Racism Parties

I saw on CNN today a report about some parties at Clemson University of Martin Luther King day where white kids dress up all ghetto and drink 40s and probably prance around acting like they're in a rap video. I don't mean like, Eminem kind of white kids dressing up like their black, that's called high school in suburbia. I mean like white college kids doing a parody, stuffing pillows in their butts, and putting in fake plastic grills etc.
CNN's Paula Zahn Now covered the scandal. She had a white conservative, a black female attorney, and another black pundit. The white conservative called it dangerous and hideous and a hate crime and said they should pretty much have criminal charges filed against them. Mark Foley-esque psychological projection if I've ever seen it. Then there was the militant civil right attorney who I'm guessing feels that white suburban kids listening to Lil' John is black exploitation and is still fighting for her reparations check. She was furious too. "Bring some black people to the party," she finger-zagged, "see how bold those lil' white kids feel then." Then there was the Colin Powell looking guy. He pretty much said that the kids are stupid and should apologize but its not a big deal, they certainly shouldn't be disciplined by the school or anything.

This is what I wrote to Paula:

As a black person myself, it sure seems like your show is always looking for some racism issue to blow out of proportion. I understand that these kids having this African American costume party on MLK day was in extremely poor taste, but I think it is ridiculous to label it racism, and utterly absurb that the pundit called it a hate crime. Since when is parody a demonstration of hatred??

Most of those kids probably listen to 50 Cent and Jay-Z on their way to class. How is one supposed to come to a costume party as a black person anyway? Dressed like some average middle class black guy in jeans and a T shirt? Of course you're going to dress up stereotypically. Other races dressing up like white people for a costume party would be in suspenders and pocket protectors, not jeans and a T shirt.

The female pundit was so outraged at the so-called distorted image these kids held of African American people. Maybe its just because I live in Los Angeles, but I hate to break it to you Mrs. Black Panther, the majority of the black people I see day to day DO dress like that, DO drink malt liquor, DO have XL behinds, and DO reinforce the stereotypes the show seemed to consider as being light years away from the true African American. Might I cite Bill Cosby here.

These kids are idiots and they should apologize, but it was just plain poor taste, nothing worse than all the idiots you saw last Halloween in Steve Irwin costumes with a stingray hanging off their chest."