For the past few weeks, I’ve been following the steps Patrick Sharp has taken to formulate a white student union at Georgia State University
As a fall 2011 graduate of Georgia State, when word of student leading this movement reached my ears via an op-ed in the university paper, The Signal, I actually thought he had a few valid points. Statistically speaking, the Georgia State campus is one of the most racially diverse universities in the nation.
However, when I realized this was the brainchild of a freshman, I got a little wary. After all, if your first extracurricular initiative is to create an organization that honors white heritage instead of making friends, getting familiar with the female student body, partying or joining existing student organizations, then a few white flags go up. First impressions do matter. I won’t make a point about him being from Birmingham, Alabama, but the totality of circumstances don’t paint him in a good light.
In this digital age, it was only a matter of time until the other shoe dropped and someone unearthed him making statements that sound like he dug them out of a 1950s time capsule. According to the Huffington Post, Sharp has made derogatory statements about minorities in the past and to a white supremacist website no less.
Using the aliases "frozenpie77" and "sportline," Sharp refers to blacks by epithets such as "niggs" and "darkies" and advocates for re-segregating public schools. In more than one forum on the site — which has been banned in multiple countries for hateful content — Sharp recommends that blacks who act aggressively should be beaten up.
He also makes derisive comments about Muslims, Mexicans and Jews, who he argues committed worse crimes than the Holocaust. All of the remarks were made within the past 18 months.
… In addition to his comments on Stormfront, Sharp can be seen posing for a photo with editor of white nationalist magazine American Renaissance, Jared Taylor, a figure revered by many white supremacists.
These comments make the parade of N-words marching out of Riley Cooper’s mouth sound like a Louis C.K. stand-up special. It's almost like this kid grew up in A Time To Kill instead of the 21st century.
Sharp’s walking into a hornet’s nest of his own making on campus before he’s even registered for classes. Since his past comments have come to light, Sharp has tried to backtrack to the Huffington Post and blame his statements on the follies of youth.
"Looking back, being online in the company of racially insensitive individuals has taught me one very important lesson: how to spot them. My most important goal with the [white student union] is to guard it from hot heads, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and anyone with nefarious intent. The WSU is no place for bigots of any kind. We're about heritage and identity; two things that everyone else is allowed to be proud of–why can't we?"
"As kids, we've all said stupid things — thank God for the 1st Amendment — but they're only stupid if we don't learn from them."
That’s all good and well, but this would be like, Riley Cooper trying to make amends by sending peace offerings to each of his white teammates. If Sharp and the handful of students who have joined his organization want to join a white supremacist minor league, let them build their own closet to hide in together, but if he wants to claim his intentions are noble, we don’t believe him. He needs more people.
