I had similar thoughts but didn't want to be labeled as a 'hater'.
Let's start with this -- I have no sympathy for racist Oklahoma
fraternity members whose racist fraternity taunt went viral resulting
in their fraternity being shut down, their being kicked off campus, and
their likely expulsion from school. I have zero sympathy for them and
chances are you don't either. The video was shocking to me because I've
never heard anyone my age or younger say anything like this, much less
scream a racist chant in unison that everyone knows. (Despite what SAE
may claim, Outkick has been inundated by emails saying the chant is well
known among SAE fraternity members, particularly those from Southern
schools. I'm blown away by that).
Here's the video again, just so you can watch it.
Certainly Oklahoma president David Boren doesn't have any sympathy for these fraternity members. He basically pronounced them dead to rights in his statements yesterday which we linked at Outkick.
Boren said the following: "It was unbelievable that this could have possibly occurred with UO students. Sooners are not racists. They're not bigots. They are people who respect each other and care about each other."
He demanded zero tolerance for racist statements on campus and expelled two students.
Just about every single person applauded his comments and actions,
they were strident, powerful, and accurately reflected his distaste for
the student's opinions. The Oklahoma football team staged a protest that
was well covered and adorned with praise. This was a positive sports
story, Sooner athletes sending the right message about how they wouldn't
tolerate racist comments on a college campus, a place that
theoretically exists to expand knowledge and eliminate closeted
thinking.
Only here's my problem with the Oklahoma football team's stand.
Less than a month ago they allowed Joe Mixon, a talented running back
videotaped punching a female student in an off-campus bar, back onto
the football team after a year long suspension just from the football
team. Yep, Mixon punched a female student and was never even kicked off
campus. The punch was so violent that his female victim, a Sooner
student, suffered a fractured jaw, a broken cheek bone, a broken nose
and a fractured orbital bone near her left eye. Oh, and Mixon also began
the incident, according to the complaint, by directing a gay slur at
the woman's male companion at the bar.
What did President David Boren say in that case?
"The judicial outcome and the video speak for themselves," Oklahoma
President David L. Boren said. "The University is an educational
institution, which always sets high standards that we hope will be
upheld by our students. We hope that our students will all learn from
those standards, but at the same time, we believe in second chances so
that our students can learn and grow from life's experiences."
Boren said Mixon will be given a chance to "earn his way back on the team."
Oh, so the star running back gets a second chance for breaking four
bones on a female student's face on video, but the guys in a frat don't
get a second chance for saying something racist on a video?
Gotcha.
That wasn't all. Mixon's running backs coach had this to say on his reinstatement:
"He made a split-second and wrong decision, and he knows that,"
running backs Coach Cale Gundy said. "He is a super, super kid. And I
use the term 'kid' because he still is like a kid. He's still very
young."
As if that wasn't enough, this past off season Oklahoma admitted Dorial Green-Beckham, a talented wide receiver from Mizzou
kicking him off the team for allegations that he pushed a woman down
the stairs and violently threatened another woman. DGB was admitted to
campus as a student after this incident. What's more, Oklahoma was
furious with the NCAA for not granting his waiver and allowing him to
play football this year.
So here we have two acts of physical violence -- one against a fellow
OU student -- that didn't cause expulsion from campus -- indeed, DGB
was actually admitted after his alleged act of violence against another
student -- and I haven't heard Oklahoma president David Boren explain
why these situations are different. If Sooners are people "who respect
each other and care about each other," wouldn't punching a female Sooner
be worse than saying something bad about a group of them?
This brings me back to a message I keep returning to on Outkick --
why do we punish words more than actions in today's society? Why is
Oklahoma's president willing to give a second chance to a talented
football player who punched a fellow student on video, but immediately
condemns students that say horrible things on video? Is the media to
blame? In today's society is punishment directly tied to how much
attention something receives? I'd hate to believe that. Because in the
grand scheme of things aren't acts always worse than words? Otherwise we
need to change our criminal justice system and give people life in
prison for unpopular opinions.
Punishing people for unpopular opinions is infinitely scarier to me than any unpopular opinion anyone could ever have.
Oklahoma University didn't make these frat guys racist. They were
racist when they got to Oklahoma. I would have liked to have heard David
Boren address that, no matter who you are a university can't erase the
first 18 years of your life. That's why second chances for young people
matter.
One of the guiding principles of higher education today -- indeed,
the very reason it exists according to some -- is the idea that if we
expose students to people of different walks of life they will learn, if
nothing else, that blanket racism or religious fanaticism or any other
-ism is intellectually lazy and ignorant. People are more than what they
look like on the outside or who they worship or where they were raised.
That's the very essence of higher education, exposure to people who
aren't like you, opening up the world to students who probably haven't
experienced very much in their lives to that point, making possible the
impossible.
