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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Column: Compton Cookout?

Ah, good ol’ ignorance. Still finding its way into every last niche of today’s society.

A lot of stupid things take place in our society. The people who commit these ignorant acts usually don’t know what they’re doing. They are typically uneducated and haven’t been exposed to the diversity needed to realize what they’re doing is going to really piss somebody off. Right?

Wrong.

This week’s winner of the Ignorance Award (which had been put on a slight hiatus since I’ve had an acute case of senioritis) somewhat contradicts the aforementioned example of your typical ignorant person in the sense that they are educated.

The award goes to UC San Diego’s Pi Kappa Alpha chapter, which hosted the “Compton Cookout” themed party to celebrate Black History Month.

The event was scheduled to come equipped with “chicken, Kool-aid and, of course, watermelon,” according to the Facebook invitation.

Chicken, Kool-aid and watermelon … to celebrate Black History Month? That’s what comes to mind when they think of black history?

Let’s explore more of the party that was meant “to celebrate … in hopes of showing respect [for Black History Month].”

Like any themed party, you dress up for it. The suggested outfits for boys and girls on the Facebook event page were beyond ignorant.

Observe. To respect Black History Month, guys were expected to “be rockin’ Jersey’s, stuntin’ up in ya white T (XXXL smallest size acceptable), anything FUBU … Tats, etc.”

The fraternity party had a particularly crude attitude toward women. A sexist fraternity? No way.

These UC-educated students said “ghetto chicks,” which they seem to use synonymously with black women, “usually have gold teeth, start fights and drama, and wear cheap clothes.”

They end that paragraph with, “The objective is for all you lovely ladies to look, act and essentially take on these ‘respectable’ qualities throughout the day.”

The lovely ladies were obviously not the ghetto chicks (remember: black women) who they were supposed to be mimicking.

I just feel the need to quote some more of this so people understand the absurdity: “They look and act similar to Shenaynay, and speak very loudly, while rolling their neck, and waving their finger in your face.”

What do you even say about something like this? These people go to a UC and are considered among the top percentage of students in the state.

Bullshit like this should remind us of some of the racism embedded into the different institutions in our society. The word “ignorant” wouldn’t be enough to describe UC students throwing a party with a theme like this. You’d really have to actively try to be a dumb ass.

This isn’t even about political incorrectness at this point. Even basic manners should have taught you not to mock people. Trying to mock the accomplishments that Black History Month is actually trying to celebrate with chicken and watermelon is just really uneducated.

They might as well have told people to come with nooses around their necks. That would have got the racism across much more clearly, though. I guess these guys were trying to be subtle.

SARA KOHGADAI just wrote the third to last column of her senior year. Wowzers. Send any goodbyes you have to her at sbkohgadai@ucdavis.edu.

10 COMMENTS

  1. @cj2010 I understand the point you’re getting at, but with the white trash cookout, it’s not white people making fun of themselves. It’s rich, privileged, well-educated white kids making fun of poor, struggling, uneducated and underprivileged white people from another part of the country. That should fit into your framework of the “popular” vs. the “unpopular.”

  2. “A sexist fraternity? No way.”

    This whole thing is horrible, but that doens’t mean you have to stereotype the entire Greek Community.

  3. I completely agree with the article.
    I am going to attempt to answer part of Dtown2010’s question. Everyone feel free to disagree/agree add your comment.
    Q:”How is this any different than the “White Trash Bash” that UC Davis’ SAE chapter throws?

    First of all, I do agree there is a double-standard. There are many factors present in this issue and I am just going to mention one. “Those in power can choose to make fun of themselves and no one gets hurt.”

    Example: A high school will be the American society; the popular student will be the privileged white American male. The unpopular student will be the minorities. If the popular student falls on his way to class he can get up and laugh at himself. He can even reenact his ordeal in a comical way and not hurt his ego, popularity and/or status. The unpopular student can try to make fun of the popular student but they risk hurting their ego, popularity and/or status on account that the popular student has the power to do so.
    If the unpopular falls on his way to class, and they reenact it themselves no one cares. But if the popular student reenacts the ordeal of the unpopular student he will, no matter his intentions, come out hurting the unpopular student’s ego, popularity and/or status.

    In the case of the “White Trash Bash” there are two possible situations going on. First, the community in power is laughing at themselves, making it alright. Second, the minorities are mocking the community in power, risking their own ego, popularity and/or status. I highly doubt it is the latter. So making fun of the community in power, the whites, in the “White trash Bash” cannot be hurtful.
    In the case of the Compton Cookout we can apply the same two possibilities above. First, the minorities are laughing at themselves, making it alright. Second, community in power is mocking the minorities. But like the high school example no matter the intentions, the community in power ends up hurting the minorities’ ego, popularity and/or status. What is going on today seems to coincide with the second situation. So the community in power unknowingly is being hurtful to a minority community.

  4. Also, not that it’s a contest or anything, but UC Davis has twice as many black students as UCSD. 723 vs. 326. I wonder why. Proximity to Sac / Bay Area?

  5. I, too, must posit the question: Where’s the outrage over the white trash BBQ that’s held every year at UC Davis? Why don’t we have a problem with St. Patrick’s Day, which perpetuates the stereotype of the Irish as either raging drunks or conniving leprechauns?

  6. I completely agree, this is ridiculous that something like this would even be an acceptable idea.

    Side note though, how is this any different than the “White Trash Bash” that UC Davis’ SAE chapter throws? How is that overlooked when this situation is attacked? Seems like a double-standard to me

  7. Ok I just saw the video of jiggaboo jones, however his role does not diminish the responsibility that the fraternity played. They definitely didn’t have to associate themselves with this event and deem it in honor of Black History Month

  8. @ siestitaI believe the person in the picture called jiggaboo jones is a fake. An alias I guess you could say. In the initial emails exposing this event, it was said that the original facebook event invitation was deleted and the creators were aware that they would get in trouble for it. Why they would create such an event when they know the consequences, I have no idea. But again Jiggaboo (a racial slur) Jones is just someone adding fuel to the fire, and obviously not taking this very seriously. And seeing that it was the picture on the FB invitation, it could have just been some picture they have gotten off the internet.

  9. I am confused. There is an individual who calls himself Jiggaboo Jones who has posted two videos on YouTube defending the Compton Cookout and claiming to be the mastermind behind the party. This individual is a black man who wears long spiral curls and dons shades. It appears to be his image on the Facebook invitation to this event, wearing a black t-shirt with “Jiggaboo Jones” emblazened across the chest and holding a bucket of KFC. Mr. Jones, it seems, embraces the ghetto persona and lacks respect for himself and black society. Why is it that Ms. Jones is not being outlined at a possible perpetrator in this party?

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