There are several updates to yesterday’s story about the leaked video of OU Sigma Alpha Espsilon members chanting a horribly offensive racist song. OU President David Boren shut down the frat house and expelled two students, who were the “ringleaders” of this scandal. Boren says these students can contact OU’s Equal Opportunity Office if they wish to appeal their expulsion. We also talked about Waka Flocka Flame, who was scheduled to perform for SAE next month. The rapper cancelled his performance, saying he was “disgusted and disappointed” in the brothers’ actions. Let’s update with bulletpoints.
* Us Weekly published an additional statement from the Waka Flocka’s management, who wishes to emphasize that he is not punishing the university: “Let our decision weld a platform of conversation rather than raise the brows of anger among those who share our distaste and disgust from such a video. This was not a disciplinary action on the innocent students, nor among the guilty that share such wayward thoughts, but a collective reminder of the stain in which remains.”
* CBS News spoke with the SAE house mom, 78-year-old Beauton Gilbow. She claimed to be shocked at the leaked video: “I heard the words. Unbelievable … This is not SAE.” Then a new video surfaced, which shows Gilbow “rapping” the n-word too.
* CBS also interviewed the fraternity’s black chef, Howard Dixon, who is now unemployed. He cooked for SAE for 14 years and “considers the students his family even though he is ‘shocked’ by their remarks.” Alumni raised over $34,000 for Dixon.
* One of the expelled students, Parker Rice, issued an apology via People, which reads (in part), “I am deeply sorry for what I did Saturday night. It was wrong and reckless. I made a horrible mistake by joining into the singing and encouraging others to do the same. On Monday, I withdrew from the University and sadly, at this moment our family is not able to be in our home because of threatening calls as well as frightening talk on social media.” Parker says he was drunk, and “the song was taught to us.”
* Jesse Williams (who has previously spoken at length on on institutional racism) tweeted about the SAE video. He starts off by linking the SAE chant lyrics to the death of a Haitian American student during hazing by the SAE Cornell chapter and goes from there:
"Hang 'em from a tree" is proud celebration of the devastating kidnap, torture & murder of Americans by actual terrorists, for fun. #SAE
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) March 10, 2015
#Tradition just means it's happened for awhile. #Tradition is not a reason, it's a pattern. Reason is your job. #Traditions kill everyday.
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) March 10, 2015
#NotJustSAE is highlighting the pervasiveness of anti-black & brown activities on today's college campuses. #GoToThere #CultureOfDestruction
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) March 11, 2015
Jesse’s first tweet references the death of George Desdunes, a Haitian Cornell student, in 2011. He pledged SAE and was found dead after a hazing ritual. Desdunes was tied up, forced to take several shots of alcohol, and left for dead. This NYT article talks about the coverup of George Desdunes’ death. As always, Jesse cuts straight to the truth of the matter, and he doesn’t want us to forget that the SAE fraternity has a damning history. This racist chant didn’t spring out of nowhere — it’s an institutional problem that must be dealt with before another tragedy happens.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN
Disgusting-and thank you jessie. Those young men all deserve to be expelled but the fact they all LEARNED the song shows a tradition and a reality how ingrained racism is in that fraternity and this shouldn’t just end with expulsions. It’s bigger than that! If I hear another parent describe this as a mistake and not a choice too I’m going to lose my mind.
Thank you. It goes a lot deeper than that. Here’s the thing that’s making life hard for racists. White people are not a monolith. That white boy or white girl you’re dating might have black nieces and nephews, step mom’s or step dads, or cousins. This isn’t Mayberry anymore where white people all had the same experience, went to the same churches and lived in the same towns and knew each other.
The most recent african American kid killed by police had a white mother, my guess is he had loads of whites in his family.
These are the people that will turn on a racist in, in a NY minute…(see the friend of the person who took that video).
If racists are just going on skin color and assuming they’re amongst friends – the Bottomline is…these days they have no idea who they’re dealing with.
WELL SAID!
