I'm warning you in advance, this is going to be a post about racism and a lot of your jaws are probably going to be on the ground by the time I'm finished.
I got back from a beautiful trip to Cuenca, Ecuador today (blogging about it tomorrow) to a couple of the same iMessages, "Have you seen this yet?" almost like a spam message. Opening up the link to the racist chant from a select few SAE members at OU, my heart didn't so much break as much as I quickly angered. Disbelief and shock, first of all that anyone would sing a song talking about hanging someone of a different race from a tree, strictly because they were born with a different skin color.
So, I have to share with you guys my side of things and then my opinions. Two of my best friends that I have made at OU are black. This doesn't include the black friends I have from high school and so on, but these are the two that influence me to be a better person in general and the two that I hang out with the most.
I met Brandon my sophomore year of college, through a mutual friend. Brandon is an athlete, but not what everyone stereotypes the football players at OU to be--not at all. He is studying marketing and has already interned with Nike. There's no one writing his papers for him, he stays up late to study, AND takes care of business on the field and in the weight room, or wherever else he may have it. Brandon and I started going to dinner together every Sunday just to get into a routine of staying up to date with each other because we get along so well. It's nice having a routine, especially when it's almost like having family dinners when you can't actually have a family dinner.
Anyway, now that you know a little bit about Brandon, I'll continue. I can honestly say I have been to dinner with him and gotten plenty of stares; Brandon is quiet, stays quiet, doesn't cause scenes. But I know what people are thinking when they look at us, so I always try to politely greet someone if I catch them staring, with a "Hey, what's up?" or something. Basically, it's polite but it's to let them know that I know what they're doing. It's just not something I tolerate; I can remember one specific time we went to a late, quick dinner because we both had stuff going on that day, so we picked the classic Cane's. When we left, there was a group of men who just stopped talking and were staring at us the entire walk to my car. I politely greeted them (obviously to let them know I knew why they were staring) and it got awkward fast, because they were all stumbling over what to say in response to my "Hey, what's up? How're y'all?". I try to ignore it, but sometimes I just get really worked up.
I met Lester towards the end of my sophomore year once I found out he was going to be interning at the State Department as well. I WAS GOING TO HAVE A FRIEND WITH ME IN WASHINGTON DC AND I WOULDN'T BE ALONE! We quickly chatted and learned that we were both pretty liberal and stuck in a state that...well, quite frankly, we aren't very welcome in.
Lester was my saving grace in DC. When I needed someone to talk to or blab to or whenever I just wanted food or lunch at State or to go on a walk at night because I was stressed, there was Lester. Now, you know what's cool about that? Since we got to know more about each other in DC than we did in Oklahoma, DC is very liberal and a melting pot for other cultures. So we didn't get stared at or judged, hardly ever, for hanging out or wandering around or whatever it may be.
But people back in Oklahoma quickly took notice of my friendships with Lester and Brandon, mainly because they're black. Yeah, let's not beat around the bush here, it happens. A white girl with a black boy, she must just be "into" that kind of guy. I have "jokingly" been asked things like "So, are you a night rider?" Uh, no, they're just friends? Is that allowed? "Oh I was just kidding but people are just starting to talk about you, you know?"
Yeah, I know. It's never been something that has bothered me because I'm self conscious of my friends; I mean, come on, who could be self conscious of two individuals who just GET it? They know what it's like to work for what you want, they know what their future is going to consist of. Lester is out there working to be in intel or with the State Department, Brandon is working to go into the NFL & HE HAS A BACK UP PLAN WITH MARKETING. But one look at them with me and slurs fly.
Nonetheless, I had to address this because it's been on my mind for a while and this OU incident has just brought it to the surface.
I am proud to be a Sooner. I have been a Sooner since the tender age of four. I am proud of the steps my university is taking to punish the SAE chapter, as well as what SAE Nationals is doing. However, I have noticed that multiple chapters in IFC and Panhellenic have asked their members to "not post anything on social media" because it's "bad for PR" or "we can get in trouble with nationals"!!! When it comes to something like this though, I refuse to stay quiet because if I don't speak up, who will? I did not join Panhellenic to be told that my opinions should be kept to myself. I was taught through my chapter that your opinion matters and our organization builds strong, independent women, so what are we doing telling our members to stay quiet?
Anyways. Just a little food for thought. Racism has no room in my life, so for those of you reading this and mumbling horrible things to yourself about how liberal I am and all of that, you can kindly go...yeah, you know.
“I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents. This nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.”
--JFK
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