University of Arizona students celebrate MLK day with blackface party

by Carmen Van Kerckhove

It seems like college students across America were really busy on January 15th coming up with ways to mock the memory of Martin Luther King. Not only did students at Tarleton State University, University of Connecticut School of Law, and Clemson University throw “ghetto parties” on MLK Day, now comes word that students at the University of Arizona did the same (thanks for the tip, Kynn).

Only this party didn’t even go with the vague “ghetto” theme. They actually asked attendees to dress up as their “favorite black person.” From The Wildcat Online:

An image posted on the social networking Web site Facebook shows partygoers dressed in do-rags and fur coats with black-painted faces.

After being invited, pre-business freshman Brianna Tarleton and a friend inquired as to the meaning of a “black” party.

“My friend asked, ‘How would you do that?’ (Kuechel) said, ‘You know, dress up like gangsters, pimps and hos,’” Tarleton said.

You gotta love the justification given by Kuechel, the kid who threw the party:

While many UA students condemned the party, the UA student who threw the party, agricultural education sophomore Kyle Kuechel, said the party was not intended to be offensive.

“In order to come, you had to dress as your favorite black person,” Kuechel said. “Two people were dressed as lawyers, and two from ‘Family Matters.’”…

Kuechel said four of the 15 partygoers were black and were not offended by the party.

Oh, my bad! If those 15 four black people (thanks, Colin) thought it was all good, then I guess it was.

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So We’re Overreacting? « Reading While Black on 25 May 2008 at 7:36 am

[...] the butt of everyone’s jokes, and BLACKFACE PARTIES have been the “hip” thing for upper-class white college students to [...]

Comments

Colin wrote:

No, no, Carmen, those FOUR black people were down, you see. (Cause there’s nothing better as a black person than going to a blackface party, as we all know)

One or two schools was an incident, this row of parties seems planned, though…

But onto this one.

Arizona, the anti-racism bastion of America, ladies and gentlemen! Really, though, it’s interesting that people celebrated their “favorite black person” by dressing up and wearing blackface! How gratifying, eh?

And the whole excuse of “well, some were lawyers and two were people on Family Matters!” really cleans it all up, doesn’t it? Am I the only one who sees that in a similar light as the Biden comments?

“I wasn’t being insulting, I even dressed up as non-threatening black archetypes, even though I still wore blackface!” (Had to have that blackface, I guess!) It smacks of ignorance specifically of the harm done by stereotyping an entire people, to me. I must be too PC.

Posted 12 Feb 2007 at 9:19 am ¶
Sylvia wrote:

I agree with you, Colin, so that means O’Reilly’s going to make fun of us for having intuitive gifts beyond superficial interpretation. We’re gonna make people “feel badly” for not accepting Arizona’s “tribute.”

Posted 12 Feb 2007 at 1:20 pm ¶
Rachel wrote:

You found another one!!! OMG.

Posted 12 Feb 2007 at 1:35 pm ¶
HighJive wrote:

the “family matters” partygoers had to be dressed up as urkel. quite a tribute to their favorite black folks.

Posted 12 Feb 2007 at 1:36 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:

And dollars to donuts the “lawyer” was Johnny Cochrane.

*sigh* What I don’t want to see now is a string of black parties where people dress up like Jeffrey Dahmer, Paris Hilton, and Larry The Cable Guy.

But sometimes I wonder if that’s the only thing that could garnish the same kind of attention, since moral outrage and explanations seem to be backfiring.

Posted 12 Feb 2007 at 3:42 pm ¶
Sylvia wrote:

Well, Lyonside, by this point if we had to get ‘er done…

Posted 12 Feb 2007 at 4:52 pm ¶
Jenn wrote:

Hey Carmen, thanks for posting this. UofA isn’t exactly diverse so it’s no surprise that this sh*t went down here as well.

I’ve been looking all day for the facebook images. Know where I could get my hands on them?

Posted 12 Feb 2007 at 7:51 pm ¶
Sewere wrote:

Lyonside said,

*sigh* What I don’t want to see now is a string of black parties where people dress up like Jeffrey Dahmer, Paris Hilton, and Larry The Cable Guy.

Ah but then you’ll get the “See, I knew you guys were just racist crowd”. Or worse still, no one would really care because to be white in the U.S., as with any situation in which one is part of the dominant group, means having the privilege of being an individual and never having to justify the behavior of your racial group.

I tell you if things hadn’t turned out thw way they did, Dave Chapelle could have used sophisticated writers such as yourself and Sylvia on making a few skits…

Sylvia, I die everytime I tell people about your channeling Samuel Jackson take on Freedom Writers. Priceless…

Posted 12 Feb 2007 at 8:59 pm ¶
Hoodwinked wrote:

I’m going to take some time reviewing the posts on the related stories. I know some of the schools involved are looking to host community forums and I am wondering what a community forum needs to have to be “productive”. Is there a way to elicit dialogue and create action plans or will that seem like another way to move past these events and the continued oppression they cause? Lookin forward to some thoughts…
The President of the University had this to say which I thought was important.
http://www.president.arizona.edu/presforum_more.cfm?f_ID=24
Paz.

