Over the weekend, a group of students from Oklahoma University’s chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity opened up a can of worms when they chanted, “There will never be a n—-r at SAE, you can hang them from a tree, but they will never sign with me,” while riding a bus on their way to an event. Since the video was posted on YouTube, Oklahoma University has permanently disavowed itself of the fraternity, forcing them to move out and expelling the two students identified for leading the racist chanting. Oklahoma University has since launched an investigation to find out the identities of the other individuals involved, so they can take the appropriate steps to discipline the behavior.

However, the fraternity members who took part in the chanting aren’t the only ones who are suffering the consequences of their racial insensitivity; Howard Dixon, who was the SAE chef for 14 years, says that as a result of this outrage and the subsequent shutdown of SAE, he is now out of a job that he loved. SAE’s 78-year-old SAE House Mother, Beauton Gilbow, is sad to leave, ashamed and disappointed at the circumstances and how she has neither a job nor a place to live now.

William Bruce James II, the last black SAE member to pledge 14 years ago, attended Oklahoma University from 2001 -2005. When he saw the video of the group chant, he was shocked and appalled. For James, the incident makes him feel like as if he’s lost a family member and a “pure bond of brotherhood” which he isn’t sure if  he’ll “ever get that back.”

The SAE racial chant incident speaks to a larger issue on the table. It is indicative of how we not only live in a society that still refuses to let go of its racist roots and traditions, but these same racist beliefs have clearly been passed down to my generation. This learned behavior is counter-productive to the global movement to end racial discrimination and promote equality for all.

As a black male who went to a college with an embarrassing and glaring lack of racial and cultural diversity in their faculty and student population, this SAE situation is alarming. It would be one thing if it were just the two students leading the chant, but a whole group of students on a bus, from the same organization, chanted this song … from memory.

What does this tell me? That this defiant and communal show of racial insensitivity illustrates an insidious frame of mind that still exists, a type of thinking that would sooner see a black student dead and hanging from a tree, than a brother within their fraternity. I dare say that there is very little difference between the behavior of these SAE students and the KKK when we consider what fueled their racial prejudice. Chants are still rallies for action. And the action that follows these type of chants is what we all need to be concerned about.

Unfortunately, SAE is not an isolated case. SEA was originally founded at the University of Alabama in 1856 and during the time of the Civil War, 369 of its 400 members fought for the confederacy. It isn’t a stretch to say that over time, racist traditions were passed down, some of which included songs and various words to describe other races and cultures.  The OU SAE fraternity may have been exposed, but there is no telling how many others in my generation harbor similar feelings.  The number of hate groups may have declined in recent history, but racism is still alive and hidden in plain sight.