TO THE EDITOR:
Why are some fraternity brothers and sorority sisters so obsessed with throwing racially insensitive parties? What is so celebratory about the Vietnam War?
Last week, Delta Kappa Epsilon threw a “Vietnam Cocktail” party, where Carolina students wore Vietnamese straw hats, Viet Cong flags and other racially insensitive garments.
The Vietnam War is a bitter part of both Vietnamese and American history. As a Viet, I have personally experienced how my country and my family have been torn apart and damaged by the Vietnam War. As an immigrant in America, I know that thousands of Americans lost their parents, their partners and their children. Three hundred thousand casualties are nothing to celebrate.
As a UNC student, I am worried about what our fellow students are doing to our beloved University. At Carolina, we boast about diversity to our students and to our prospective students. However, allowing these types of parties to occur are disrespectful to Vietnamese culture and our Carolina culture at large. Such parties threaten the diversity of Carolina and compromise our culture of excellence.
No, this is not just one fraternity party. This is one of many consistent examples of cultural discriminations that marginalized identities must face on our campus. This is a disappointing and alarming reminder that Carolina is not as culturally and socially conscious as we claim ourselves to be.
This is not the time to be offended or to be defensive. It is time to rethink our actions and the messages we embody. It is time to rethink our Carolina culture of acceptance and excellence.
Ping Nguyen ’14
Women’s and
gender studies
