Hip Hop Parties

I find the hullabaloo over Hip Hop Parties amusing. For those of you with better things to think and do, Hip Hop Parties have occurred in colleges across the country where white kids dress up as Hip Hop gangstas and drink malt liquor out of a paper bag. Some even go in black face and pad their asses. Needless to say this has caused those in the professional hand wringing class to get gigantic knots in their gigantic shorts. While some claim that these parties are not much different than toga parties others claim that they perpetuate negative stereotypes and may be dangerous:

"We once lynched African-Americans as good fun and humor," said Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP.

Clemson President James Barker said he was "appalled, angered and disappointed" by the party.

"If you don't understand why this is harmful to the community, then you need to start asking questions and learn," Kurt Strasser, the interim dean of the UConn School of Law.

Please. While I think these parties are stupid and in extremely poor taste, I hardly think they are the sign of anything other than puerile imitation. Personally I'd be pleased as punch if Black kids dressed in Blucher mocs, oxford shirts and rag wool sweaters, drank Genesee Cream Ale until their teeth floated while watching The Magnificent Seven.