<p>ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A party that asked students to come dressed "politically incorrect" has prompted an investigation by Macalester College officials who learned one student was costumed as a Ku Klux Klan member and another wore blackface with a noose around his neck.</p>
<p>Students at the private school told administrators about the Jan. 16 party on campus....
A campus-wide discussion is planned for Tuesday.</p>
<p>The student newspaper, The Mac Weekly, quoted senior David Nifoussi, who attended the party, as saying it was meant to be a satiric comment on "things that would be considered taboo in most situations" at the liberal school.</p>
<p>Macalester is the latest in a series of colleges to investigate student parties and incidents that have involved racial overtones.</p>
<p>My kids attended high school less than a mile from Macalester (a fine college). A couple of years ago an incident happened at their school that illuminated how differently our kids think of racial issues. Keep in mind that most young people have basically had the "strength through diversity" theme throughout their education, which is great, but quite different from the way most of us fogeys were raised. </p>
<p>Anyhow, the kids tease each other racially (my son is half East Indian, and he does a spoof head wag) all the time, in ways that to us seem offensive. They refer to Asians as rice eaters. Some pretend to be African American, I think out of admiration for that culture. The incident revolved around an Asian girl giving a speech for a class and then her friends writing on her car, which was parked prominently on a busy street, something to the effect of "go back to your country, rice eater." The school administration was shocked, the police were called, the word "hate" was used, but the students, including the Asian girl, were completely mystified that such a big deal was being made. The administration explained that the words might have appeared harmless to them but that other people would not take them that way. </p>
<p>It was an illuminating incident and made me realize that there are some significant generational differences at work here.</p>
<p>SuNa, judging from the Mac Weekly article, many of the students there do not think it's okay.</p>
<p>Is it generational, or a general coarsening of our sensibilities?</p>
<p>In a wider sense, I am dismayed about how the words "politically correct" are used, by the students at that party and in society, as denigration for what i would just call "behaving civilly" or "good manners."</p>
<p>Look, it is impossible to justify these kinds of things - racism hurts and is immutably wrong. And that sense there should be no equivocation about it. On the other hand, when I glance at MTV - and in particular this show called "Sucka Free" - a rap show - a veritable smorgasbord of misogyny and the worst examples of negative stereoptypical behavior - one would think that the Klan was producing the show to authenticate their negative perceptions about minorities. Yes, the show is that offensive, and worst yet - there is no break from assault - virtually every video and vignetter is an oversexed, degrading, street drug laden and criminal glorifying booty call. </p>
<p>So while it is "cool" to watch the worst form of pimpin, degrading videos (and their are other shows like it unfortunately) on MTV and the like, it becomes a hysterical cause celebre when these kids act out what they see in popular culture. Again, not excusing their behavior, but at the same time, out of the politically correct halls of the university, it is challenging to get worked up over these incidents. And don't think at some level these kids know it.</p>
<p>I've never seen that show, but I don't think that kind of trash is cool in any venue, and the fact that a lot of people do, doesn't mean that it is. Like I said above, if "politically correct" means "not being a jerk" (which I think it really often does) I think it's worth pursuing throughout society.</p>
<p>"Anyhow, the kids tease each other racially (my son is half East Indian, and he does a spoof head wag) all the time, in ways that to us seem offensive. They refer to Asians as rice eaters. Some pretend to be African American, I think out of admiration for that culture. The incident revolved around an Asian girl giving a speech for a class and then her friends writing on her car, which was parked prominently on a busy street, something to the effect of "go back to your country, rice eater."</p>
<p>When I was in grad school, a white friend of an Asian classmate told the Asian student that she was "like a banana, yellow on the outside, white on the inside." The Asian student was flattered or at least didn't act insulted. In my opinion, the Asian student was either very out of touch with her own ethnicity to think that it was a compliment to have her culture denied or she was too embarassed or frozen in anger to correct her friend.</p>
<p>My S has lots of friends who are Asian, Hispanic, Jewish, from Eastern Europe, etc. However, I've never heard any of them make racial or ethnic slurs at each other. I also have friends of different races, religions, etc., and don't make those kind of jokes nor would I find it funny if such things were aimed at me.</p>
<p>I'm all in favor of virtually everything that is "politically correct". I don't particularly care what people think in the recesses of their hearts. I DO care how they act. (There have been, by the way, some interesting studies on how actions are more likely to change beliefs, rather than the other way around, but that's beside the point.) </p>
