Recently, at least three different groups of people (read: white college kids) have gotten in trouble for their controversial parties “celebrating” Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The premise for these parties was dressing for every black stereotype while eating and drinking stereotypical black food and drink. I’m not sure about the musical selections, as those weren’t discussed in any of the articles. The usual response from those who were in trouble was that the parties were “not intended to be offensive to anybody.”
A couple questions beg to be answered. Were the parties offensive because of what the participants were doing or because they associated it with MLK? Why is it funny to joke about stereotypes sometimes, but completely offensive other times?
I hope that people are offended because of the association of these things to King and not just because of the nature of the actions. Just doing a couple quick searches will net you results that could also be considered. How offensive is it to have a party based on income level? How offensive is it to have an event based on social status? How offensive is it to have a gathering demeaning to a particular gender? How offensive is it to celebrate a nationality with drinking? That’s right, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated every year by people of all ages donning green garb and heading to the closest Irish bar (or one that’s faking) to drink some green beer. If you check out the Wikipedia article, you’ll find St. Patrick’s Day was not created for people to drink debaucherously. Shocking, I know. Throughout those pictures/albums, you’ll find that it’s not just white kids participating in the parties. Blacks, asians, and hispanics also join in on the fun. So, maybe it is possible that it was just harmless fun throughout all of the parties.
Maybe people are getting too worked up because people are playing up to stereotypes. I wonder how much trouble Dave Chappelle gets into for his portrayals of blacks in comedy, or how much trouble Carlos Mencia gets into considering ALL of his comedy is based around racial stereotypes. Some would say that Chappelle has a “right” to do so because it’s his own people that he’s mocking, but is it not still perpetuating the stereotype? How many people laugh at things just because they’re offensive without really being malicious? People laugh at dead baby jokes, but don’t necessarily encourage the genocide of infants.
I would contest that, although there are definitely exceptions, stereotypes originate somewhere. Further, there are worse stereotypes that people could get upset about. It’s not like these kids were portraying all blacks as angry young men who tote guns and rob white people (common entertainment stereotype). They were having fun with some beer, some food and some friends. Lastly, if you check out the original article I read about this at BlackintheCity.net, you’ll see Paul’s comments:
I don’t know what to say about stupid drunk college kids doing stupid drunk things. Except that maybe we need to rethink the admissions standards at some of these colleges. Without a doubt these are stupid drunk frat guys being stupid drunk frat guys.
Or, the comment that says “these students let the world know they’re racist…prospective employers will see this video and not hire them because of it.”
I’m upset because Paul is so bothered about this, but he calls out “frat guys” twice. Nowhere does it say that these are even related to a fraternity. Further, what’s to say that all members of the fraternity participated? Would members of black fraternities participate in this? How can you condemn an entire group of people because a few people did something you don’t agree with when most of the people weren’t even involved? Additionally, I don’t think the claims of racism are entirely correct. I don’t think these kids ever made comments or references to the fact that they are superior to the black population.
In the end, I think these kids were just trying to find an excuse to have a party and probably should have thought it through a little better, at least before posting the pictures online. It was probably in poor taste to link the event to MLK, but not necessarily to have the party in the first place.
I really tried to be as objective as possible and I’m guessing this will probably stir up some interesting debate/conversation. But, please try to keep this as respectful and educated as possible. In closing, I’ll leave you with this quote from Mr. Chappelle’s “For What It’s Worth” stand-up special:
Nigga, if you don’t like fried chicken and watermelon, there’s something wrong with you!
