The University of Virginia chapter of the Delta Psi fraternity has been called racist after it threw a “cops and robbers” party last week.
According to The Cavalier Daily, the party was reportedly shut down by the student activist organization U.Va. Students United. They claimed the fraternity could be seen as “encouraging racist conduct” after asking attendees to dress up as police officers and prisoners.
Whether U.Va. Students United was attempting to attain full-blown left wing progressive street cred, or they were just jealous that they were not invited, has not been determined at this time. At any rate, the student protesters appeared at the party to confront the attendees and proceeded to teach the revelers about their privilege.
U.Va. Students United posted its report of the party on Facebook:
The members of the frat wore orange jumpsuits, with bandanas tied around their heads, chains, and tattoos drawn on their arms. These “costumes” make a joke of mass incarceration and the prison-industrial complex, systems that disproportionately brutalize people of color.
The predominantly white members of this fraternity got to take their costumes off at the end of the night, people trapped in the prison system do not. The women wore “sexy” cop outfits complete with hats and badges, some inexplicably had tear drop tattoos drawn on their face. Historically, the police have justified violence against people of color in the name of protecting white women, and in wearing these costumes, these women made a joke of that legacy of violence.
Even though the fraternity didn’t intend to be offensive, the protesters did not care and claimed, “It’s this kind of willful ignorance that allows white supremacy to continue.”
Inter-Fraternity Council President Henry Crochiere said the party was not “overtly reprehensible.” However, he did qualify that it was “potentially offensive” to students who are a part of the campus community. “As a result, we thought it was best to end the party and other Delta Psi events planned for the weekend in order to reevaluate the situation,” Crochiere said according to the Cavalier Daily.
“The president of the fraternity along with myself had a meeting the next morning with [Asst.] Dean [and Director of Fraternity & Sorority Life Hal] Turner in order to further discuss the concerns of the protestors in a genuine attempt to respond in a constructive matter,” he continued. “It should be noted that Delta Psi had no intentions to offend anyone, but they should have more foresight to be sensitive to a theme like this especially in light of recent events involving police both in Charlottesville and on the national scale.”
“Moving forward, it would be beneficial for all parties to connect in the coming weeks and have a discussion about last Thursday’s events so we can learn from it,” he concluded.
U.Va. Students United claimed in a statement that after what happened at Charlottesville, “it’s at the very least disappointing that members of the UVA community would so willing to make a joke of systems that kill and brutalize marginalized communities.”
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