“Just a stupid act with a bunch of damn freshmen out drinking on a bus who will regret this the rest of their life [sic].” That’s how former University Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer described Sigma Alpha Epsilon members who appear in a recent video chanting racist slurs. “There will never be a nigger in SAE,” they sang aboard a rented bus. After the video surfaced a few days ago, the national headquarters of SAE closed its University chapter, calling the video “inappropriate.” To say the least!
Switzer, incidentally, is a former SAE brother himself. I think that explains a lot.
What exactly does that explain?
For starters, not that Switzer is necessarily bigoted. Rather, it epitomizes a certain type of frat culture that unfortunately still persists, the kind in which members will use alcohol as an excuse for the inexcusable. Granted, it does seem like the students in the video were drunk, but I’ve had one or two or three or four too many plenty of times. Never once had I sang about hanging niggers from a tree. In other words, intoxication may serve as a partial explanation for this incident, but it is no justification. And shame on Switzer for intimating that, oh, heck, it’s just boys being boys being drunk.
Except, they’re not boys. They’re grown men.
Now, do these students really believe that their skin color makes them superior? Are they actually racist? I don’t know, but these are not important questions. I’m less interested in their psychology than I am in how society reacts to such behavior.
This incident reminds me of something that happened a little more than twenty years ago in my high school. A student named Bart* (the asterisk’s purpose is obvious) had approached another student, Matthew*, in the hall, rolled up his sleeve, and showed a recently tattooed swastika. “How do you like that, Matt?” he asked.
Matt didn’t like it, especially since he was Jewish (not that that should matter). The two got into a fistfight. Bart was suspended briefly. And so was Matt.
“How unjust!” cried some students.
No, not that Matt, too, was reprimanded, but, well, you see, my high school had a big football game coming up against its main rival, and, well, you see, Bart was a star player on our team, and, well, you see, if Bart were kept from playing, then we might, OMG, you know, like lose the game! Can’t school officials pretty please just let Bart play this one game during his school suspension?
Shocking, right? What’s more, some of the students advocating for Bart were cheerleaders. Not as shocking, right? And some of these cheerleaders were themselves Jewish (once more, not that it should matter). Shocking again, right?
There’s nothing right about these students’ reaction. Thankfully, school administrators barred Bart from playing. I can’t remember whether our team won the game, but it was clear that many students had lost their minds.
Still, we were kids then. I suppose some didn’t realize they were defending bigotry. But Switzer, you’re an adult. Act like one.
