<p>Re the Kappa Sigmas. At my / son’s school, the Kappa Sigmas there were kicked off campus about a decade ago because they held a formal at the Shedd Aquarium and poured alcohol into one of the whale tanks. They sound like a bunch of stupid jerks any way you slice it.</p>
<p>Thanks, Bay. I confess that the description that came to mind upon seeing the picture was “coolie hat,” but I’m glad I didn’t use that term to describe it, as apparently it’s offensive.</p>
<p>Well, I have no idea if Kobe Bryant is a “good” (as in clean-living) athlete / positive role model or a “bad” (thug) athlete / negative role model. I just know he’s a basketball player. I don’t even know the team he plays for, nor do I care. Nor do I have any idea if he has an Afro or not. Shrug. Should I? </p>
<p>What I’m asking would it be offensive / out of bounds (in the college party context) for someone to dress up as Tim Tebow and mimic the kneeling pose that Tebow is known for. I wonder if a Christian association who was offended would be told to “get over it.”</p>
<p>I don’t think the “offensive” line is as clear as some would like to believe. A friend’s 5th grade (White) son was sincerely obsessed with rap music and Black culture. On school free dress day, he wore a basketball jersey and tons of gold-chain bling (which he collected with his own money(!)). Was that offensive? I have no idea. I am positive that he did not mean it to be.</p>
<p>Well, I’ll tell you.
He isn’t a gangbanger nor does he sport an afro. These were additions to the costume that made it obvious as to the intent of its wearer.</p>
<p>Why would a Christian organization be offended that someone mocks a pose done that is unique to Tebow and not representative of Christianity at large?
Now if someone dressed in torn bloody garments and carried around a styrofoam cross then attended a booze infused party with said costume, then yes. I should suspect that many Christians would be annoyed/offended. </p>
<p>@bay
It’s really sad the kid associates stereotypes with actual black culture.
What are his parents doing?
This (gold chains, hoes, rap music, fast cars) isn’t really blackness, imo.</p>
<p>As a person of Irish ancestry, am I supposed to be offended by St. Patrick’s Day festivities? Have I just been oblivious to the highly offensive nature of years of green beer?</p>
<p>I went to Catholic school growing up. If you wore green on St Paddy’s day and you weren’t Irish, you got pinched on the back of your upper arm.</p>
<p>So… This is a case of Irish Pride. ;)</p>
<p>This story just hit the national news, folks, and Kappa Sig is NOT standing by their men, here. Clearly, the national organization is uninterested in them.</p>
<p>I think this is good. As xiggi has pointed out, rightfully so, if the national orgs abandon their bad behaving brethren and kick them to the curb, this type of offensive behavior will end. Now, if we can just get them to do this on the date rape cases.</p>
<p>Why is what this boy did “sad,” if he was simply imitating what he saw in rap music videos, and that is the genre he liked?
I don’t know what his parents did about it (this was about 10 years ago), but they let him wear his stuff to school on non-uniform days. What should they have done about it?</p>
<p>A solitary act like a kid showing up at school wearing bling and baggy pants is not meant to send a message to his friends, it might be different when you add the collective power of numbers. A single person that crosses the line of common sense is not that “big of a deal” but when you have a full group of people intent to outdo one another, you have the typical over-the-top result. </p>
<p>Identifying or coding the degree of malfeasance is a canard; some will see it a benign expression of humor and others as grossly offensive. Probably along the lines of prior or current engagement with the groups that are the targets or the offenders. </p>
<p>The real issue is no longer if such parties happen and what the intent was. That is well established. The issue that matters is why nothing tangible has been done to curb the excesses, and why everyone seems so eager to either dismiss the gravity or accept the incredibly hollow apologies. </p>
<p>In the case of Duke, a perennial offender with its ingrained culture, it should not suffice to consider the action by the national chapter as proper remedy. The current administration, in a departure from the previous spineless versions, should send a strong message by banning this fraternity permanently, and send a message to the remaining fraternities that the wall that separates the gown from the town is not impermeable.</p>
<p>Do it a few times, and the teenagers will think twice about repeating the same “fun.” Look the other way --as it has been done thus far at Duke-- and it will repeat ad nauseam.</p>
<p>Isn’t it different when jokes are made about a group which has power? In the past, the Irish were a group which experienced discrimination in the USA. Words had the ability to negatively impact them.</p>
<p>A child who admires another culture (rap) and emulates it is doing something much different than a fraternity member who appropriates cultural stereotypes for comic effect.</p>
<p>a) Yes, it is always offensive to have a celebration themed around a specific racial or national background.
b) It depends. Only if someone who is not Irish dresses up as an Irish person and parties with “mocking” intent.
c) No, Irish people are not allowed to be offended in this country.</p>
<p>I’ve always been a firm believer in the idea that if a certain group wants to make fun of THEMSELVES, it’s fine. It’s their culture, y’know? </p>
<p>My Spanish teacher let us have a fiesta where we brought in yummy foods that both showcased a culture and were soooo good, lol. We had to explain the tradition behind the food, where it came from, etc.
It was respectful, fun and appropriate. I’ve had black parties (black history month stuffs) where “soul food” was served and everyone was dressed normally. Some jazz was played and it was pretty classy.</p>
<p>I’m a bit shocked any student would be allowed to wear metallic chains, especially masses of them as one would commonly see in rap videos or in the 80s-early '90s, those emulating cheesy hair metalists/bikers to school. </p>
<p>Even the public middle/high schools I attended banned their wearing on school grounds for safety reasons as we had shop requirements and there’s a good chance someone could have been seriously injured/killed if their/classmate’s chain(s) were caught in the shop machinery while it was on. </p>
<p>The clued-in kids would tuck them into their pockets or place them in lockers once on school grounds and wear them proudly once they’ve left school for the day. </p>
<p>The not so clued in kids would end up getting their chains confiscated, getting a lecture from the dean, and having the parents notified about the violation of school safety rules. If this happened multiple times in HS, such kids would be disciplined and “strongly advised” to consider transferring back to their zoned regular high school. Nearly all these kids were gone by the end of sophomore year.</p>
<p>Most students don’t have a shop class requirement at their high schools, thus obviating any safety concerns. I’m “shocked” that you - you of all people, who is constantly chafing at not being able to express one’s individuality for fear of being looked down upon by The Man – would have a problem with chains. They don’t MEAN the person is violent, do they - any more than a trench coat means the person is about to shoot somebody. Yeah, those chains may be cheesy, but one has an unalienable right to dress in a cheesy fashion, no?</p>