Tarleton State and U Conn Law celebrate MLK with “ghetto” and “gangster” parties

by guest contributor Philip Arthur Moore, originally published at TheThink

I knew I should have put a bet in for when we’d hear about college kids throwing ghetto parties on Martin Luther King Day. Absolutely despicable:

Authorities at Tarleton State University said they plan to investigate a Martin Luther King Jr. Day party that mocked black stereotypes by featuring fried chicken, malt liquor and faux gang apparel.

“I feel like there is no excuse for this type of ignorance,” said Donald Ray Elder, president of the Stephenville school’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Photographs posted on social networking Web site Facebook.com showed partygoers wearing Afro wigs and fake gold and silver teeth. One photo showed students “mocking how African-Americans do step shows,” Elder said. In another picture, a student is dressed as Aunt Jemima and carries a gun.

“That upsets me,” Elder said. “That’s someone who knows nothing about Dr. King, because Dr. King was totally about nonviolence.”

You can find photos from the entire event over at The Smoking Gun. Thanks so much for the tip, Rachel.

Speaking of white kids and gangster parties, The Smoking Gun has yet another story about some University of Connecticut Law students throwing a party of their own:

Seems that questionable parties were not limited this month to a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at a Texas college. Turns out students at the University of Connecticut School of Law also opted for do-rags, gang signs, gold teeth, malt liquor, and a fake machine gun during an off-campus gathering last weekend, just days after the civil rights leader’s January 15 birthday. One future attorney even wore fake tiger claw tattoos on her chest, an apparent homage to the rapper Eve.

I don’t want to make wild conclusions from all of this, but one thing that comes to mind is the reality that the legal system will one day be run by these people. Would it be a stretch to say, then, that the legal system is racist? Because these parties surely are.

Find more photos at The Smoking Gun, and stay the hell away from Facebook.com if you plan on being a racist party boy.