10 More Incidents of Racism in Sororities and Fraternities That Prove SAE Was Not An Isolated Event

james-meredith-statueStatue Noose

Last April at the University of Mississippi, the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity chapter was shut down after three members hung a noose around a bronze statue of civil rights icon James Meredith (above), the first Black student admitted to the college. The fraternity also had a history of hazing, underage drinking, alcohol abuse and failure to comply with the university code of conduct, the school said.

JigabooJones‘Compton Cookout’

Members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at the University of California-San Diego threw a “Compton Cookout” during Black History Month in 2010, advertising it with a photo of what was supposed to be a Black person with a bucket of chicken from KFC and a T-shirt that read: “Jiggaboo Jones” (above). Invited students were told to come dressed as “ghetto chicks” and “gangsters.” Students of multiple races demonstrated for weeks, and faculty members expressed outrage.

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top