Fraternity brothers posed in blackface and gangster costumes, this college's latest racist dust-up

[SummerMadness]

Fraternity brothers posed in blackface and gangster costumes, this college's latest racist dust-up

The photos surfaced on social media late Sunday, during the multicultural weekend at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. One showed a Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity member in blackface. Another showed members of the same fraternity dressed as gangster stereotypes, throwing gang signs in front of their San Luis Obispo house.

First came shock. Then, outrage. Hundreds of Cal Poly students crammed into a classroom Monday night for an emergency town hall meeting, sitting on desks and on the floor. Those who could not fit spilled out of the classroom door into the hallway, with some watching a live stream of the meeting just steps from where it was taking place.

 

[HereIStand]

The photo doesn't seem offensive. Colleges should concentrate on education and not baby students.

 

[USincognito]

Disgusting. Glad to see some are willing to condemn this.

 

[Shiloh Raven]

Fraternity brothers posed in blackface and gangster costumes, this college's latest racist dust-up

Disgusting. Glad to see some are willing to condemn this.

I agree that it's disgusting. I'm glad it's being condemned too.

 

[Hammster]

Cal Poly is a brainiac school. How on earth did these guys think this would go well?

 

[Not David]

I don't see the necessity of wearing blackface. It does nothing else but creating controversy. The fraternities are ruining themselves.

 

[super animator]

Cal Poly is a brainiac school. How on earth did these guys think this would go well?

What does that even mean?

 

[Hammster]

What does that even mean?

Think West Coast MIT.

 

[Go Braves]

Think West Coast MIT.

CalTech is the West Coast MIT, followed by Stanford. Cal Poly is more like GA Tech. I say that as a student at GA Tech, lol, so it's not an insult.

Agree with your point in post 5. Certainly students smart enough to get in there ought to have been smart enough to know how stupid what they were doing was. If for nothing else the fact that of course the pics were going to go viral & there'd be backlash on account of them.

 

[Hammster]

CalTech is the West Coast MIT,

I’ve heard it both ways.

 

[USincognito]

The photo doesn't seem offensive. Colleges should concentrate on education and not baby students.

That's not the photo.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Meh. Sounds like it might have been unintentional...and at the least they're sorry for it. I don't see anything wrong with the "gang" picture.

The temporary suspension is a fitting punishment.

 

[bhsmte]

Is there anything, that isn't racist?

 

[USincognito]

Meh. Sounds like it might have been unintentional...and at the least they're sorry for it. I don't see anything wrong with the "gang" picture.

The temporary suspension is a fitting punishment.

Of course.

 

[USincognito]

Is there anything, that isn't racist?

Probably, but I would hope most of us, in 2018, could agree that blackface is racist.

 

[SummerMadness]

Cal Poly is a brainiac school. How on earth did these guys think this would go well?

I don't think being racist and stupidity are mutually exclusive. That is one characterization I often dislike, the stereotyping of racism or racists as backwards, dumb people, usually Southerners, when racists like this can be at your run of the mill Klan rallies all the way to the privileged halls of higher learning. Nonetheless, doing blackface is just one of those curious choices. More than likely, they grew up in an environment where no one ever discouraged their racial proclivities, which means the envelope gets pushed further and further.

CalTech is the West Coast MIT, followed by Stanford. Cal Poly is more like GA Tech. I say that as a student at GA Tech, lol, so it's not an insult.

I considered doing a postdoc at GA Tech or Emory, but I ended up heading North, I'm glad I did, I had my fill of the South by then (I was in NC).

Probably, but I would hope most of us, in 2018, could agree that blackface is racist.

Yep, it's really a no-brainer.

 

[Hammster]

I don't think being racist and stupidity are mutually exclusive. That is one characterization I often dislike, the stereotyping of racism or racists as backwards, dumb people, usually Southerners, when racists like this can be at your run of the mill Klan rallies all the way to the privileged halls of higher learning.

I never made that characterization. So there’s that.

 

[SummerMadness]

I never made that characterization. So there’s that.

I wasn't saying you were making that characterization, but the idea that braininess and racism are not likely to be together goes in line with that sentiment. I don't think what they did is something smart people avoid, especially if they live in an environment where such behavior is encouraged.

 

[Ana the Ist]

I wasn't saying you were making that characterization, but the idea that braininess and racism are not likely to be together goes in line with that sentiment. I don't think what they did is something smart people avoid, especially if they live in an environment where such behavior is encouraged.

What environment is that? It sounds like they were doing some sort of community outreach event when this happened....not sitting around a burning cross and pounding beers.

 

[Hammster]

I wasn't saying you were making that characterization, but the idea that braininess and racism are not likely to be together goes in line with that sentiment. I don't think what they did is something smart people avoid, especially if they live in an environment where such behavior is encouraged.

If you are going to make a point, then don’t use an unrelated post to do so.