I am many things. What I am though, however white I am perceived to be, the child of a mother who’s last name is Lopez. People who perceive me to be white have sometimes said things that were “off-color” that they thought I would be in agreement with. Boy, did they find out how wrong they were in the fastest amount of time possible. People adopt children of different races, people marry others of different races and ethnicities. Life has become more enriched and entertwined.
Whether it be law enforcement in Ferguson or these white college students in Oklahoma, there is a certain group of whites who have not evolved and think that by the meer fact of appearing “white”, however ignorant, uncivil, or discourteous, that fact alone should give them a leg up on everyone else. With them, it is surface not substance that counts!
Unfortunately, many black kids have been killed by the police since that guy. Last week, a 19-year-old was shot (the old ‘he was reaching for my gun’ gambit) and a mentally ill homeless man was shot (the old ‘he’ was reaching for my gun gambit).
I hate the way that Ferguson is being treated as if it’s some kind of special egregious case when it’s anything but. With this story, people are feeling really good about ‘righting a wrong’ when the issue isn’t about police in Ferguson, the issue is about police. I find out about new black people being gunned down by police at least once a week. Once a week, at least. You figure out as young black people that police exist to make black people miserable and there a lot of white people who are fine with that. Moderate me out of here if you want, but prove that what I’ve said is untrue. The thinking is, Just try to live your life in such a manner that will never necessitate police intervention because they exist to hurt you. I swear, if I hear another ‘not all cops’, well fine, bad cops and their enablers. It’s funny how much white people fear us–over what? The black skinheads, the black klan, the black Fox News, wage gap? But whatever, crow on about hobgoblins, leprechauns, reverse racism and other things that don’t exist and cry into your pillow over the bad things that are happening to you inside of your head.
Honestly, i don’t accept their apologies. They shouldn’t have even sung or THOUGHT to sing that chant in the first place if they were truly decent human beings. Even if the song was “taught” to you, as 18-21 year olds in college with the ability to think for yourselves, you should have realized how wrong that song was and taken a stand for what was right.
And isn’t it ironic that these racists are afraid for THEIR lives when they’ve created a climate of fear and intimidation in their own school? Although i hope nothing happens to these people or their families, i also have absolutely NO sympathy for them.
True. If they couldn’t abide by the sentiments that vomitous song, why would they sing it?
It’s not as if they are 5 Y.O.s who can’t comprehend the offensiveness of both the words and intention behind it.
Exactly. Using that word was bad enough but to go and sing about lynching people? Yeah, the only reason you’re sorry is because you got caught, your frat got shut down and daddy couldn’t pay your way out of this one.
Like i said, absolutely no sympathy for them.
Yes exactly. So disturbing on so many levels
agree with everything you wrote.
I don’t wish them any harm but I find it to be kind of a ironic justice that they’re now living in fear.
“Although i hope nothing happens to these people or their families, i also have absolutely NO sympathy for them.”
Same.
Well, I have no idea what other members in their families are like so I just don’t have sympathy for the racist a-holes in question.
That song has been sung at SAE since 1968. So no-I don’t buy the whole “I was drunk” thing or it was just 2 guys on the bus thing either. You have 45+ years of racism with that frat-you are all just bummed you got caught.
Yeah, I agree with you. At their ages and attending University, they should be applying critical thinking. Jesse’s texts are AWESOME.
Exactly – if a group you are trying to join teaches such songs under the guise of “fun”, and you still join and don’t walk away from it, you are condoning it, and even worse, participating and perpetuating it.
I have no sympathy for any of them. I don’t think threats are ever a good idea or response, but I’m not too sad they’re experiencing that fear for a change either.
Agreed. I thought this guy’s apology was pathetic. He’s only doing so because he’s afraid for his future prospects. I don’t see any real remorse in his words.
You know, many ethnic minorities leave their homes everyday feeling like they have a “proverbial” target on their back simply for not being white. These little SOB’s should know alittle of what that feels like!
Exactly! Drunk is not an excuse and this is not a mistake. I’m sorry they’re getting death threats, that adds nothing to the conversation and just gives these pos a persecution complex but people are angry and fed up. I don’t live in the States and it hurts my heart every time a fresh instance of racism comes to light but at the same time I’m glad these pos are being exposed.
