of argument, what if somebody had dressed up as Kanye West–with blackface. Would that be as offensive as the Williams sisters? It would be less clear, I think. But I think it’s important to emphasize that it’s not dressing up as a black person, per se, that seems to be offensive–it’s using makeup to appear in “blackface.” “Blackface” has historical significance.</p>