DAMMMMIIITTTTTT!!!!!!

[bjornolf]

I'm not Asian, but what I saw as offensive was the stereotyped Asian speech, "Herro Nice Duke Peopre" on the invitation to the party. Clearly, this was a swipe at Asian people.

This is very different than a party which celebrates a culture by offering up the culture's food, drink and music, and I think that the kids who threw the party must have known that their party theme was going to piss some people off.

Absolutely!

If those of Irish or Mexican or German heritage are offended by holidays or stereotypical potrayals they need to speak up. I reject completely the notion that if Octoberfest makes all Germans look like drunks and that is apparently 'ok' it should also be OK to imply that all Asians wear rice paddy hats, bow incessantly and say 'Herro'.

...and Maxine is my hero. I want to BE Maxine when I grow up.


... I am 1/2 Hungarian - the other half is Dutch/German/English with a dash of Swedish thrown in. Take your best shot

That is 5 halves. Apparently Hungarians suck at math.

I took that as half was Hungarian and the other half was a mix of Dutch/German/English and Swedish. Which would mean your people suck at reading comprehension. Or maybe pie charts.

I'm half Irish, quarter whatever the hell mishmash goes into Creole French, quarter French Canadian.

[windsor]

I took that as half was Hungarian and the other half was a mix of Dutch/German/English and Swedish. Which would mean your people suck at reading comprehension. Or maybe pie charts.

I'm half Irish, quarter whatever the hell mishmash goes into Creole French, quarter French Canadian.

That is how I meant it, and I expect CBB new that, and was just being contrary...

I have just discovered that my second great grandmother was actually Irish. Family secret I guess - considering that half of the family are old line NJ (as in original land grant old line) baptists, a papist is the midst was something to hide. Geneology is interesing sometimes. I can now add 'Irish' to the list on the other 'half'

[Bob Green]

Green is an English and some times Irish name, and my dad told me our ancestors came from Ireland. My paternal grandmother's name was Trammel, which is German and/or English. On the maternal side, the names are Gibson and Herndon, which are both English and/or Scottish names so I am Irish/German/English/Scottish. That pretty much makes me equivalent to the mutt that lives down the street.

[windsor]

Green is an English and some times Irish name, and my dad told me our ancestors came from Ireland. My paternal grandmother's name was Trammel, which is German and/or English. On the maternal side, the names are Gibson and Herndon, which are both English and/or Scottish names so I am Irish/German/English/Scottish. That pretty much makes me equivalent to the mutt that lives down the street.

My daughter describers herself as a mutt - she is 1/4 Hungarian and 1/4 Greek the remaining half is comprised of English, Irish, Dutch, German, Swedish, French, Scottish, Italian and Native American.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I'm adopted, so I have no clue what my ancestry is. Therefore, I will just assume that I should be offended by anything anyone says. ;)

[windsor]

I'm adopted, so I have no clue what my ancestry is. Therefore, I will just assume that I should be offended by anything anyone says. ;)

Mr. Windsor is adopted. His 'non identifying information' said he was English/Irish. My tracking down of his birth mother (much harder 19 years ago, pre 'web') confirmed that, and it confirmed that placing him for adoption was the correct choice.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I'm adopted, so I have no clue what my ancestry is. Therefore, I will just assume that I should be offended by anything anyone says. ;)

Mr. Windsor is adopted. His 'non identifying information' said he was English/Irish. My tracking down of his birth mother (much harder 19 years ago, pre 'web') confirmed that, and it confirmed that placing him for adoption was the correct choice.

[Very Duke Blue]

I'm English, Irish and American Indian. We're not sure what Bud is. I guess he and CB&B are "just" American.

[devildeac]

Green is an English and some times Irish name, and my dad told me our ancestors came from Ireland. My paternal grandmother's name was Trammel, which is German and/or English. On the maternal side, the names are Gibson and Herndon, which are both English and/or Scottish names so I am Irish/German/English/Scottish. That pretty much makes me equivalent to the mutt that lives down the street.

Woof!

[devildeac]

I'm English, Irish and American Indian. We're not sure what Bud is. I guess he and CB&B are "just" American.

[lawgrad91]

I'm the mutt in the neighborhood, too. Genealogists can't even agree where the last name Futrell comes from. It's a derivative of middle English meaning "hunter" and describing the person in charge of the king's hounds, or it comes from some little French town. Whoever they were, they married a lot of Irish and Scotch-Irish people. My dad's mother's family was right off the boat from Ireland.

