Who knew that singing one of the best rap tracks from the 2000's would get a group of university students into this much trouble?
That's the situation for members of the Alpha Phi sorority in New Hampshire, who were singing along to Kanye West's mid-decade hit "Gold Digger," including his use of the N-word during the track's famous chorus. Footage of the incident ended up online and, in what could've been an innocent-seeming moment behind closed doors, became yet another piece of video footage that social media users had to scrutinize and voice their displeasure over.
According to a new report from TMZ, the women who were depicted in the video clip will not be punished, at least at this time, by any part of the officials governing the education institution. As per the article, a rep from UNH said "the Alpha Phi sisters showed poor judgment in the video of them using the n-word, but UNH is not investigating the matter. The rep says the initial report claiming UNH had opened a probe was incorrect -- and there will be no discipline for the sorority." Initial updates had taken on a more severe outlook, with Fox News detailing that a full-on inquiry had already begun. Still, the debate raged on in the comments section of the video post on the All Eyes On UNH Facebook page, where it became a matter of freedom or speech versus making a welcoming first impression.
"This isn't about freedom of speech, it's about making the 92% of white students at UNH more socially aware so that people of color feel more comfortable, welcome and safe at UNH," one user wrote. "It is literally up to you, the students, to make sure UNH is more welcoming. It doesn't matter how you feel about this song or these girls singing it if you're white, it matters how POC view UNH based off the examples set by its students." Another user sided with the girls in the video, saying "So your telling me you have never sang along to a song in the car??? Is this really where we are heading? A gust of wind, and all of a sudden its a race issue! It is honestly pathetic that you are trying to make something out of this, stop reaching and focus on yourselves!"
What do you think? Fair or foul play at the UNH sorority? Sound off below.
