E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Promotions for the party included racist depictions of stereotyped Asian speech and a spoof of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.
Updated at 4:14 p.m. ET: Students at Duke University in Durham, N.C., gathered Wednesday to protest anti-Asian prejudice after a fraternity hosted a "racist rager" party last week replete with literature that lampooned Asian students.
More than 800 people signed up to attend the rally on a Facebook page published by the university's Asian American Alliance. The alliance later closed the page to public comment, saying national attention had made it an inappropriate forum "for a productive discussion of how to improve our campus."
"Something is deeply wrong with Duke. Something is deeply wrong with our community," a representative of the association said at the gathering Wednesday afternoon. "... This protest is about the destructive prejudice that must be uprooted from every corner of Duke to make this place an inclusive and safe place for all."
The rally was planned after Kappa Sigma fraternity — which was allowed to return to campus last year after having dissolved in 2002 amid a misconduct investigation — threw a theme party Friday at which attendees dressed up in stereotypical Asian costumes, the campus newspaper, The Chronicle, reported.
The event was promoted through flyers and email messages that included stereotyped Asian spellings like "herro" and "peopre" and images of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. It was promoted on Twitter with the hashtag #RacistRager.
The hashtag was quickly overtaken by tweets objecting to the party, like this one:
Twitter.com
"This is not just about Asians, one party or one frat," Ashley Tsai, a senior at the university, told the Chronicle. "This is a consistent thing happening. We want serious things to be done by the student body and the university so that this never happens again."
The Student Government and and the Asian Students Association planned an on-campus open discussion Wednesday night.
The fraternity's president apologized for the party, writing in an op-ed column:
Upon learning of the deeply damaging effects of our email to our fellow students, we should have completely canceled the aforementioned party. The Duke Community in which we exist is one that we see too often as divided, and while our actions have brought attention to and widened that divide, it is our sincere intention to work to contribute to a United Duke."
The paper quoted Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta as saying no discipline was planned because it wouldn't resolve racial tensions on campus.
Leave a Comment:
riving rife in the rap of ruxery
I hate to say it but racism is a learned attitude. As tired as this sounds, these racists learned their behavior from their racists parents. It's been proven that the less education one has, the more likely that person is to be a racist.
I hate to say it but racism is a learned attitude. As tired as this sounds, these racists learned their behavior from their racist parents. It's been proven that the less education one has, the more likely that person is to be a racist.
As a white man I am happy to report that Asians have long been our favorite ethnic minority. No really, you guys are almost always poliete, hard working. Your women are beautiful, your food rocks. This party was a joke, and it was inappropriate and wrong, but don't think for a second that anyone actually doesn't like Asian Americans. There is nothing not to like about you. Wish I could say the same for the ......
Ofcourse being joked about does not mean you're hated. When you watch saturday night live or Fox it's expected to be offended regardless of race. It's just not expected from college students persuing to achieve greatness.
In my experience Asians are the most respectful, hardest working, self-sacrificing folks around. I'm nearly 60, have lived in big cities (Manhattan) and little towns...all across America. I'm your basic white guy. What's up with the racism. I don't get it. It's ugly and unnecessary. Guess gay folks are no longer a popular target. Oh yeah, I'm gay, too.
Oh Preeezh! I'm Asian and I think it's hirareyush. OK, berry berry funny.
Whites are equal opportunity racists. They discriminate against all non-whites equally. Nothing shocks me anymore.
I love it, Make a raciest comment, while calling another group raciest. The last time I heard anything about Duke and race was when a BLACK girl lied and said a bunch of "Whites" raped her. Remember that? When Jesse Jackson and every Black leader in the country had to put their foot in their mouth.
I can see that you hate black people, what do black people have to do with this story. It's all about "Whites" and "Asians," here, this country has already done enough wrong to Blacks. Please!
"As a values-based men's fraternity, Kappa Sigma strictly forbids hazing and fosters meaningful college experiences by offering progressive membership development and pledge education. " ....LOL ... guess theys jes too many suthin white boys down thaya... LMAO
I think you're a Progressive so my asking you to educate yourself is like asking a cat to dunk on Lebron, but I will try anyway. Google Theodore Landsmark Boston Globe picture. One look will tell you all you need to know what liberals are truly like. You won't have the guts to do it though.
guess they is jes too many suthin boys down thaya... LOL
"As a values-based men's fraternity, Kappa Sigma strictly forbids hazing and fosters meaningful college experiences by offering progressive membership development and pledge education. "
They still go by the old saying in the south.
