The appropriation of a particular and inaccurate subset of black culture continues in this edition of fraternities throwing racist parties.
To celebrate (or demean) Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Arizona State University’s Tau Kappa Epsilon decided to throw an “MLK Black Party,” that – unsurprisingly – was as offensive as it sounds and landed TKE suspension.
Like seriously? If you’re not a cyclist, who wears one pant leg up in 2014?
But petty fashion statements aside, the party was every bit as racist as it could be. Baggy clothes, fitted hats, ridiculous “gangsta” stances, the use of “homies” and watermelon (complete with emojis after the offensive images were posted on Instagram) were used to depict what this fraternity thought was black culture.
And the party’s significance to the legacy of MLK? VOID.
In any case, Patrick Gleason, the director of Compliance and Housing for TKE’s national organization, spoke with CBS about the incident:
“We are aware of the situation. We have been contacted and we have been in contact with the local chapter and the university,” explained Patrick Gleason, the director of Compliance and Housing for the national organization, based out of Indianapolis.
“I’ll be meeting with the school as well as the local chapter, as I said, to really flush out the details of this incident and get a full scope of what occurred,” he continued.
No one from the local chapter has commented on the suspension of the fraternity, but we’re sure they’ll be reinstated by the time Halloween rolls around and blackface is all the rage again.
Isn’t that how these things work?
SOURCE: Buzzfeed | PHOTO CREDIT: Instagram
