Frat Of Racist Chanters Recently Caused Death Of Black Pledge
[su_right_ad]Cornell University closed down its chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon after a black pledge died.
George Desdunes, an aspiring doctor, was a 19-year-old sophomore from Brooklyn, New York, and the son of Haitian immigrants. His hands and feet were tied with duct tape and zip ties. Blindfolded, he was given so much alcohol that he died within a few hours of the hazing. All alone and completely unconscious, he was found dead by a college cleaning crew the following morning.
On its own merit, the hazing death of George Desdunes is tragic, but when viewed in light of recent racism that has been exposed within the SAE fraternity, one has to wonder if George Desdunes was treated any differently because he was black. When a popular fraternity chant song has violent lines about lynching black men, everything should be on the table.
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tracey marie March 10th, 2015 at 8:57 pm
That poor young man, I hope the fraternity and the members are sued into homelessness
whatthe46 March 11th, 2015 at 1:56 am
sued? how about a “real” investigation and someone gets fricken charged with his death in a criminal court.?
rg9rts March 11th, 2015 at 5:01 am
TAG!!!
Robert M. Snyder March 11th, 2015 at 10:59 am
Why not take it one step further and punish the entire university? Yeah…let’s take away all federal funding from the university for three years. No, wait, let’s make it TEN years. That will teach them.
Seriously, isn’t it important to identify the guilty parties and punish them individually, as opposed to punishing the entire organization? Some members of some fraternities give all frats a bad name. But the same can be said of any organization. Every time there’s a demonstration, somebody breaks a window or throws rocks. That should not reflect on the organization as a whole, unless the organization is somehow encouraging or promoting those activities. If this frat somehow promoted racism, then I would agree with you. But the black cook who worked at the frat, and just lost his job, gave the impression that this chant was the act of a few knuckleheads. I read elsewhere that they were freshmen.
tracey marie March 11th, 2015 at 3:48 pm
always teabagg stupid
Robert M. Snyder March 11th, 2015 at 3:55 pm
In other words, you are unable to put together a meaningful response.
tracey marie March 11th, 2015 at 3:57 pm
first put up a mmeaningful comment
Robert M. Snyder March 11th, 2015 at 4:01 pm
Here’s one sentence from my original comment:
“Seriously, isn’t it important to identify the guilty parties and punish them individually, as opposed to punishing the entire organization?”
Would you care to offer a response to that question?
bpollen March 11th, 2015 at 4:30 pm
” If this frat somehow promoted racism, then I would agree with you.”
Hmmm… do you even know what frat is being discussed? Let’s see:
“There will never be a n—– SAE/There will never be a n—– SAE/You can hang ‘em from a tree, but it will never start with me/There will never be a n—– SAE.”
Oh, yeah, obviously you are correct. Nothing racist there. And the Klan’s going to join the NAACP.
Obviously you are confused about what constitutes racism.
Robert M. Snyder March 11th, 2015 at 5:07 pm
I can’t believe we’re even having this discussion. The actions of a few members of a group do not represent the group itself. I live in a rural coal mining region. I can drive down the road and find dozens of pro-union, Democratic voters who use the N word without giving it a second thought. Does that make the Democratic party a racist organization?
bpollen March 12th, 2015 at 2:08 am
So, of course, should an employee of Kellogg, Brown and Root tear down your house and garage rather than the correct structures next door, and insurance says you’re not covered, you would only sue the employee himself and give the company a pass. And now that the rats are abandoning ship in Ferguson, we can simply assume that the rest of the organization is now above reproach. When Republicans say vile, despicable things, we should only look at the individual lying sack of Santorum and give the Party a pass.
If I am a member of an fraternity, organization, company, klavern, militia, party, etc, and I am operating under the their auspices, aegis, or imprimatur, said group shares some culpability for my actions. I, after all, effectively function as the public face of said group as I go about my dastardly business.
