Race and the American Novel Project Part II: Contemporary Connections

Racism is still present today, whether people want to admit it or not. This is clear in the wake of the recent wake of tragedies and their subsequent protests that have happened around the country. Examples include those in Ferguson, New York, and Baltimore. However, one story that faded out rather quickly, but I feel is just as important, is one that occurred on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in early March of this year.

The incident I am referring to involved members of a national fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, chanting racist comments on their way to a formal event that was celebrating the founding of the fraternity. “The campus here has been reeling since members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon were shown in two videos chanting a song whose lyrics included racial slurs boasting that there would never be an African-American member. The song also referred to lynching…” (Fernandez, Perez-Pena).

The fraternity was shut down immediately by its headquarters in Illinois. The videos sparked protests from students across the campus, and some of the students involved were expelled from the University. Indeed, it seems that there have been very few black members of the fraternity, “William Blake James II wrote on his blog that when he joined in 2001, he was only the second black member…” (Fernandez, Perez-Pena). This is a particularly troubling incident, and although it is not as tragic as the incidents in other parts of the country that led to a loss of life, it is still sad to hear about nonetheless.

This incident, although recent, does in some way tie into the novel. This deals with the founding of the fraternity, which took place in 1856. “The fraternity — started in 1856 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., before the Civil War — celebrates its Southern heritage,” (Fernandez, Perez-Pena). The novel Beloved takes place in 1873, with flashbacks to the 1850’s. The novel provides an accurate account of the time, and this is the context in which the fraternity was founded, among the rising tensions just before the Civil War. This should give us some clue as to what the founding ideals were of this fraternity and what kinds of events shaped its early development.

I think that our reading of Beloved can greatly inform how we view this issue. The fact that the novel is so blunt about the reality of slavery is shocking, and yet I think it provides good context for what is it like to be on the receiving end of these racist comments. Slavery and those who lived through it suffered unimaginable horrors, many of which are uncomfortable even to talk about. When comments like these are spouted off without thinking, it brings up images, emotions, and feelings that are hurtful and have scarred the history of the African American people and America as a nation forever. People will never forget the terrible atrocity of slavery, and comments such as the ones said by the students are disrespectful, mean-spirited, and bring up hurts and wounds in exactly the wrong way. The struggle of African Americans should instead be looked at through eyes of compassion, reverence, respect, and pity.  

Work Cited:

Fernandez, Manny, & Perez-Pena, Richard. “As Two Oklahoma Students Are Expelled for Racist Chant, Sigma Alpha Epsilon Vows Wider Inquiry”. nytimes. The New York Times Company. 10 Mar. 2015. Web. May 14 2015.