What's sad about this Oklahoma fraternity's chant isn't just the
racism, it's that you would go to a college and only want to hang out
with people who are exactly like you, people who would feel comfortable
screaming a racist chant on a bus headed to a date party. Yet this is
still very common. These same frat guys will go to a job where people
are exactly like them, and worship in a church where everyone worships
like them, and live in a suburb where people are exactly like them, and
live in a community where everyone else has the exact same opinions as
them. And then they'll become strident in their opinions about politics
and wonder how anyone could ever feel differently than they do. That's
how thought like this happens, from a lack of exposure to the real
world, from a cloistering of opinion. College is probably the only time
in their lives where they will ever be exposed to anyone different than
they are.
In America today, the only time the right and left come together to
agree on anything is sports. That's why sports are so important, they're
the last thing that bind us regardless of our backgrounds.
None of us are immune from making poor decisions in college, but
isn't it awfully interesting how quick we are to give second and third
chances to people whose talents are readily apparent and benefit us or
make us feel better about ourselves? Sports fans are amoral, so long as
the team wins, most don't give a damn what happens off the field. If Joe
Mixon and DGB weren't good at football, where would they be right now?
Maybe in jail? As a society how quick are we to judge people that don't
benefit us based on one action? The sad truth is the only time most of
us believe in the redemption of someone who has done something wrong is
if they're really good at something that benefits us. Movie stars,
entertainers, athletes, so long as your talent exceeds your problems
we'll give you one chance after another to screw up. Just keep
entertaining us and we'll forget all about what you did off the field or
stage or screen.
Hell, we may even put up a statue to you.
Don't believe me, just ask Disney employee Ray Lewis.
But what about the rest of us without readily apparent talents? The
vast mass of us who aren't great at football or acting or singing. Are
the rest of us not deserving of second chances too?
Maybe you think the frat guys should be expelled and never heard from
again -- that's a valid opinion. Maybe you think there's a difference
between assaulting a woman and assaulting an entire ethnic group with
words. Again, that's a valid opinion. I happen to think actions are
worse than words, but you can disagree with me about that. But chances
are, you haven't thought about these two situations with such different
responses on the same campus much at all. Now at least you have.
To hell with fifteen minutes of fame, in today's society everybody gets fifteen seconds of fame.
Only those fifteen seconds define you forever, because they never
stop replaying over and over again. A Google search never dies.
I'd like to believe Sooners believe in educating dumb kids and second
chances for all. But I'm afraid that Sooners, like the rest of us, only
believe in second chances when that second chance benefits them.
If so, our message is pretty clear -- pick up a football kid, it's the only chance you've got.
Let's start with this -- I have no sympathy for racist Oklahoma
fraternity members whose racist fraternity taunt went viral resulting
in their fraternity being shut down, their being kicked off campus, and
their likely expulsion from school. I have zero sympathy for them and
chances are you don't either. The video was shocking to me because I've
never heard anyone my age or younger say anything like this, much less
scream a racist chant in unison that everyone knows. (Despite what SAE
may claim, Outkick has been inundated by emails saying the chant is well
known among SAE fraternity members, particularly those from Southern
schools. I'm blown away by that).
Here's the video again, just so you can watch it.
Certainly Oklahoma president David Boren doesn't have any sympathy for these fraternity members. He basically pronounced them dead to rights in his statements yesterday which we linked at Outkick.
Boren said the following: "It was unbelievable that this could have possibly occurred with UO students. Sooners are not racists. They're not bigots. They are people who respect each other and care about each other."
He demanded zero tolerance for racist statements on campus and expelled two students.
Just about every single person applauded his comments and actions,
they were strident, powerful, and accurately reflected his distaste for
the student's opinions. The Oklahoma football team staged a protest that
was well covered and adorned with praise. This was a positive sports
story, Sooner athletes sending the right message about how they wouldn't
tolerate racist comments on a college campus, a place that
theoretically exists to expand knowledge and eliminate closeted
thinking.
Only here's my problem with the Oklahoma football team's stand.
Less than a month ago they allowed Joe Mixon, a talented running back
videotaped punching a female student in an off-campus bar, back onto
the football team after a year long suspension just from the football
team. Yep, Mixon punched a female student and was never even kicked off
campus. The punch was so violent that his female victim, a Sooner
student, suffered a fractured jaw, a broken cheek bone, a broken nose
and a fractured orbital bone near her left eye. Oh, and Mixon also began
the incident, according to the complaint, by directing a gay slur at
the woman's male companion at the bar.
What did President David Boren say in that case?
"The judicial outcome and the video speak for themselves," Oklahoma
President David L. Boren said. "The University is an educational
institution, which always sets high standards that we hope will be
upheld by our students. We hope that our students will all learn from
those standards, but at the same time, we believe in second chances so
that our students can learn and grow from life's experiences."
Boren said Mixon will be given a chance to "earn his way back on the team."
Oh, so the star running back gets a second chance for breaking four
bones on a female student's face on video, but the guys in a frat don't
get a second chance for saying something racist on a video?
