Kappa Kappa Gamma And Zeta Beta Tau Forced To Cancel Philanthropy Event Because It’s Offensive To People In Jail And I Wish I Was Kidding

Kappa Kappa Gamma and Zeta Beta Tau at Northwestern University had every intention of putting on a philanthropy event promoting children’s literacy in America. The event, called Kappa Jail ‘N’ Bail (Because isn’t it so like a fraternity to just hop onto a sorority’s philanthropy event?) was supposed to involve volunteers who would be “arrested” by the sorority and fraternity and eventually released when they made “bail.” All the money they would have raised was set to be donated to Reading is Fundamental, Kappa’s philanthropy.

People are not happy. As you might have guessed, this is somehow a disgusting display of racism. Or something. I’m starting to believe you could literally say anything is offensive and bandwagoners would agree with you, because being offended by things allows you to feel like you’re on some type of moral high ground.

“Frozen” is offensive to Scandinavians. Just because it’s cold up there and they’re blonde, it doesn’t mean for even one second we should perceive them as evil. You would never portray a Latina as “cold”(-hearted).

Chutes and ladders are representative of the unfair advantages that some people get in their lives and careers. In a weak economy, they make an absolute mockery of individuals who have become unemployed due to layoffs or discrimination–or fuck, even for just being bad at their jobs, but they’re people, too!

Any female cartoon character that has boobs promotes the sexualization of women. So fucking what? Adult females have breasts. You put them way too high up on this animated woman’s body–so high up that they are touching the glass ceiling!

Why is the Jail ‘N’ Bail event offensive, exactly? If I’m following the logic correctly, many minorities are incarcerated and many minority children have literacy issues, so therefore, linking a glorified game of manhunt to Reading is Fundamental is mocking minorities of all kinds. This is OBVIOUSLY exactly what Kappa and ZBT were thinking: “Haha, your dad is in jail and you can’t read!” It’s ridiculous. This connection is purely an unfortunate coincidence, not a blatant insensitivity–and frankly, you have to dig really deep to even see it. It’s so obvious that this was unintentional. The logic barely even makes sense, but once one person pointed out the injustice, everyone was quick to agree.

From The Daily Northwestern:

“You’re employing aspects, the orange jumpsuits, of an oppressive system that operates as a massive encumbrance to the lives and literacy rates of black and brown children in these ‘underprivileged’ areas,” Weinberg sophomore Alejandro Banuelos wrote in a comment.

“All of them should be ashamed,” SESP junior Maria Marquez wrote in a public Facebook post about the event.

“The fact that a group of wealthy Northwestern students are ‘playacting’ at being prisoners (most of whom are poor) is a blatant belittling of the realities of mass incarceration and the prison-industrial complex,” [Weinberg sophomore] Nadig wrote.

Kappa and ZBT canceled their event and apologized for the insensitivity. They are claiming it was an error in judgment. So the Greek villains apologized, the participants in outrage culture were heard, and no money will go to children’s literacy. Everybody wins, right?.

[via The Daily Northwestern]

Image via The Pet Collective