On my way to use the little boys’ room in my residence hall I ran into some people getting ready to head out for Halloween. All were dressed as stereotypes. One was dressed as a ‘gangsta’, the other two as Mexican banditos. All three were white.

What is more disturbing is that the ‘gangsta’ was in Blackface. Before I could recover and confirm what I was seeing, they had left.

It would seem that this university and its students haven’t learned anything from the scandals of years past. Truth be told, these boys were probably freshmen. They hadn’t heard of the Tacos and Tequilas party nor the other ‘themed’ parties that have made this university create a Diversity Website in order to pretend like the problem is being fixed. Clearly, it isn’t.

I’m no expert in these matters, so feel free to disregard any advice I’m about to give. It seems that there need to be freshman orientation classes in diversity that promote valuing diversity and discouraging or condemning racism in all of its forms. If these classes exist already, forgive me, but it seems that they are not working or being taught with effect.

I know, it’s Halloween. ‘Lighten up, Chris!’ you say.

I would, but how can I when ignorance and hate speech abound in my residence hall?