The collective response of the University of Oklahoma to a racist fraternity jingle that was captured on video has been nothing short of "extraordinary," conservative political and civil rights activist Niger Innis told "MidPoint" host Ed Berliner on
Newsmax TV Wednesday.
"Call me naively optimistic, but I see two extraordinary silver linings from this horrific incident," said Innis, executive director of TheTeaParty.net.
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"One," said Innis, "I see the quick,
rapid reaction by the president of the University of Oklahoma to condemn this endeavor, to suspend the activities of that fraternity, to remove those students from the University of Oklahoma, and set a proper tone — not only for the University of Oklahoma, but for other universities throughout the country.
"My second point is, I look at the actions of the black student union president who said we should not look at this as a reason to fight hate with more hate, but we need to fight hate with love," said Innis, referring to a
Fox News interview on Monday with OU Black Student Association President Isaac Hill.
The two students expelled by the school apologized on Tuesday for participating in a racist chant aboard a party bus carrying members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the Dallas News reports.
The sing-a-long, caught on video and posted online, used racist slurs and made reference to lynching.
Innis, who said he never rushed or pledged a fraternity in his college days, agreed that some Greek organizations have behaved despicably. But he cautioned against viewing the whole fraternity-sorority system through the lens of scattered incidents.
"A university should have the responsibility to police these fraternities … but I'm a little bit reluctant to trample on First Amendment rights and the freedom of association," he said.
Innis gave the example of an older brother who he said joined a black fraternity and credits the experience for helping him throughout his professional life.
"He would not give that away … for anything in the world," said Innis.
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