"What Would General Lee Do?"
Surrender!
Give me a break. Grow a thicker skin people.
me1234567891--I am so glad someone else has taken the time to understand that all cultures have been enslaved and been the oppresser also. Its everyone everywhere. We just do not sit around a ball about it like the African-Americans who have never been to Africa and if they did go they would be back on a plane in no time flat!!!!!!!!!
Tis is a non story to me. Who is it the Asians that pay to have Gorillas,elephants, rhinos and a host of other animals killed so they can habe better sex and feel more like "men"???!!!! I guess they must be super smart since they know things that no one else knows right??? Or we would all be out killing the animals to have better sex and to feel like men. Liberals make me laugh.
Jeesh people need to lighten up.
The only group of people that you can routinely make fun of without a fear of reprisals are WASPs.
Now come on everyone pile on us now. We have the self esteems to overcome a little ridicule.
It is just Wong to discrimate against any one.
I recall in college back in 1978 that one ofthe fraternties, for halloween, dressed up as the KKK and held a cross burning on their front lawn. Far worse than this, but its okay because it happened in Amherst, Massachusetts and they were all Democrats from South Boston.
Members of the Duke lacrosse team raped an Asian-American?
So your fraternity is banned for 10 years and you make your come back with this? Why not just call the place David Duke and be done with it.
I think it should be called Jeremiah Kappa Wright.
hehe.. or the Rip Kappa Winkle .. they'll come back once every ten years, do one party, and get immediately suspended again.
Strange they picked Asians. They are one of the most successful, beneficial minorities this country has. Perhaps they are driven by jealousy. I've known Vietnamese machinists and Chinese software engineers who were great people and major contributors. Many of their women are very feminine and attractive.
Feminine and attractive? Obviously not Progressives or feminists.
Uh, maybe you haven't noticed the demographics lately, but in 25 more years, whites will be the minority in this country. Better get your @!$%#-kickin in while you still have time, Gomer.
They probably picked Asians because Asian-themed parties aren't automatically no-no's.. Sometimes even Asian students are involved in Asia-themed parties and nobody complains. The problem is, they chose to do it in a particularly offensive and exclusive manner. As I said earlier, while in college, there was an extremely offensive poor white trash-themed party, that was so crassly done that it resulted in suspensions and a frat getting banned. Having the common sense to do things with a modicum of good taste counts for something.
In 25 years I will be dead so the fact America will have failed or be on the verge of failure by then will matter not a whit to me.
The Last Time Liberal Scum cried wolf on Racism at Duke it didn't work out so well.....
It's no big deal to make fun of N. Korean accents or Asian or any other accents in general. If you want to mock a New Yorker for his accent or a southerner or someone from Chicaaaagoooo, or Germany or the UK, or Japan it's no big deal.
New Rule: making fun of accents is not racist. never was. Moving on....
Next Up: you can make jokes about what kind of food certain races like and that's not a big deal either.
"Gasp! He said Italians love spaghetti, I'm so offended, boohoohoo."
Amen Chesty.
If they would A: learn to drive, and B: just learn to say "HeLLO" instead of "HeRRO" all of this would go away! jk.
Lol!
My next door neighbors who attended Hampton University (a historically black college) threw a Halloween party where two black males showed up in white face pretending to be white. Funny how that works in reverse.
Oh the horrors! They painted their faces white?? NO WAY!!!! That was the best you could come up with? Really? Now, if they showed up in white face, in overalls, bent over a squeeling pig with their sister on her knees imitating "Date Night in Kentucky' then maybe.......nah.
Racism is everywhere. Not going away because of stereotypes the Media continually sneaks in. As far as North Korea? Aren't these morons threatening to Nuke us?
Okay, some people were offended, others could have cared less. Everybody put on your big boy pants and move on. As long as there are different races there is going to be racism. The bigger deal everybody makes out of this the more it'll encourage it.
no asians? hat is this world coming to..........................boohoo. to @!$%#ing bad asians.you dont like it.go back to wherever the @!$%# you came from.