Another Party Offends--But Also Mobilizes

The recent spate of racially themed parties has taught two lessons. No. 1, college students can be insensitive and make bad jokes. No. 2, bad jokes can be inspiring. The latest example comes from Texas Tech, where a "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" party--again, the offending photos were posted on Facebook--led a group of at least 100 black students to participate in a rally yesterday afternoon, the Daily Toreador reports. Whether or not the party was actually racially themed--the protesters say yes, but the organizer says no--it certainly has started a conversation. "This is the start of a new day," one student says, complaining of a lack of university support. "Every day we sit and take things from everybody else." But not anymore. "You can [put] down the black community, but we're going to come together," she says.