On the morning of February 24, 2010, my roommates and I piled into a car at 8 a.m. and made our way down to San Diego. Our final destination was the University of California, San Diego and our mission was to rally with their students in support of their outrage surrounding a recent party.A couple of weeks before, one of the fraternities at UCSD decided to throw a party to celebrate Black History Month. These particular students had a specific manner in which they chose to celebrate. Unfortunately for the Black community, and eventually the entire student body at large, the members of the fraternity ‘celebrated’ by hosting the “Compton Cookout.” Most people may have not heard of this event, mainly because of its focused press coverage in Southern California, but it has produced adverse effects on the national reputation of UCSD. At the Compton Cookout, which was held off-campus, guests were encouraged to maintain a “black attitude,” which was in fact, characterized by most of the negative stereotypes attributed to the Black community, including, but not limited to: eating watermelon, drinking 40’s and ‘dat purple drank’, Kool-Aid, talking loudly, wearing jerseys and chains, having bad weaves and short, nappy hair, etc.
In particular, the party’s depiction of a Black female is what I found the most offensive. Female attendees were encouraged to embody the ‘ghetto chick,’ gold teeth, cheap weaves, Baby Phat clothing and all. It’s amazing to me how in 2010, after having a Black president and First Lady who have been nothing but an utmost respectable representation of the Black community, that we still have this kind of ignorance in such a ‘diverse’ place as San Diego. “What’s even more offensive is that some people still don’t see a problem with what happened,” says Avia Wilkerson, a Neuroscience major from USC.
In response to the fraternity’s actions, University officials initially claimed that it would not take action, as it was “a learning experience” for the niversity, according to a KTLA news report (KTLA.com). After infuriated students banded together in solidarity against the lack of response, the University was forced to take action, in which case, it then scheduled a “teach-in.” The teach-in was meant to educate the campus community on the importance of diversity, in an effort to provide contextual reasoning for why an event like the Compton Cookout is distasteful and blatantly disrespectful.
My friends and I were making the 2-hour drive to support these students, and rally with them against what seemed like an administration that never had their best interest at heart. UCSD’s African American population is only 1.3% of their entire population, and it was this, students argued, that perpetuated the ignorant mentalities of the predominantly White community at large. One student claimed that the environment at UCSD was very hostile, and deciding to attend the university was the biggest mistake of his life.
“This inconceivably blatant mockery of an entire community who has fought so hard to gain freedom and equality in this country breaks my heart,” sympathizes Gabrielle Lopez, a USC sophomore. This event is definitely not an isolated one, and the fact that students have felt so discouraged for so long without any action from the administration emphasizes the importance of intracampus communication.
If nothing else, the UCSD Rally was inspiring and would have made our original Civil Rights heroes proud of the legacy they have left behind. Marching around campus chanting “Real Pain, Real Action”, and walking out of the administration-organized teach-in gave me a strong sense of unity and power with the UCSD students. It also reminded me that as a student, I have the ability, but more importantly, the responsibility to create change within my campus community. If the administration fails to satisfy the students in their lack of diversity, we must speak up and be the change we wish to see.
A closed mouth never gets fed.
All in all, I learned so many lessons that afternoon at UCSD – the most important one being fight for what you believe in because if you don’t, no one will. Ignorance should never be tolerated and it’s every individual’s responsibility to promote cultural intelligence.
To get more information about the Compton Cookout and see the actual Facebook event page, please visit "http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-compton-cookout,0,2673438.story" to view the KTLA News report.
Racism begins with our families, parents, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandparents, people we admire, respect and love.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as we grow and mature we come to the realization that what we were told by our family when we were children were slanted lies base on their prejudices. We realize that most people are like ourselves and not so different and want the same things, like a home, steady work, a Medicare plan and schools for our children (if you travel you will see this). We realize that most people are of good hearts and goodwill.
This reminds me of a parable from the good book where a Levite and Priest come upon a man who fell among thieves and they both individually passed by and didn’t stop to help him.
Finally a man of another race came by, he got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy and got down with the injured man, administered first aid, and helped the man in need.
Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the “I” into the “thou,” and to be concerned about his fellow man.
You see, the Levite and the Priest were afraid, they asked themselves, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?”
But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
That’s the question before us. The question is not, “If I stop to help our fellow man in need, what will happen to me?” The question is, “If I do not stop to help our fellow man, what will happen to him or her?” That’s the question.
This current climate of blaming, mocking or demeaning others for our own short comings, is not new, we have had this before and we have conquered it.
Remember “Evil flourishes when good men (and women) do nothing”. Raise your voices with those of us who believe we are equal and we can win this battle again.