Gotcha.
That wasn't all. Mixon's running backs coach had this to say on his reinstatement:
"He made a split-second and wrong decision, and he knows that,"
running backs Coach Cale Gundy said. "He is a super, super kid. And I
use the term 'kid' because he still is like a kid. He's still very
young."
As if that wasn't enough, this past off season Oklahoma admitted Dorial Green-Beckham, a talented wide receiver from Mizzou
kicking him off the team for allegations that he pushed a woman down
the stairs and violently threatened another woman. DGB was admitted to
campus as a student after this incident. What's more, Oklahoma was
furious with the NCAA for not granting his waiver and allowing him to
play football this year.
So here we have two acts of physical violence -- one against a fellow
OU student -- that didn't cause expulsion from campus -- indeed, DGB
was actually admitted after his alleged act of violence against another
student -- and I haven't heard Oklahoma president David Boren explain
why these situations are different. If Sooners are people "who respect
each other and care about each other," wouldn't punching a female Sooner
be worse than saying something bad about a group of them?
This brings me back to a message I keep returning to on Outkick --
why do we punish words more than actions in today's society? Why is
Oklahoma's president willing to give a second chance to a talented
football player who punched a fellow student on video, but immediately
condemns students that say horrible things on video? Is the media to
blame? In today's society is punishment directly tied to how much
attention something receives? I'd hate to believe that. Because in the
grand scheme of things aren't acts always worse than words? Otherwise we
need to change our criminal justice system and give people life in
prison for unpopular opinions.
Punishing people for unpopular opinions is infinitely scarier to me than any unpopular opinion anyone could ever have.
Oklahoma University didn't make these frat guys racist. They were
racist when they got to Oklahoma. I would have liked to have heard David
Boren address that, no matter who you are a university can't erase the
first 18 years of your life. That's why second chances for young people
matter.
One of the guiding principles of higher education today -- indeed,
the very reason it exists according to some -- is the idea that if we
expose students to people of different walks of life they will learn, if
nothing else, that blanket racism or religious fanaticism or any other
-ism is intellectually lazy and ignorant. People are more than what they
look like on the outside or who they worship or where they were raised.
That's the very essence of higher education, exposure to people who
aren't like you, opening up the world to students who probably haven't
experienced very much in their lives to that point, making possible the
impossible.
What's sad about this Oklahoma fraternity's chant isn't just the
racism, it's that you would go to a college and only want to hang out
with people who are exactly like you, people who would feel comfortable
screaming a racist chant on a bus headed to a date party. Yet this is
still very common. These same frat guys will go to a job where people
are exactly like them, and worship in a church where everyone worships
like them, and live in a suburb where people are exactly like them, and
live in a community where everyone else has the exact same opinions as
them. And then they'll become strident in their opinions about politics
and wonder how anyone could ever feel differently than they do. That's
how thought like this happens, from a lack of exposure to the real
world, from a cloistering of opinion. College is probably the only time
in their lives where they will ever be exposed to anyone different than
they are.
In America today, the only time the right and left come together to
agree on anything is sports. That's why sports are so important, they're
the last thing that bind us regardless of our backgrounds.
None of us are immune from making poor decisions in college, but
isn't it awfully interesting how quick we are to give second and third
chances to people whose talents are readily apparent and benefit us or
make us feel better about ourselves? Sports fans are amoral, so long as
the team wins, most don't give a damn what happens off the field. If Joe
Mixon and DGB weren't good at football, where would they be right now?
Maybe in jail? As a society how quick are we to judge people that don't
benefit us based on one action? The sad truth is the only time most of
us believe in the redemption of someone who has done something wrong is
if they're really good at something that benefits us. Movie stars,
entertainers, athletes, so long as your talent exceeds your problems
we'll give you one chance after another to screw up. Just keep
entertaining us and we'll forget all about what you did off the field or
stage or screen.
Hell, we may even put up a statue to you.
Don't believe me, just ask Disney employee Ray Lewis.
But what about the rest of us without readily apparent talents? The
vast mass of us who aren't great at football or acting or singing. Are
the rest of us not deserving of second chances too?
Maybe you think the frat guys should be expelled and never heard from
again -- that's a valid opinion. Maybe you think there's a difference
between assaulting a woman and assaulting an entire ethnic group with
words. Again, that's a valid opinion. I happen to think actions are
worse than words, but you can disagree with me about that. But chances
are, you haven't thought about these two situations with such different
responses on the same campus much at all. Now at least you have.
To hell with fifteen minutes of fame, in today's society everybody gets fifteen seconds of fame.
Only those fifteen seconds define you forever, because they never
stop replaying over and over again. A Google search never dies.
I'd like to believe Sooners believe in educating dumb kids and second
chances for all. But I'm afraid that Sooners, like the rest of us, only
believe in second chances when that second chance benefits them.
If so, our message is pretty clear -- pick up a football kid, it's the only chance you've got.
