#mlkparty

          What’s even more disturbing — than throwing a “dress like a black person” costume party for all white people, that is — is what the prevailing images were that came to mind as these party goers asked themselves, “How do I look ‘black’?”

At least they didn't go with the "Kelvin" filter, right? That would have been embarrassing!

          As seen in the pictures posted to the attendees’ Instagram accounts, their list of answers doesn’t appear to have been very long. Remarkably, there has been no evidence that anyone’s list contained black face-paint. But do keep in mind, there was at least one moment for each “MLK Black Party” attendee wherein they arranged a list like this one inside their head:

            Okay, so, I’m making light of it and no one actually wrote a list. But the sentiments are the same. And in a way, that’s even worse. It’s worse that these ridiculous stereotypes were readily available as soon as the partygoers went to go dress up. And they actually did dress up. And they actually did go to the party. And they actually did post photo evidence of it for all of their friends to admire. These young people with the power to vote and impact more lives than just their own — these people seeking a higher education — actually did this.

          I’m not going to go deep into what a possible punishment should be for the fraternity or for the students who attended the party. Suspend the fraternity? Remove the fraternity? I don’t care. That’s not the biggest concern in my opinion. Besides, I don’t exactly have my mind made up about “political correctness” or scripted “press conferences and statements” or “public apologies”. You can read about how the university has responded and the details of the frat’s suspension elsewhere. I will say that I think a punishment is important, but I also think that a culture that produces minds that see it fit to ridicule an entire race of people is a larger concern of mine.

          And to those who will likely misattribute this to a matter of violated free speech or freedom of expression, I can only say that your passion for fairness is misguided. No one is saying these young people deserve to go to jail. And no one is saying it should be illegal to offend someone (or many someones). Saying otherwise and turning this into a discussion about the 1st amendment is straw man debating at its most annoying.

          So, please, try this. Can you recognize that one reason universities promote Greek life is to display a standard for the type of student the school seeks to enroll? The same can be said about a specific chapter and its father fraternity. So, consider the following: ASU’s rapid attempts at rebranding the university as more than “just a party school,” its already complicated relationship with all its frats/sororities (which led ASU to literally demolish the frat houses and displace them further off campus), and the fact that this is not the TKE chapter’s first offense in recent years (Google it). With all that, how is it an attack on free speech to punish members of a fraternity that continue to violate codes of conduct and jeopardize the public image of Arizona State as a whole? The fact is, you may not find the TKE brothers’ actions offensive, but equally significant populations (be they larger or smaller) sure do. At the end of the day, which is more important: Letting a school-sanctioned group of college kids get drunk and pick on their fellow students (all because today is the day dedicated to a man who helped realize those fellow students’ civil rights) OR respecting the historical as well as modern-day sensitivity to those stereotypes; stereotypes that continue to negatively impact the race of people, not just outside of, but also within their own communities?

          I’m sure some will roll their eyes. Even if they receive punishment, I'm sure those involved will continue to see the humor in the costume party. Sadly, even more will completely miss the point as to why it's even a big deal.

And to those people, I pose this scenario. Imagine this:

You attend the most populated university in America.

Students you don’t really know decide to throw a party in the name of your grandfather and dedicate it to your family [The McGees]. Partygoers are encouraged to wear costumes as the invitation reads:

“In honor of Sgt. Colin McGee, a man who fought to enrich and preserve the legacy of his family, please come to our party this weekend dressed as a member of the McGees."

Strange. You aren’t invited. Not that you’d go anyway once you find out the party’s not-so-hidden intention.

The next day, when you log onto your favorite social media site (take your pick), you see pictures posted from the party.

Everyone seems to have gone dressed as either a criminal; a cocky exaggeration of the McGees who have found success in a certain sport; and they didn’t forget the most important thing — to serve drinks out of food meant to indicate that as rich as your family history is, you’re still too stupid to expand your palettes beyond fruit served to 5 year-olds at birthday parties. I mean, I heard you guys really love your watermelons. That's so whacky! And stupid!

And just so there’s absolutely no way for you to misconstrue this imitation as genuine admiration, you see that the McGee Day Party attendees all sarcastically captioned their pictures with broken English alongside your grandfather’s most memorable quotes.

Free at last…

          This is what these people think of you. This is what your fellow students think of you. This party serves as just another example that you can succeed, you can go to the same university, you can read from the same books, you can do everything expected of you (or unexpected of you) and it never seems to matter. To what feels like the rest of the world, you are every negative at once. You’re a thug. Your successes are a commodity. You’re unintelligent. You’re an outcast. You’re worthy of nothing but being the subject of ridicule. And you’re inferior. No, they don’t care about your feelings. To them, you are a nigger. Got it? Good.

          Man, am I glad that was only hypothetical. Now, go eat some watermelon.