What is Racism?

On Martin Luther King weekend this year, Clemson University students held a "gangsta" party, where white students dressed up as "gangstas," by wearing baggy clothing, having malt liquor taped to their hands, wearing grills (jewelry for teeth) and some white females had padded their backsides to look bigger.

These students came under fire after pictures of the party ended up on facebook.com. It seems that this party and the actions of these students had angered the majority of the 1,100 black students that attend Clemson, out of 17,000 students total.

Students at Clemson that attended the party stated that they didn't know that what they were doing was racism. According to one student, who attended the party, no one who attended the party is racist. However, he could understand how some of the actions of students could be seen as a "racist act."

In the hit movie "Hotel Rwanda," (which is about the genocide of an estimated million people which occurred in the African country of Rwanda) a scene reminded me of what the young man said above. The Western nations, including America, did nothing to help with the genocide. When a reporter asked a British government official about the genocide, she insisted on saying at there were only "acts of genocide." The reporter asked how many "acts of genocide" it would take to make "genocide." She fumbled around for an answer, but had none.

So how many "acts of racism" does it take for it to become racism?

Maybe this gansta party, and other gansta parties around the country (I know of two that have happened this year in which Bellarmine students took a part in) aren't really acts of racism, but acts of stereotyping.

Gangsters, at least how they are portrayed in movies, music videos, and the media, are predominantly black. Gangsters who are white dress in an urban hip-hop style. I've never watched a movie where gangsters dress in business suits or in jeans that sit at the waist and a polo shirt.

Can you imagine Eminem in an underground club, ready to go on stage in GAP jeans and a pink polo shirt? How about this scene: Flava Flav without his clock, his hat, or his grill ready to pick his next girlfriend on "Flava of Love." I don't think so.

I can't help but wonder if students at Clemson would have gotten upset at a "White trash" party. Or a "Hillbilly bash." Or a "Redneck riot."

These parties all fall into a stereotyping cluster, and not racism. I think that the students at Clemson could have picked a much better date; Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday should be celebrated, yes, but not in this manner. In fact, I'd be willing to bet money that the reason that this party was the one "gangsta" party that got busted nationally is because it was held on such a carelessly picked date.

Video Newscast on Clemson party.