OU responds to fraternity’s racist chant: appropriate or overreaction?

The online video of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members at the University of Oklahoma gleefully chanting a disturbing, racist message brought a very quick and forceful rejection from the university’s president, faculty and student community. The video, coming 50 years after the civil rights movement, showed that racism is tenacious, but the response showed something, too.

Will that response help further the long march against racism? Will it have any broad and lasting impact? Or was it an over-reaction to the type of isolated incident that can never be stamped out?

In a bygone era, pregnant girls were sent “away” to avoid shame.

The entire SAE fraternity is “sent away,” no chance to repent, punish the guilty, reform their own rules. Anything to take away the media coverage of the noisy protestors dancing before the cameras and pundits wagging their righteous fingers.

Racist acts including cheers are evil, a crime against man, country and God.

We gain by repenting and reforming not by “sending away.”

— Larry Lommel, Arlington

The ugly chant by the members of the SAE fraternity at the University of Oklahoma was disgraceful and should never be seen or heard in this day and age.

However, we cannot let these few members and their unruly actions disparage the university or the fraternity as a whole.

This is a severe problem made worst by some politicians, activists, movie stars and music stars.

I read an article last week that said, “If Kanye had rapped this same chant, it would have been a hit.”

We all need to look at our beliefs and what we say, particularly when these comments may go public which is easily done with today’s technology.

— Walter H. Delashmit, Justin

Surely the SAE fraternity members know the difference between freedom of speech and hate speech. These young men were dealt with — hopefully appropriately.

Now if we could deal with some of the vile rhetoric in rap music.

Maybe then we could appreciate some respect between the races.

— Eva Snapka, Arlington

I find the video of the OU students appalling, racist and un-American.

I find much of the reaction of the university, media and demonstrators the same.

The students involved should be dealt with, but accusing and stereotyping the entire fraternity, the university, the high schools they attended and their families is just as appalling.

As an immigrant to this country I believed I left this kind of thinking behind.

Victor Frankl, writing about his concentration camp experience said, “A few of the guards were decent fellows, this taught me one thing, there are only two races in the world, the race of the decent man and the race of the not decent man.”

He judged those guards individually by their actions. He did not stereotype and entire group of people.

Is that not the promise of America? There seems little hope we will attain that ideal.

— Paul Kessler, Fort Worth

This ill-fated fraternity bus trip was not about youth, alcohol or stupidity.

It was about a culture that said, “We are special and we can say whatever we want, sing about whoever we chose and we don’t care who it hurts.”

When I read about this incident, the first thing that came to mind was, “I thought we were past this.” However, as black people have been telling us for years, this type of racism is alive and well.

I suspect that more than a few of those on the bus (and their parents) asked the question: “What’s the big deal?

— Frank Matthews, Fort Worth

At dinner with my oldest daughter, we discussed Selma and the University of Oklahoma.

I told her I felt lucky I’d not been pushed toward racism.

Then it hit me.

One of the first things I learned was a slingshot was called a “[n-word] shooter.” When choosing between two things, I learned to say: “Eeny meeny miney mo. Catch a [n-word] by the toe.”

Can’t remember why/when I stopped saying these things; I hope it’s because I learned what they meant.

In my 20s, I naively thought by the time my “enlightened” generation became senior citizens there would be virtually no racists left.

But when I saw this huge uptick in racist chain emails, both subtle and overt, since 2008, and from people in my age group, it was obvious I’d been wrong.

Unless we want to learn from the past, we’re doomed to repeat even the mistakes we vowed not to.

— Jack Bowen, Fort Worth

The bigotry of several students from the University of Oklahoma, as disturbing as it was, is really no different than the bigotry we espouse.

And since we are just as capable of espousing bigotry, who’s not to say that any one of us could have been captured on a cell phone video airing out our bigotry?

Just think, our lives could be marked forever just as the lives of the students in that video are.

— Anthony Chilson Jr., Princeton

This story was originally published March 20, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "OU responds to fraternity’s racist chant: appropriate or overreaction?."