Oklahoma Football’s Eric Striker Show Some Righteous Anger
By Sixto Ortiz
The last few days have been sad and shameful for the Sooner Nation, and Eric Striker isn’t taking it lightly.
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A leaked video revealed members of Oklahoma University’s SAE fraternity chapter loudly singing a racially offensive song on their way to a formal event. The video quickly went viral, generating swift nationwide attention.
The wrong kind of attention.
Dismay turned to pride as President David Boren swiftly and decisively booted the SAE fraternity chapter off the campus. There was no hesitation, no pause, no doubt…Boren acted swiftly and was rock-steady with his condemnation. In a time when so many institutions often turn to slick lawyering and public relations maneuvering, it was refreshing to see President Boren react so unequivocally.
Sooner football team players and coaches also reacted in various ways, but none as forcefully and angrily as All-World linebacker Eric Striker. In a Snapchat video, Striker screams angrily into the camera. The man pulls no punches as he launches into an expletive-laced tirade condemning the video. It is crystal clear that Striker is not only angry, but hurt as well.
Striker’s video (see it here; warning: video contains explicit content) is profane and in-your-face, but you know what? I can’t blame him one iota for how he feels nor for how he expressed those emotions.
Sometimes, the only way to react to such vileness is with a primal, visceral reaction. A reaction that expresses all the anger and confusion that come with the realization that today, in 2015, behavior we all thought was long dead and buried is alive and well.
Worse yet, it happened at our beloved University. And while President Boren’s uncompromising reaction is a source of pride Sooner Nation, there must also be the realization that we’re not quite where we need to be just yet. Eric Striker’s righteous anger volcanically expressed the dismay and hurt that so many in Sooner Nation felt this morning.
Eric, we get why you’re angry. We don’t blame you. We will do better.