Racist frat chant closes fraternity at Oklahoma University
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
“There will never be a n***** at SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he’ll never sign with me. There will never be a n***** at SAE.”
Cheerfully sung on the bus.
video and article at this site:
http://jaybookman.blog.ajc.com/2015/03/09/out-of-oklahoma-fraternity-nine-seconds-of-racism-hatred/
The video captures members of a University of Oklahoma fraternity, dressed in formal wear and accompanied by their dates, riding on a bus either to or from an event. They are singing to the tune of “If You’re Happy And You Know It”. They do seem happy; they do seem to know it. But the lyrics have been changed.
Some news accounts have referred vaguely to those revised lyrics as a “racist chant,” but that strips it of its chilling power.
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Nine seconds, but it tells you a lot.
For example, it’s not one person chanting. It’s a collective action, expressing a group sentiment. And clearly, this wasn’t the first time the group had sung this song. It was familiar enough to those in attendance that they didn’t need to be taught the words. You have to wonder how many years, decades, even generations that song had been sung within SAE before it was exposed to the world.
Clearly, those leading and participating in the chant had no fear of social disapproval from their friends on the bus. To the contrary, the power of social conformity was being put to quite another use. The chant was reinforcing a social norm within SAE, putting every member on notice about what was acceptable to its members, and what was not
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It's an age old, multi-generational problem. And the irony is that in this era of mass communications, the internet, and "social media". with an incredible ability to reach across the nation and the world to interact with others "instantly" and real-time, using either or both audio and video (I know a large number of DUers probably remember the days of having "Pen Pals" from overseas and corresponding with them via "air mail"
, it is a testament to how despite the available technology, people still often drift towards "self-imposed" isolation. It's definitely a human trait and is probably something that will never be completely eradicated. All you can do is mitigate it if it has a negative impact on the whole of a society.
Among them probably some well-connected executives and oligarchs of the not-too-distant future. You know, the good guys who deserve to become rich and powerful, lording over the lazy moochers.
