N.D. University Investigates Raunchy Skit Where White Student Played Obama in Blackface
FARGO, N.D. — North Dakota State University is investigating complaints about a campus skit in which a white student in blackface portrayed Barack Obama receiving a lap dance.
The same skit, part of a charity fundraiser held at a campus theater, also featured a depiction of cowboys having sex with each other, witnesses told The Forum newspaper, which first reported the backlash Friday.
“We’re trying to find out the right approaches for accountability, but at the same time try to heal wounds that have occurred and allow the campus to move ahead,” Janna Stoskopf, NDSU’s dean of students, told The Associated Press on Friday.
The March 18 skit involving the NDSU Saddle and Sirloin Club was performed at the Mr. NDSU Pageant, which is sponsored by the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority and raises money for diabetes research.
People who attended it said a pageant contestant from Saddle and Sirloin dressed as a woman from the Internet video “I Got a Crush on Obama” and performed a strip tease for another student, who was wearing dark makeup and an afro wig.
In the background, two male students dressed as cowboys simulated anal sex while holding an Obama sign that one student ripped at the conclusion of the 30-second performance, the Forum reported.
“That seems to be consistent with what’s been described to me,” Stoskopf said.
The Obama campaign had no comment Friday. Obama is to speak at North Dakota Democrats’ state convention in Grand Forks next week.
Josh Reimnitz, who is the NDSU student body president and saw the skit, called it “totally tasteless” and said he and other audience members were shocked.
“Honestly, I still don’t know what the intention of the skit was,” he said. “It was very silent, and there were some boos. People were looking at each other, not knowing how to act.”
The skit does not reflect attitudes on campus, Reimnitz said.
“We’re still going to be proactive in student government, as far as diversity education and training,” he said. “If there are pockets out there that we don’t know about, we want to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
NDSU President Joseph Chapman was not immediately available for comment. Messages left by the AP for Russell Danielson, adviser of the Saddle and Sirloin Club, and Malika Carter, an NDSU assistant director of multicultural student services were not immediately returned.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re rural. It doesn’t matter if you’re from Fargo or Beulah, N.D.,” said Joy Rice, a black Fargo resident and a member of the city’s human relations commission. “You still need to respect people of color, in all aspects of life. This is a form of racism, and it’s really taking a step back.”
The skit follows a complaint filed against a sorority at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, where guests wore Indian costumes and red paint on their faces and bodies.
“This falls into the same category,” Rice said of the NDSU skit. “It’s just as bad.”
Stoskopf said she expected the investigation could take until May 9, the end of the school year.
“One of the issues here is how do we balance what our policies and expectations about behavior are with the issue of freedom of speech,” Stoskopf said. “Where does all of that get us?”
NDSU has 10,403 undergraduates. The student body is 92 percent white, while 1.5 percent identify themselves as black or African-American.
If a presidential candidate can not stand being portrayed in a satirical skit for a charity fundraiser, then how can we expect the candidate to stand up to neuclear armed lunatics around the world who would destroy us if they get the opportunity?
Get over it. I’d bet if they railed, oh let’s say, President Bush - they would be showered with well wishes, no pending investigation and we wouldn’t even know about it.
What ever happened to freedom of speech? Or is that only true with things you agree with?
Does this mean the politically correct police will investigate Saturday Night Live for their skit with a black-faced actor? Get a life people - humor, whether you like it or not, is a way of breaking down barriers rather than highlighting them. Bending to overly sensitive individuals by having senseless investigations only exacerbates the problem. Take it for what it was, an attempt at political satire. Remove that and you live in Orwell’s 1984.
This is not an issue of free speech…it is an issue of decency. The current rage in media and entertainment is to shock the audience. Can we not, instead of crassness, demonstrate propriety, discernment, sound judgment, and respect? I am tired of being “shocked”, and I hope others are tired of it as well. Did no one walk out on this outrageous performance or go immediately to the host of the event to complain? We should not be coarse, violent, or unkind in expressing our disapproval; however, we do need to understand that total silence is tacit approval.
All I have to say is free speech. Who cares like DE Conservative Said get thicker skin. this entry country need to get thicker skin period. a bunch of three years old running around mommy he called me a name. Get over it America. you dont like some thing then dont pay it attention. So someone sterotyped your race so what live with it. It does not mean they are raceist. White folks get sterotyped just like eveyone else. It dont bother me, I have more important things to worry about.
DEConservative…thicker skins for open racism? Racism should offend every real American.
I went to college in rural Louisiana and some of the all white frats would put on similar skits depicting black stereotypes. I was offended then…as I am offended now. I believe in a America where all are created equal.
As a conservative, I have grown weary of the politics of division. I have grown weary of special interests controlling Washington. That’s why I am voting for Obama as McCain’s campaign is run by lobbyists.
What ever happened to freedom of speech? Tammy Bruce was right- beware of the new thought police!
This is yet another demonstration of the hyper-sensitive we will no doubt be forced to endure in the event of an Obama Presidency.
Both Obama’s wife and pastor have made their disdain for America quite clear. Barack’s inability to provide any historic information to demonstrate that he disagrees with these anti-American views suggests that he has little appreciation for America either. This has helped them curry favor among the angrily-racist members of the “black community”. I can only imagine what would happen if Obama were ever to face the type of criticism from the media as white candidates have long experienced.
Only the mentally inert among us took any solice in Obama’s “Race Speech”. That speech made it quite clear that he is much more sympathetic to the rantings of the anti-American Black Community than he cares to admit.
It’s very sad, but an Obama Presidency will be the most racially divisive event since desegregation.
So much for college campuses being strongholds for free speech. I worry that any attack on Obama will be construed as racist. His color and background should not shield him from political satire. Satire uses everything from appearance to mannerisms to steroetypes to make light of political candidates. This goes back hundreds of years and should not cease because of a kneejerk PC public. Obama’s color doesn’t make him immune from satire, nor should it make him immune from close examination of his policies and the people with whom he chooses to associate. Politics is war…MAN UP!!!