There go my dreams of being a member of SAE

Racist chants on a college bus are not what I would have predicted to be occupying my mind on this rainy Monday afternoon.  I am literally sick to my stomach thinking about it.  What were they thinking?  I was raised not too far from Norman, Oklahoma, in the whole scheme of things.  (Roughly 3 ½ hours)  I have spent my whole life making excuses to explain the perception of racist incidents away.  I have used phrases like “We must not have the whole story” or “The media is making a bigger issue out of it than it really is.” Wow.  What the hell is going on at SAE?  There is nothing I can say to explain this away.

The lyrics are as follows:

There will never be a nigger SAE

There will never be a nigger SAE

You can hang him from a tree

He will never sign with me

There will never be a nigger SAE

Wow.  I will not defend them or anything they stand for and anyone who does is pathetic.  What hole did these people crawl out of?  Are their parents embarrassed? Is this truly how they feel?  I mean I have been on several party busses and to countless college parties and have NEVER participated in or heard ANYTHING like this before.  Disgusting.

The real problem is that these people didn’t learn how to feel this way on their own.  They have ingested the poison that their parents' parents' parents' parents' fed to them.  What’s worse?  They will be feeding the same poison to their children’s children’s children.  It’s like a cesspool of hate.  THIS HAS GOT TO STOP.

Two statements I am tired of hearing:

1. I am a Christian.

For the life of me I absolutely cannot understand racism.  Seriously.  It is ridiculous.  Hear my words in this area of the country referred to as “The Bible Belt”: IF YOU HAVE GOD IN YOUR HEART RACISM IS NOT AN OPTION. Period.  The love of Christ prevents you from hating your fellow man. 

If you are racist you have not felt the love of God.  Period.  That’s right.  I am calling every racist Christian on the planet a hypocrite.  Quit breeding hate into the future of our world.  Quit parading yourselves around as members of my walk of faith because you aren’t.  You have no clue.

2.  Racism goes both ways.

Yes it does but when college kids go around singing “you can hang him from a tree”, I have to say that trumps it all.  Have you read the history of our country?  Have you listened to the horror stories of white supremacists dragging African Americans behind horses or cars for miles until they die?  Yes, there are plenty of people of color that despise whites simply because of the color of their skin.  However, historically, there really is a basis for that hatred and fear. It's a fear that has been passed down from generation to generation.  One of my dearest friends (who is African American) told me that his mom has always told him to “Come home alive.” That if he got pulled over by a police officer to do exactly what they say.  I would agree that this is good advice for everyone but that isn’t what white people tell their children.  The white community focuses more on “Don’t get thrown in jail.”  What a luxury our white sons have that they aren’t automatically classified as a thug.  Our white sons are given the benefit of the doubt and then provided the opportunity to mess that up. Our black sons are thought to be thugs and then have to prove that they aren’t.  That’s messed up.  That in itself is a travesty.

So what can we do about it?  STOP ALLOWING IT.  Stop allowing fraternities to sing songs that I am assuming are traditional within their fraternity.  Stop laughing at racist jokes.  Stop allowing people to pit us against each other.

Anyone who knows me is aware that I embrace our differences.  I do think it is important to recognize heritage.  I think it’s okay to use white or black in a physical description.  That should be okay.  There is nothing wrong with that.  What I would like to see change is the perception of race.  Physical discrimination was used under Hitler and we saw the ramifications of that.

Feel free to describe me as a “short white girl with brown hair and green eyes,” but please don’t describe my race as white.  I am not part of the Caucasian race.  I am part of the HUMAN race and I have brothers and sisters of all colors.

As far as those racist idiots on the bus in Oklahoma?  I have no use for them and neither should you.  Hopefully they will see the error of their ways.  If SAE supports this chanting then the Greek community should turn their backs on them.  I appreciate the University of Oklahoma shutting their chapter of SAE down. I am wondering if they should allow the students involved to continue their education at OU?  Is shutting down the party group enough?  OU needs to realize that now the nation views their student body in a horribly negative light.  I feel that the only way to really show support for the students who are not future members of the KKK would be to expel them permanently from their University unless they are willing to take a course in black history, attend anti-racist seminars and publicly apologize as individuals after they see the error of their ways. 

This story of racism is old and trite.  I am sick of talking about it and sick of seeing it with my own eyes.  There is a special place in hell for racists and I truly hope they burn in it. The photo with this entry is from the SAE website.  It appears that SAE is open to people of all colors.  I wonder if this is really the case... As for the Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers across the world but especially the chapter at OU, I would pose only one question…Are you proud of yourselves now?