Racially charged incident unfortunate

We write to deplore a breach in civility between the Duke and greater Durham communities. Last Saturday, at the conclusion of the WXDU Backyard Barbecue held on the West Campus Plaza, three Duke undergraduates mocked and physically intimidated a group of WXDU volunteers. These actions had racial overtones, and the Duke community must join in rejecting them. WXDU, Duke's radio station, is a unique organization at the University. It's one of the few groups where Duke undergraduates, grad students, faculty and staff work in close collaboration with Durham residents otherwise unaffiliated with the University. We planned Saturday's event--which offered students free food, music and WXDU merchandise--to underscore these connections. It was largely a success. For four hours, Duke and Durham dined together and got down with each other.

Unfortunately, a scheduling mishap quickly replaced scenes of unity with something much more ignominious-a disgrace to our Duke community. A band--an acoustic duo booked by All Campus Entertainment as an opening act--arrived around 7:30 p.m., believing their set to begin at 8:15. (Like WXDU, ACE is a committee of the Duke University Union.) WXDU personnel explained to the pair that the radio station had reserved the space until 9:00, and according to all printed materials, the ACE event was scheduled for 9:30. The duo became petulant. They interrupted a reggae deejay performance with shouts of "You suck!" and, when that proved impotent, mocked the dance moves of the deejay crew.

This mimicry was not simply immature. It was unmistakable minstrelsy, a racially inflected insult to the black performers onstage, which proved to be a hallmark of their performance. The duo, both white, granted themselves the pleasure of repeating the N-word while covering Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't S--." (African Americans were not the only victims of this act's malevolence: they followed "Bitches Ain't S--" with a lament about the unsuitability of the female Duke undergraduate, an "anorexic bitch.") The ACE representative acted no better. Faced with an agitated audience, he attempted to resolve the situation through physical intimidation. He took the stage as the reggae sound system continued performing, confronting one member after another, puffing out his chest, and yelling abusively.

Regardless of the circumstances, we must deplore the behavior of these students. WXDU and Duke University work jointly to improve relations between the Duke and Durham communities. And it is our shared human task to build a place where dancehall reggae and warbling Tenacious D covers are equally tolerated.

Rick Sawyer, Program Director, WXDU

Torrence Todd, Station Manager

Laura Clough, Urban Music Director

John Shadle, Promotions Director, CFO, Trinity '98