The racist chant was a song sung by the Oklahoma University students. The students claimed that they learned it during the leadership cruise that was supported by the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity several years ago. “The chant, which included at least one reference to lynching, was sung by fraternity members on a chartered bus on the way to the chapter’s annual Founder’s Day event in Oklahoma City.” (Gray). The members later implemented it like a culture in the university.
The university president, David Boren, said that the students who participated in the racist chant were to face disciplinary actions. Some students were expelled from the university since they were the leaders during the racist chant that was sung on the bus. The rest of the people who had been on the bus were to face severe actions such as mandatory working for the community. Many students were asked questions in regard to getting sufficient information concerning the racist chant (Mclaughlin). The Message in the racist was against the Blacks to participate in the SAE since they would not accept them.
The president of the institution claimed that they would set a good example on how to deal with people practicing racism against the Blacks (Mclaughlin). He recommended that the habit of racial prejudice should not be tolerated in any country in the nation. The racial discrimination against Blacks is against the human acts that made that racial discrimination is illegal. He strongly criticized it, and he was to make sure it could be brought to a halt.
Stereotyping plays a part in racial prejudice against Blacks. Human beings usually have the tendency to evaluate any person they meet with and come up with their conclusions that can be positive or negative. Stereotyping influences the results of the evaluation from their beliefs and their knowledge just as the students who participated in the racist chant did (Mclaughlin). Certain characteristics are assigned to particular races. The students incorporated the stereotype belief.
The group was not ethnocentric towards the Black race. The American members did not evaluate the culture of Black people, and they also did not compare any Blacks’ cultural belief to their culture. One of the students, Parker Rice, who participated in the singing, apologized for participating in singing a racist song on the Bus (Mclaughlin). He condemned it as a bad habit and very reckless. This shows they did not have any ethnocentric towards the Black race.
The entire fraternity did not feel as if they were in one group and did not share a sense of belonging. The Blacks felt intimidated and isolated since some Whites in the university had started practicing racial prejudice as a culture in the university. They could not feel to belong entirely to the fraternity since they were being isolated. The president of the university was annoyed since some members had started practicing racial discrimination which he was against it (Mclaughlin). This was leading to a division among them.
The fraternity faced severe consequences for being prejudice. The students who led in the song against the Blacks were expelled from the university. They were ordered to pack their belongings and move out from the university. The university had to lose some of the members. The rest of the members who were on the bus were to face severe actions involving serving the society without payment. The members of the SAE were even threatened with death. The fraternity later was called to a halt, for instance; their headquarters was closed (Mclaughlin). Each of the fraternity members ended up been suspended, and some even could be denied their membership permanently.
Works Cited
Gray, Eliza. Racist Chant at Oklahoma University was Ingrained by SAE Frat. 2015. Web.
Mclaughlin, Eliott. Disgraceful University of Oklahoma Fraternity Shuttered after Racist. 2015. Web.