Are you so laissez fair about the Klan or ISIS, thinking we should only look at the individual members, as opposed to the entire organization?
Robert M. Snyder March 12th, 2015 at 7:53 am
I would look at the group’s stated purpose and objectives, and whether they actually take steps to ensure those objectives. In the case of the KKK or ISIL, the group’s charter is detestable, therefore I detest anyone who would join such a group. But in the case of a fraternity or any other organization, I think you will find that the group’s stated objectives are things that we can all support. If the group is serious about those objectives, then I would expect the group to have a history of punishing or excommunicating people who would undermine those objectives.
I don’t know anything about the objectives or history of the fraternity in question. All I am saying is that people should not jump to conclusions about the entire frat based upon the actions of a few members.
I recently spoke with a highly-educated person who believes that we should carpet bomb the areas of Iraq and Syria where ISIS exists. When I asked about innocent civilians, he responded by saying that when there are bad people in your midst, you either need to get away from them or deal with them. He said that in WWII we didn’t worry about innocent civilians. I disagree with this reasoning, and I hope that you do too.
I believe that, whenever possible, we should try to separate the guilty from the innocent and only punish the guilty. When we don’t know very much about a group of people, it is easy to lump them all together and say “those damned Muslims” or “those damned Christians” or “those damned liberals” or “those damned conservatives” or “those damned frat boys”.
My son joined a frat, against my advice, when he attended a technical college located in a small town. This was a college where people got degrees in auto body repair, carpentry, plumbing, and similar fields. These were not “rich, entitled frat boys”. They were just regular folks, and the frat helped out with charitable activities in the community. My son’s experiences with this frat changed my perception of frats. Frats definitely have a negative stereotype in our society. But that’s just the point – it’s a stereotype.
jybarz March 10th, 2015 at 11:07 pm
This is truly awful. People may not agree with me, but I’ve never been attracted to fraternities, their stupid, sadistic initiations, and the way they carry on around the campus. I’m afraid, and this is just my personal opinion, I find most of these frat guys lacking in personality and inability to fit in socially on their own individually. Few frat guys were amongst my friends, but fraternities were definitely not for me, I didn’t need to. I hope these sadists in SAE get the punishment they so deserved.
whatthe46 March 11th, 2015 at 1:55 am
when my first son enrolled into university, i told him to not join. i told him he was an indvidual that didn’t need anyone to make him feel he needed to be a part of anything to feel included. he was special in his own right. i didn’t need to talk to much about that because i knew he was strong person. he didn’t join. my second son, my little Just, is now in college as well, he too, has no desire. i also had male friends (i’m a female) that were frats, and they were serious about their convictions to their “brothers.” my first was only 2 yrs old when i met those guys. it was then, i knew i didn’t want him to be a part of that kind of organization.
Robert M. Snyder March 11th, 2015 at 10:47 am
When my son started his second year of college at a new school, I had strong reservations when he voiced his desire to join a frat. Like most people, I had bought into the negative stereotypes about frats. But he joined against my advice, and I have to say that it was a learning experience for me.
He was assigned to a big brother/mentor who took that role seriously. The frat needed better records of their membership and dues, and their web site was in bad shape. My son loves that sort of work, so he volunteered and spent, I would guess, hundreds of hours making significant improvements for which he received recognition and appreciation.
The frat volunteered in the local community. For example, the community had some kind of an annual children’s day. I think it might have been for children with special needs. The frat members planned activities and gave up an entire weekend day each year to help make this event a success.
I would not say that the frat was an *essential* part of my son’s college experience, but it was certainly a *positive* element of that experience.
whatthe46 March 11th, 2015 at 1:47 pm
i’m a mom… my nerves get bad. lol good for your son.
Budda March 11th, 2015 at 9:44 am
Sadistic is the key word.
rg9rts March 11th, 2015 at 5:00 am
Frats never seem to learn that alcohol is a poison…