Posted 13 Feb 2007 at 4:22 pm ¶
Watcher wrote:

This kind of thing doesn’t surprise me. The obvious ignorance presented by Kyle Kuechel is relative to his educational and social lack of knowledge of the American experience, not just the Black experience. You’ll find a boy who has absolutely no understanding nor respect for those who gave their lives, got spit on, got their asses beat while dogs chewed on their flesh in order to make this country better. Pardon me if the Uncle Tom’s who attended this party didn’t have a sense of their own history. Those Blacks are a disgrace. Perhaps a nice lynching party should be appropriate next time. This is not funny or cute in the least. It crosses over the boundary of decency and respect and skews the gray boundaries for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Our Constitution stands as a beacon and also warning to those who have forgot it’s meaning. What’s it going to be next time? A party celebrating the Holocaust by having people dress up as their favorite Nazi, or how about a party celebrating Independence day by dressing up and making fun of the soldiers who lost their lives in defense of this Country? Many true heroes of Italian descent, Irish descent, Black descent, and all colors under the Sun, who wore the RED, White and Blue in defense of this Country lost their lives — Not so funny anymore.

If his parents or the U of A really had a grasp of the situation and had the guts, then he would be re-educated and held accountable!!! Expelled and sent home. It does not make a difference that he held this party off campus. He is still a student and a representative of the U of A, period! Is this the kind of behavior that the U of A condones? Does the U of A turn a blind eye to this? Let Mr. Kuechel go unchecked and in the future, I’m sure you’ll be hearing from him. Again – Something like Enron. Expect mediocrity. Don’t be surprised if someone checks him in the future if his parents or the administration is not willing to check him now.

Posted 13 Feb 2007 at 9:30 pm ¶
mtevc wrote:

Ah…I get to go as Urkel. Well, that explains everything now. Family Matters is a bastion of important black folk. Glad to see the university experience is bringing the next set of leaders (*cough) to the forefront. Sounds as if the university president is addressing it correctly in his letter.

Posted 14 Feb 2007 at 11:47 am ¶
Kelly wrote:

Kuechel is not a bad guy. this party is not a big deal. quit trying to make something out of nothing.

Posted 15 Feb 2007 at 4:29 pm ¶
Jessica wrote:

Here’s what I don’t get, come dressed as your favorite black person seems like an awesome way to honor African Americans who have done amazing things for this country or are just cool in general.
A theme party with a costumed Angela Davis, the Supremes, Jesse Jackson, and Micheal Jordan would be freaking hilarious.
….
Oh wait, the party degenerated into a bunch of lame-ass stereotyped “ghetto” costumes. Never mind then.

Posted 15 Feb 2007 at 9:48 pm ¶
Colin wrote:

Kelly:

What would it take for it to be “something” or a “big deal”? Should we wait until a party is thrown where people dress as slaves and Klansmen? (oh wait…)

Posted 16 Feb 2007 at 1:13 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:

Kelly: Kuechel is not a bad guy

And this is the biggest racial fallacy out there (among many) – that you have to be a BADBADBADTOTHEBONE virulent active jackbooting Klansman or violent black militant… to participate in something racist.

That way, the everyday, “subtle” racism is considered “no big deal,” we’re all waiting for the burning crosses, the swastikas, the assaults. But those actions are clearly illegal and immoral. What’s harder to regulate, harder to identify, and harder to correct is the subliminal and cultural racism that still affects everyone of every background. And we all know, human nature tends to shy away from the hard things in favor of the easy solution.

But at the end of the day, what affects my life more: getting a racial slur hurled at me on the street, to which I and everyone around me knows the correct response and immediately shuns the hater…. or not getting a promotion at a job that affects my family’s long-term economic future… or getting a higher morgage interest rate… or having a politician forget that those macacas and articulate clean people are part of their constituency too, even if we can’t afford to buy his attention, who then argues that there’s no reason to help struggling communities since “they” did it to themselves …

Bring on the curses anyday – I can handle it. The rest? I wouldn’t even know what hit me until the bus is long long gone.

Posted 16 Feb 2007 at 8:57 am ¶
Sewere wrote:

People, People,
Why are you making so much out of nothing? I mean Kuechel is not a bad guy, just ignorant and misunderstood… because Kelly said so.

Wait a sec, sorry, what was that you said, History?
This happens a lot? Really?

There’s historical context in which these ignorant behavior occurs? That there’s ahistory behind using racialized caricatures of minorities for fun? But they used Steve Urkel and Johnnie Cochran. ..

You mean it’s not about intent but outcome? It’s not what in his heart that matters the most but his actions? Really? Don’t I have a say in what’s racist or not? I mean, racism hurts us all, right?

Posted 16 Feb 2007 at 8:23 pm ¶
Shadowwalker wrote:

Well, from personal experience, I know that this “theme parties” have been going on since I arrived in 2003 at the UA. First experience with these ignorant students was a “Cowboys and Indians”, boys were cowboys and the Indians were the girls dressed up in chicken feathers and headdresses. Then there was the Mexican theme party where they dressed up as pregnant women and farm workers. Now they enlisted a few black people to support their theme party. It is not the black persons fault for being institutionalized into accepting a representation of their heritage. We are all educated into accepting seemingly harmless representations of other cultures. There is power in an institution to promote attitudes by dismissing such displays of ignorance as the muse of their children (the students). It is the blind acceptance of bigotry within an institution of higher learning that supports the continuation of racism.

Posted 02 Apr 2007 at 11:31 am ¶
Art Vaughn wrote:

Our son has been denied a hearing and denied an advisor and had his grades mis interpreted although he was not part of protestations after the fact.Please help him.

Posted 29 Jun 2007 at 12:19 am ¶