Mom's people are even more confused. Some of her people are English, some Irish. Her great-grandfather got kicked out of Virginia because he had the audacity to marry a non-white person (a native American), the punishment for which was a 30 year exile, unless the family could prove lineage from Pocahontas. When I was in law school, I went to the Halifax County (VA) courthouse and discovered they falsified their request for a marriage license. Her name was Mary Redd, and the license was in the name of "Mary Read." That was in 1869, and they were in Indiana by the time of the 1870 census.

[Very Duke Blue]

I'm the mutt in the neighborhood, too. Genealogists can't even agree where the last name Futrell comes from. It's a derivative of middle English meaning "hunter" and describing the person in charge of the king's hounds, or it comes from some little French town. Whoever they were, they married a lot of Irish and Scotch-Irish people. My dad's mother's family was right off the boat from Ireland.

Mom's people are even more confused. Some of her people are English, some Irish. Her great-grandfather got kicked out of Virginia because he had the audacity to marry a non-white person (a native American), the punishment for which was a 30 year exile, unless the family could prove lineage from Pocahontas. When I was in law school, I went to the Halifax County (VA) courthouse and discovered they falsified their request for a marriage license. Her name was Mary Redd, and the license was in the name of "Mary Read." That was in 1869, and they were in Indiana by the time of the 1870 census.

That is a cool story LG. My mom's family was from North Hampton Co., NC. They moved to Norfolk when she was a child. Her last name was Atkinson. My grandfather's last name was Ricks. He was from the same area. My dad was born in Durham. They moved to Richmond when he was six. Our last name is Leigh. The Leigh Family Farm now belongs to the Durham Co. Historical Society. It's off Hwy 54 at I40. I have been in the house,walk through the cemetery and been in the remaining buildings. There is a Duke buried there. My dad's oldest sibling, Aunt Naomi, remembered going there as a young child.

[IowaDevil]

Well I am Irish by marriage - you marry a full fledged Irishman and you are Irish whether you like it or not! My own heritage has enough of just about every European country to qualify me as Heinz 57 and that's an important heritage --- they even named a catsup after us!

[lawgrad91]

I'm the mutt in the neighborhood, too. Genealogists can't even agree where the last name Futrell comes from. It's a derivative of middle English meaning "hunter" and describing the person in charge of the king's hounds, or it comes from some little French town. Whoever they were, they married a lot of Irish and Scotch-Irish people. My dad's mother's family was right off the boat from Ireland.

Mom's people are even more confused. Some of her people are English, some Irish. Her great-grandfather got kicked out of Virginia because he had the audacity to marry a non-white person (a native American), the punishment for which was a 30 year exile, unless the family could prove lineage from Pocahontas. When I was in law school, I went to the Halifax County (VA) courthouse and discovered they falsified their request for a marriage license. Her name was Mary Redd, and the license was in the name of "Mary Read." That was in 1869, and they were in Indiana by the time of the 1870 census.

That is a cool story LG. My mom's family was from North Hampton Co., NC. They moved to Norfolk when she was a child. Her last name was Atkinson. My grandfather's last name was Ricks. He was from the same area. My dad was born in Durham. They moved to Richmond when he was six. Our last name is Leigh. The Leigh Family Farm now belongs to the Durham Co. Historical Society. It's off Hwy 54 at I40. I have been in the house,walk through the cemetery and been in the remaining buildings. There is a Duke buried there. My dad's oldest sibling, Aunt Naomi, remembered going there as a young child.

VDB, I'm sure we are related. The Futrells settled in Northampton Co, NC, around 1750 and my relatives stayed there (Potecasi was where most of them were) until my great-grandad moved to Portsmouth, VA around 1900. They were interesting people, and their stories are too risque for a soap opera.

Hey, I guess DPA and me are cousins!

[Very Duke Blue]

I'm the mutt in the neighborhood, too. Genealogists can't even agree where the last name Futrell comes from. It's a derivative of middle English meaning "hunter" and describing the person in charge of the king's hounds, or it comes from some little French town. Whoever they were, they married a lot of Irish and Scotch-Irish people. My dad's mother's family was right off the boat from Ireland.

Mom's people are even more confused. Some of her people are English, some Irish. Her great-grandfather got kicked out of Virginia because he had the audacity to marry a non-white person (a native American), the punishment for which was a 30 year exile, unless the family could prove lineage from Pocahontas. When I was in law school, I went to the Halifax County (VA) courthouse and discovered they falsified their request for a marriage license. Her name was Mary Redd, and the license was in the name of "Mary Read." That was in 1869, and they were in Indiana by the time of the 1870 census.