Jesse Williams get it right again.
I wish I could muster shock about this situation. Sad how unsurprising it is.
Man, he gets sexier and sexier the more he takes a stand for The Right Way. Yummy.
Intellectual, and sexy as HELL.
Yes plus 10000
My boyfriend in college (we went to different colleges in separate states) became a member of SAE … He was 5 years older than me and a former Marine now getting his college degree. I was young college girl doing it all on my own. It didn’t take long after him becoming a member of a fraternity – no less SAE – that I ended our long term relationship. This behavior does not surprise me AT ALL. If I had a daughter I would NEVER let her date a frat boy. Period.
Jesse Williams is so flawless it makes me teary eyed. I love him. And I LOVE that he’s not afraid to call this sh*t RACISM and challenge the people who sit by idly and watch it happen.
First of all, I keep getting annoyed at this being referred to as a “chant.” It is a song. A racist fraternity song that has likely been sung for decades. These guys didn’t make up a chant. They were taught a song at some point. I’ve heard rude, crude frat songs forever and this is just another example of it. Sorry – but the chant word is bugging me in a ll these stories.
As for Jesse – Amen! As usual, he throws it out there and he is absolutely right. SAE is one of the fraternities, in particular, that has a long history of issues like this. While other fraternities moved away from hazing and actively punished chapters who continued the activity, SAE insisted that they had no problem “as an institution.” BS.
‘Wow’ is all I’ve got. Parker Rice’s apology might have been halfway decent if he didn’t add the bit about his fears. It sounds like he is positioning himself as a victim, that it wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t drunk, and that he wouldn’t have apologized if he hadn’t received threats.
I’m not saying he wouldn’t have apologized, but putting those two pieces of info together makes it sound like the apology was under duress. They need to reopen the case of George Desdunes.
It sounds like a scared little boy trying to explain away his boo-boo. The mere fact he didn’t start gagging the second the words “Hang ’em from a tree” left his mouth reveals everything about him. I’m sure his parents are so ‘stunned’ but want the community to know what a ‘good’ son they have that sings about lynching people when he’s drunk.
I’m with you, Kiddo. And if you read his full apology, he said he’ll reject racism in the future if he sees it or experiences it. Experiences it. Talk about positioning himself as a victim.
Oh my god, this same fraternity was responsible for a black guy’s death a few years ago??! Jesus. I am so sick of this. Now we know why the Uni moved so fast to shut it down. They have been down this road before. Thank you Jesse Williams for pointing that out, cause I didn’t know. I think this is a prime example of institutional/ingrained racism. Even in 2015, give some idiots alcohol and power and they show their true colors. And, hey 78-yr.old lying ‘house mom” you are as much of a f%cking disgrace as those young cretinous pigs in that video. You should all walk in shame for this. I always hope that people can and will change, and I will NOT give up hope. This crap just shows how much work there is left to do.Jesse Williams is amazing and to the point, as always.
Desdunes death brought tears to my eyes. Livid at Cornell for trying to cover it up.
I wish we could just end the Greek system in universities. Go to college, learn and live new experiences, just don’t pay thousands of dollars for friends and a social life.
Why? It’s not all frats and sororities. Some of them actually do good things and it’s not all about partying and being racists.
I’m with you.
And FingerBinger, I hear you but I’ve come to believe the bad far outweighs the good. There are plenty of other ways to get involved with charity and to do good deeds on campuses.
Me too. My experience was that the frats and sororities brought out the worst in people–a clan mentality, binge drinking, the need to prove their virility (or with sororities, purity), a sense of entitlement and exclusivity. It’s a dated concept.
I mean, I’m in an LGBT inclusive sorority, but if I didn’t find that, I would have never joined a sorority. You really have to get out of the traditional greek system to find the good groups. They’re there. But there are not nearly enough of them.
I never even understood why they were necessary. Universities here don’t have them but people still manage to make friends, join clubs, do charity work and party. Seems very high school to me, like an extension of the childish clique culture that should be done away with by supposed adults.
