Party attendance is not racism

Ah, yes, the lifestyle of a common Duke frat boy: cocaine, heroin and sexual assaults. Bridget Newman has finally found the key to what makes fraternity life at Duke tick. After reading her Sept. 17 column I was frustrated and angered.

First, came the opening example of the "Crocker Sack". As a sophomore, I know nothing of the issue and if Newman's information is correct, it certainly sounds like an offensive and unacceptable publication that should not be tolerated.

The second example of the article was the Freeman Center's Jew-B-Q. Not being a Jew myself, I probably should not make assumptions about what Jews think of this "Jew-B-Q" title. I certainly believe that the Freeman Center is the most sensitive division of this school to Jews and possible anti-Semitic sentiments. Anything that the Freeman Center deems acceptable for the Jewish community certainly seems fine by me.

Then there is the "Viva Mexico" party which Sigma Chi threw on campus. I believe Newman has looked into this party far too deeply. I do not believe that the Sigma Chi fraternity was trying to "tell Latinos, especially workers, that they are not welcome members of our community." Rather, Sigma Chi noticed how they could implement their Greek letters into the word "Mexico" and went from there.

The problem with Newman's column does not lie with the fact that she was offended, whether it is merited or not. The problem is in Newman's blatant hypocrisy. As a solution to the problem of "Viva Mexico" and the "Jew-B-Q", Newman proposes the "Everything's All White" party. Her point was to make fraternities angry by the proposition that we fit certain stereotypes.

If we are to uphold to Newman's ideal world then we can throw out any number of upcoming and traditional events. In fact, I believe that it is time for the Duke community's self-proclaimed "PC Police" to focus on preventing possible offensive events before they happen rather than complaining after the said events have occurred. Certainly a mistake made by one fraternity and the Freeman Center should not merit a free-for-all bashing of fraternity life on campus in general.
Chase LaFerney Trinity '06