Misplacing the Blame

Every time I think people can't get any dumber, something happens to prove me wrong. Remember this post from last week, where I mentioned the incident at SU involving camouflage that was mistaken for blackface? Check out this letter to the editor in today's Daily Orange:

IFC is disappointed

Recently a member of a fraternity that is part of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) painted his face black before attempting to take back a fraternal composite that a sorority had stolen from his fraternity.

In other words, he was trying to be inconspicuous. Or was he...?

We, the governing body of the 19 IFC chapters, are extremely disappointed in the actions of both parties and are in the process of investigating the situation. We are also discussing plans to address the larger issue at hand, which we believe is the insensitivity and ignorance of this greek member.

Okay, by a show of hands, who WASN'T expecting this? Anybody? No? I didn't think so. This is why the PC-fanatics still have so much power. Every time something is even perceived as offensive, it's blamed on "insensitivity and ignorance." What kind of world are we living in where people aren't aware of EVERY SINGLE THING THAT COULD POSSIBLY OFFEND SOMEONE???

The 19 IFC fraternities are composed of a diverse group of young men, from all cultures, religions, and parts of the world.

That sounds suspiciously like the old "some of my best friends are [insert minority group here]" defense. Way to stand up to the victim-creating squad.

This is something we pride ourselves on and strive for. When a member commits an act such as this it is simply unacceptable and contradicts everything we stand for and work towards achieving.

He. Didn't. Do. Anything.

Public frickin' Safety thought he had blackface makeup on, but it was F**KING CAMOUFLAGE! Have you people heard of this magical thing called "context?" Morons.

I just thought of something: This is similar to people getting upset over the word "niggardly" because it sounds like a racially offensive word even though it isn't.

Camo...blackface...they're both POTENTIALLY offensive, so what's the difference?

As of now, the IFC believes this was simply an act of ignorance, and blackface to stereotype or demean African-Americans was not the intent;

DO YOU F**KING THINK, YOU F**KING IDIOTS?! IF HE WAS TRYING TO BE A RACIST, HE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SNEAKING AROUND!

however, that does not make it right.

"If we can't find any racism, we'll imagine some! We can't let the precious victims feel safe without Big Brother's help!"

We need to do a better job educating our members on the history and culture of all members of our community and to understand that we are leaders in the community and our actions and poor judgment affects the entire campus.

Does "poor judgment" include apologizing for something you didn't do? I think you screwed up on that one already.

The fraternity in question has issued apologies to the university and to the Syracuse community.

For what? Making them think unhappy thoughts?

While that is a start, it is by no means an end.

It SHOULD be, but it isn't.

The IFC will investigate the burglary scenario that the fraternity says was the reason for the face paint...

Brilliant. Fighting pretend racism is more important than fighting F**KING BURGLARY!!!!!! You make me sick.

...and we will ensure our members understand our cultural diversity and how to act as member of our diverse group of young men.

Yeesssss...there's that Newspeak we all like so much! Cultural diversity good! Bigotry bad! Me likey everybody! Why I laugh?

...I think I forgot what I was talking about for a second there.

The IFC does not condone any of the actions of this past weekend and will continue to do all we can to educate our members to improve our way of life for the entire Syracuse University Community.

You know how you can improve MY way of life? Stop inventing these stupid incidents and start thinking for yourself. I don't need high blood pressure and other anger-induced conditions at 19, but you sure aren't helping.

I wonder how they would react if there was actual racism on campus. If this is how they treat stuff that was only mistaken for racism, I don't think I want to be here if they have to deal with the real thing.

Posted by CD on February 23, 2004 01:18 PM
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