I agree. At the very least they are elite. And yes, Greeksters, they are.
I attended a university that didn’t allow a Greek system, and any student who was a member of on off campus was expelled. Because they are elitist and also isolate students on both sides. I can say that neither our community service nor our partying suffered in any way!
I love Jesse. Speaking the truth as always.
I know (and love) many members of SAE and know (and hate) members as well. It’s truly the culture at that college (and many like it, unfortunately) that is shining a horrible light on Greek life.
I’m glad to hear Jason going to the facts and heart of the matter. I didn’t know about how extensive the racism went within this fraternity, to say it’s horrifying would be putting it lightly. Totally disgusting, vile and shameful are the very few words i can come up with because I’m still trying to wrap my head around how anyone could have that much hatred inside them. This fraternity should be shutdown wherever there’s a chapter and the punishment those boys received should be long standing. This is 2015 for Gods sake , aren’t we supposed to be better then this?
God this man is amazing. Nothing like a gorgeous man who talks with wisdom.
I especially love what he said about tradition and he’s right. One of these young men have come forward to apologize but the truth is there’s nothing they can say that will fix it. It takes a staggering amount of ignorance and privelage to joke about someone hanging from a tree. So perhaps if they’re now being inundated with threatening phone calls and reporters they know just a TINY aspect of the fear many families felt huddled together in their own homes watching townspeople burn crosses on their lawns while taunting them to come out.
I’m tired of stupid traditions in America. I’m tired of people hiding in their ignorance because they’re too terrified of the world changing. If a few beers is all it takes before you’re gleefully singing about hanging someone from a tree then how many more beers till you do it? How many more beers till you rape someone? These boys were weak cowards and now with social media that fact about them will never go away. Hopefully their Father’s had backup plans for if any of their ‘good’ sons screwed up monumentally.
love your post.
His comment about tradition: so simple, so forthright yet so thought-provoking.
Excellent post, Amy.
On another note, waka flocka has an adorable smile
Whatever you do, don’t read the YouTube comments on the video. I don’t know why I did in the first place.
Never read Youtube or Yahoo comments. Always avoid.
YES! To the Yahoo comments. I swear it’s like all the particular characters of society get onto Yahoo to just chatter their little racist hearts out.
I always feel like I’ve had a lobotomy after reading Youtube or Yahoo comments.
I try my best not to read them sometimes. Sometimes I can’t help it though.
But you know what’s even more disturbing? The amount of LIKES some of those racist comments get :O
Sometimes you might see 500 or more likes for EG. and that’s so sad and disgusting.
I don’t see any reference to George Desdunes in his tweets, just a description of lynching itself… but I’m glad more people are learning about George now, and I’m horrified to think it might have been a hate crime disguised as hazing. Hazing is awful enough as it is. He’s right; tradition is never a legitimate reason to continue harming others.
How much was that bus driver getting paid that they kept driving, said nothing, did nothing? Slamming the brakes & putting that bus in park would have been a start.
I’m sick of cowardice in all it’s form. You don’t have to shout to say No. You don’t even have to get up to take a stand. You may not stop the evil, but you are never required to ride along. Literally & figuratively, have the courage to GET OFF THE BUS!
I attended OU as a young adult back in the late 90’s and let me tell you, this is not an isolated event. My white privilege, young looking appearance and off campus job allowed me to be privy to a lot of conversations that “outsiders” wouldn’t hear. I wasn’t a big fan of the Greek system before attending OU. I was outright disguisted after my time there.
It’s ok to be Black at OU if you play football or basketball and bring the school glory and money. Meaning “you work for OU and the other students benefit”. Otherwise, don’t expect to be seen as a “real” member of the OU community. A lot of that attitude comes from the parents of the White students. A lot of them are alumnus and are very involved in campus life.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are more Greek organizations suspended or expelled from campus after this. The school has needed a culture change for many years.
I should mention that they have a beautiful campus and some amazing academic programs and professors. They just need to exorcise the plantation mentality that the Greek system and some alumni continue to foster.