<p>I wouldn't be jumping up and down to have my kid attend school with folks who think putting a noose around a person in blackface is funny. But I don't particularly care what they "think". It just wouldn't be particularly appealing to have my kid attend school where nooses are, in fact, put around folks in blackface.</p>
<p>My son came home from 7th grade last year saying that the "N" word was being used by several boys in his class on a pretty regular basis. I contacted the principal who was very defensive about it, and wanted S to identify the boys in question. (which I told him not to do because then he'd catch holy h--l from the boys) I couldn't believe that in this day and age there were kids out there who thought that that word was OK to use. (S did tell them that they were racist. They probably don't know what that means) I told the principal that I hadn't heard that word used since 1963.</p>
<p>Has anyone considered that "politically incorrect" is not necessarily synonymous with "offensive"? I'm sure that there were plenty of costumes worn to that party that were well-thought-out and inoffensive. IMHO, the blame lies partly (though probably not entirely) on the inappropriately-dressed students.</p>
<p>dke, I heard the N word a lot as my boys were growing up. Interestingly it was not from the white boys, but from their black friends. Much of the offensive language and actions IMO need to be looked at in context. For instance, though son's friends often called each other N.--there was an instance when son and two black friends were walking along a road, a passing car threw trash at them and yelled something about what are you N.s doing here? That upset all of them tremendously.</p>
<p>As Sly Si said, the problem is when the line is crossed from politically incorrect to extremely offensive.</p>
<p>At a recent "politcally incorrect" party
-Mark Foley with a box of candy to lure children (politically incorrect, but pretty funny)
-BUT the thing with the noose at the Mac party (offensive, and not funny)</p>
<p>People have to be smart enough to draw the line</p>
<p>mkm56 yes, I realise that black kids use the word amongst themselves, but in this instance it was redneck boys using it in a derogatory way about blacks in general. They were horrified that my son called them racists. Their parents probably use the term.</p>
<p>I reject that word as another icon of the prevailing and just plain awful fascination with "prison/gang culture" by young people in this country.</p>
<p>A couple years ago, I was subbing in a high school classroom. There were about 30 or so students, both black & white. One of the young white males started asking one of the young black males about the kind of food he likes - things like fried chicken, watermelon, collard greens, etc. The manner of his questioning was more mocking than anything else. I told him that he needed to stop, and he pretended not to understand why. I insisted that he stop, and he finally told me that it was okay --- Dave Chapelle jokes about it on his show. It actually got to the point that I had to have him removed from my classroom, and he ended up getting suspended (because of his response to the requests to stop). What really gets me, though, was his utter lack of understanding of what he had done wrong. Even when the black assistant principal who suspended him explained to him why she found his actions personally offensive, he just didn't get it. I think that when things are put on tv or in movies, many kids feel it legitimizes them.</p>
<p>Thanks, Canuckguy, for the link. Below is a snippet from the article.</p>
<p>It is of no surprise to me. First, I know that lots of racism exists because on unmoderated web message boards, any mention that a person is black results in many very racist messages being posted. On unmoderated college message boards, there are many racist statements about African Americans.</p>
<p>I know that there's far more racism than most people -- including black people -- are aware of because lots of the most racist things go on anonymously or behind closed doors. After all, if people are posting very racist statements on message boards having to do with things like colleges, imagine what people are doing on message boards that are sponsored by racist organizations.</p>
<p>"Racist Banter Behind Closed Doors
At a large Midwestern university, several white friends get together for drinks. One person makes a racial joke, another starts singing a song filled with derogatory words. A student makes a greeting card with the ‘N-word’ written on it and passes it around the room, despite objections from a few others. No one outside the group hears the banter or sees the card.</p>
<p>student who participated in a scholarly study in which he was asked to observe conversations happening around him that involved race. In a forthcoming book, a researcher at the University of Dayton identifies hundreds of these journal entries describing what she considers to be racist conversations or events that are often tolerated when the white students are talking among themselves.</p>
<p>The results might help shed light on the controversial parties at numerous colleges that involved white students wearing blackface and dressing in stereotypical ghetto garb on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.</p>
<p>“What strikes me is how common these antics are and how casually students say the ‘N-word’,” said Leslie H. Picca, one of the book’s co-authors and an assistant professor of sociology at Dayton. “What the MLK parties show is that there isn’t an awareness among white students that their actions are problematic, even if black students aren’t around to hear....'”</p>