That is a cool story LG. My mom's family was from North Hampton Co., NC. They moved to Norfolk when she was a child. Her last name was Atkinson. My grandfather's last name was Ricks. He was from the same area. My dad was born in Durham. They moved to Richmond when he was six. Our last name is Leigh. The Leigh Family Farm now belongs to the Durham Co. Historical Society. It's off Hwy 54 at I40. I have been in the house,walk through the cemetery and been in the remaining buildings. There is a Duke buried there. My dad's oldest sibling, Aunt Naomi, remembered going there as a young child.

VDB, I'm sure we are related. The Futrells settled in Northampton Co, NC, around 1750 and my relatives stayed there (Potecasi was where most of them were) until my great-grandad moved to Portsmouth, VA around 1900. They were interesting people, and their stories are too risque for a soap opera.

Hey, I guess DPA and me are cousins!

We probably are cousins. LOL. I would be proud to have you in the family!!!

[ArkieDukie]

True story: Barack Obama's great (or great-great?) grandparents on his mother's side are buried in the cemetery that's about a mile up the road from my parents' house. My grandparents are buried in the same cemetery. Most of the people in the community where I grew up are distantly related to Barack Obama. One person in particular is the most despicably racist person I know (in fact, I could just stop at "despicable" and be accurate). He also happens to be a yellow dog democrat. I cannot count the number of times I've wanted to say, "Oh, you must be so excited that your cousin Barack is President."

As for me, I'm another Heinz 57. I'm at least 1/4 Polish on my mom's side. Lots of German on dad's side. They came to Canada from Alsace-Lorraine (I believe) - they were Anabaptists. Now they're Mennonite. My great-great-great (?) grandfather was kicked out of Canada for bootlegging. (how cool is that?!) My grandpa grew up in a Mennonite community in Nebraska and didn't speak English when he started school - only German. Now, on my mom's side, my great-grandpa was born on a ship while his family was en route from Poland to the US.

[ArkieDukie]

Oh, and one more semi-amusing anecdote: my brother-in-law's parents are distant relatives. My sister likes to tease him about being his own cousin.

[lawgrad91]

VDB, I'm sure we are related. The Futrells settled in Northampton Co, NC, around 1750 and my relatives stayed there (Potecasi was where most of them were) until my great-grandad moved to Portsmouth, VA around 1900. They were interesting people, and their stories are too risque for a soap opera.

Hey, I guess DPA and me are cousins!

We probably are cousins. LOL. I would be proud to have you in the family!!!

[Bostondevil]

Alas, there is more to the story.

As a Duke Parent now, I got an email.

History: About 10 years ago the Kappa Sigma fraternity was kicked off campus for infractions. They remained an unofficially recognized frat and moved into a house off East Campus, east of East Campus in fact. The neighborhood they moved to became known as the Far East. They started having an Asian themed party when they were living there. They were allowed back on campus (having never disbanded) last year, I think, maybe it's been 2 years. Anyway, this year they decided to revive their Asian Prime party as they called it. Don't know why it's called that. Perhaps there's a joke there that I'm too old to get. The still and "You had me a Herro" quote were taken directly from the movie "Team America: World Police".

The Asian student organization protested the party as soon as the email went out. The Kappa Sig's were asked to not hold the party. They didn't. They sent out a second email saying that the party's theme was being changed. It was no longer the Asian Prime party, it was now the International Relations party. People were asked to come dressed as their favorite foreign country. Some people still came in Asian costume but most, actually, DID NOT. The pictures that have been posted are highly selective. You don't see the Viking helmets or the dashikis in the pictures but they were there. The Kappa Sig's were guilty of insensitivity, yes, but they were asked to stop and they did. Given the facts of the case, Monata is right, the Kappa Sigs do not deserve further punishment.

Personally, I'm disappointed in the Asian Student Organization. They took their protest to the administration which was the right way to handle it. The fraternity was told not to hold an Asian themed party. An Asian themed party was not held. That should have been the end of the story.
I pointed out that the photo attached to the original offending email was a still from a Hollywood movie to make a point. Poking fun at stereotypes happens all the time, to great profit, in the entertainment world. To repeat what I posted OY, Duke grad Ken Jeong has carved out a movie career from his ability to send up Asian stereotypes on film. He's hilarious. We laugh at him. We're supposed to laugh at him. He makes pretty good money for it too. We're not going to change the human race's desire to laugh at stereotypes. We can ask fraternities not to hold parties picking on a single group, I agree. But when they comply and another group of students decides to continue to target them, well, who is being insensitive now?

[Very Duke Blue]

Thanks for your post BD. It sheds a bright light on the situation.