I’m sorry you had to experience that, and unfortunately I think it’s common to many collegiate settings. I hope some serious change comes out of all this.
I second what lucy2 said. And you could be describing the large midwest university I attended. I also hope for change, it’s been sorely needed for a very long time.
@Booboo thanks for sharing your experience. Being white myself, I know exactly what you mean about being privy to those types of conversations. It’s like you’re viewed as a “safe” audience and sometimes even a sympathetic one (nevermind that anyone from any race can – and should – be offended by racism). While I would never compare it to being on the receiving end of those remarks or actions stemming from them, it’s nonetheless very uncomfortable to hear.
This behavior is firts learned at home. I challege women yes mothers! To do a better job in raising their kids but expecially their sons. These men don’t respect anyone. How did they get that way? When I say anyone I mean minorities, women and gays regardless of color. I don’t care if their father is a card carring member of the kkk, mothers can make a difference when it comes to raising your sons to respect people. These men are our future senators, lawyers, cops, CEOs etc. and those of you on this site that still believe there is not a race issue and don’t really want to have a dialog about it are fooling yourselves. This is happening not just in universitys, but at the work place, and other parts of society. Im sure they have done and said despicable things to women too. It’s 2015 and #saeHATESME.
If you had said PARENTS instead of MOTHERS I might have agreed, why put all the blame and responsability on the mothers while the fathers get away with not raising their children right?
Maybe I didn’t get my point a cross clearly. I meant that us women probably spend more time mentoring and maturing our kids more than fathers do. Yes both parents are at fault but let’s not act like a lot of this privilege kids spend less time with their mothers than they do their fathers. And women tend to be less racist than men do…but then again maybe im wrong about that, and that’s why these kids are the way they are.
@ Linn
my mom did much more of the raising/parenting of us kids than my dad did. I agree with Des, it is much more likely the mom who teaches the kids. Plus Des is posting on website where most of the posters are women, so it makes sense that she would speak to them.
Well on a positive note I want to thank the individual who filmed them on the bus and sent the video to Unheard.I am hoping he or she was outraged or disgusted by what they were hearing and thought they should be exposed.
Regarding the house mother, it was obvious she was singing a rap song so I believe she could still have been shocked by the song sang on the bus.But as a seventy year woman living in the south she should know it’s not a good thing even singing those rap lyrics.She knows the history of that word.
Don Lemon had 2 Black members of the frat and they said when they lived at the same house they have never heard that song .They appeared to be in their late twenties or early thirties .One of the guys was almost in tears, because he loves his frat and his brothers and he feels almost betrayed.
These kids aren’t stupid. They wouldn’t sing that song in “mixed” company. They know better than to do that. Plus, the Black SAE members that Don Lemon interviewed may be the “acceptable” sort of Black people that are allowed into the group.
I know many of you may think I’m crazy or living in the past with my opinions of this situation. Plantation mentality is the best way I can describe it. I was White and poor and working my way through school after getting out of the military and a lot of the Greek kids I worked for (in the popular bars) made it a point to remind me that I wasn’t one of them once they found out I wasn’t in a sorority. In their minds I was poor white trash. If you played on the football or basketball team you were accepted….allowed to work in the big house. If you were a poor Black kid from rural Oklahoma you were kept outside in the field.
A lot of the time I just laughed it off because I knew that the “real world” outside of Norman and the rest of Oklahoma didn’t care about these Greek kids and their racist constructs.
Unfortunately people run government and hold positions of power who are EXACTLY like them in the ‘real word’. Way TOO MANY of them.
exactly. remember all the house/senate members who made it a point to announce they weren’t down with Obama.
“Plantation mentality” is exactly right. (In their eyes) Black people are fine if they are serving the food or entertainment, but aren’t allowed to rise to the level of peer, and should pay with their lives if they attempt to. So vile.
It is the real world, that’s where they learned it.
I go to a veeeeery greek college, and i see that stuff all the time. I believe you 100%.
And it’s awful. Just know that you’re a much better person than them.
