Commenters on the AJC Get Schooled blog had a range of reactions to a racist video from a University of Oklahoma fraternity event. The video of frat members chanting a racist ditty spurred national outrage and led to the closing of the fraternity and the expulsion of two members. Here is a sampling of reader comments:
COJ: I am concerned that many of these fraternity and sorority members who exhibit racist qualities and have not been identified will become the leaders of the future. They will perpetrate these negative behaviors toward people who aren't like them and most likely get away with it in their businesses and social settings.
Club: Hopefully, universities start kicking all these fraternities off campus. Maybe these two expelled students can transfer to Auburn, Alabama or Mississippi.
Sav: From this point on, the first minority on campus heard to utter the word "cracker, honky, etc." in reference to a white student better also be shown the door. You know, it works both ways.
Si: I have literally never heard of anyone referred to as a "honky" since "The Jeffersons" was on TV.
Richard: Let's completely ignore the teaching opportunity (at an educational institution no less) and just banish the kids who didn't commit a crime of any kind. Nice that University of Oklahoma President David Boren is hoping the students learn from the experience by removing the teachers. Good job. Way to advance political correctness by sacrificing learning.
Tom: What these students did was appalling and disgusting. I have no problem with them being punished. I do think this is a very slippery slope that President Boren is treading.
Beat: Talk to any neurobiologist or psychologist, and he will quickly tell you that 18 to 21 year-olds are not adults are far as brain maturation is concerned. Legally, they are young adults, but their brains are still developing, and they still do impulsive, stupid things. If any of us over age 30 think back, we can recall instances of extreme poor judgment. Should this excuse poor behavior? Of course not. Any of us with children would certainly appreciate an approach of helping our children learn from their mistakes. But since these young men aren't our children, burn them at the stake. How hypocritical.
Cere: Funny how this never comes up in the courts when the police arrest and the judges sentence young black men for non-violent and drug use crimes. "Oh, they're just young. Their frontal lobes aren't in yet. Let's just let them realize the error of their ways by talking with them so that they can learn from their mistakes. They don't realize the seriousness of their actions. Let's work to enlighten their thinking." Nope. Doesn't happen. Perhaps it should… but it certainly doesn't.
ATL: Timing is everything. Had this situation not been brought to light in the wake of Ferguson and other recent deaths of black men, it quite likely would have been quietly swept under the rug as no doubt many other similar situations have been. I don't feel sorry for these young men and am glad to see someone take immediate action to make it clear that this kind of behavior won't be tolerated. This is their teachable moment; they are just having to learn a very important lesson in probably the hardest way possible.
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