Letter to the Editor: Progressive yes, diverse no

Duke University is diverse all right, just check the statistics. But Duke is far from progressive and represents the ignorance and disillusionment of young white America.

 As a black woman I felt for the Hispanic community when news broke of Sigma Chi's racist party. The minority community instantly reacted in disgust and disbelief that a party theme could be fueled by stereotypes and that Duke plans to do little about it.

  I would equate the event with a party entitled "Viva La Africa" complete with the middle passage at the door. To be honest, I can't be sure that that theme hasn't been a party idea in the past or won't be a party theme in the future. You would never find people of color hosting a party named for a white ethnic group that feeds into stereotypes of whiteness--so why isn't the same respect reciprocated?

 Do people of color really self-segregate or do we just choose to not participate in Duke's mainstream social culture that finds these issues insignificant and humorous? Sigma Chi and other groups who ignore common human courtesy are only sorry that the Hispanic community interpreted their party as derogatory. I believe the fraternity and the majority of the community still do not fully understand why the party was inappropriate.

 Wednesday in my kickboxing class I noticed a white girl wearing a Kappa Alpha shirt with a large piece of cotton on the back and the slogan "Old South." You don't have to be a genius to connect the Old South and cotton to slavery and the oppression of black people but nonetheless someone thought it'd be a good idea to put it on a tee-shirt. That's the problem, no one thinks there is anything wrong with these situations because they attend the party and wear the shirts. In that same class I overheard two other white girls talking about the party situation with one stating, "I don't see why 'those people' are so mad, it's just a party."

 I'm at a loss for what type of school Duke has become. The truth is Mi Gente and the Hispanic greek organizations can scream at the top of their lungs but nothing will be done about this situation because few find anything wrong with it. The president speaks about diversity continuously and has been instrumental in changing Duke's image but I charge her to take action and set a precedent.

 Tara Davis
Trinity '04