The parents of Levi Pettit (the seemingly conductor of this song/chant in the video) made a half-assed apology on his behave and conditioned it by saying that their son isn’t a racist.
See? This is why your son does things like this. It’s because you keep refusing to teach your son that his actions define his character. You refuse to teach your son that he isn’t infallible and that he’s not to accept fully his responsibility if that means his ego would be hurt by being judged on his decisions and actions.
Iirc, Rice’s friend said he’s not a racist either. Smh…
Them and their supporters and parents like these are the reason why they fit the adage “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” It may be a different generation, but they haven’t evolved. They’ve stayed the same and won’t change as long as they come up with more lies and excuses to cover themselves.
The SAE really needs to do a self-cleaning and honesty check on themselves and their organization. The death of that poor Haitian-American kid at the hands of yet another of their branch should have been a wake-up call, but apparently they refused to change their ways. This chant is no doubt not an unique and new thing to the SAE because I’ve read that in the video, a girl said something like “you haven’t heard this one before?”
I saw this too, where Rice’s friend tried to defuse this with some half-assed “he didn’t understand what he was singing”. You’re right that this is why stuff like this continues to happen, because people will not acknowledge their wrongs, or those of others, but deflect, deny, and downplay.
“Didn’t understand”. So much for colleges as institutions of higher learning.
I didn’t think I could love Jesse Williams anymore than I do now, but there he goes and makes me love him more. He’s the only reason I still watch Grey’s anymore! Hot AND eloquent.
It’s nice to see a college holding students accountable for their actions. But I can’t help but think, why AREN’T we like wise expelling students who commit acts of sexual violence? Or If they were rapping on of the numerous rap songs that glorify violence against women, would we have seen the same reaction?
That’s some really transparent deflecting. Why hint that it all goes back to being black people’s fault?
I don’t follow many celebrities on Twitter, but I started following Jesse Williams when he got active in Ferguson. He is always on point with his criticisms of systemic racism. His intelligence is so attractive!
I adore Jesse Williams. He always knows his shit and looks good speaking it.
My friend was SAE at Oklahoma and was sayin he was disgusted on twitter. His dad went to OU and he may be a legacy pledge. Hes from Texas but grew up in NY. I dont know whether i believe his omg no way really response bc im sure he heard it before. Hes also a quarter japanese so i wonder if that got him any grief. People in NY are always teasing his asianness sooo…. He did make a donation to their old chef tho.
#Tradition just means it’s happened for awhile. #Tradition is not a reason, it’s a pattern. Reason is your job. #Traditions kill everyday.
Great quote. Respect.
Does anyone here believe that these boys families are actually shocked by their behavior? It is hard for me to imagine someone who would participate in that song was raised in anything other than an overtly racist, hateful home environment.
‘Does anyone here believe that these boys families are actually shocked by their behavior?’
Nooooooooooooooooooooooope!
Hot AND eloquent? I can’t take this man anymore.
I know, it’s complete inappropriate, but Jesse is so attractive (AND SMART AND OUTSPOKEN).
Thanks for highlighting this story again. Jesse Williams is great!
Its been reported that the Tri Delt girl who took the video and reported it has had to be given a bodyguard.
This is what they do: Cry victim after creating a hostile in environment. smfh. Black people were lynched, hell they had lynching parties and took pictures to celebrate. They even lynched black soldiers back from WWII fighting for this country. Yeah, go fight for your country and this is the shiz folks come back to. Joe Scarborough and his ilk want to blame it on rap music ignoring that that song has been around waaaaaaaaaay before rap. No accountability yet everyone else must be accountable. Seems these folks find strength in the racist mantras and songs. Makes them feel superior hence supreme. Disgusting.
Marvelous, what a web site it is! This webpage presents helpful information to us, keep it up.|
This makes me so sad. All the people who’ve worked so hard to bring humanity forward, all the people who carry on despite being lynched, ill-treated, hosed, spit on, shot at, and disrespected and manage to rise above it all. Then you have fraternity jerks like this who might as well be living in the Stone Age. We will not be dragged back there with you. We have come too far and not damn far enough.