For those attuned to both campus events and past accusations of Jamacian DJ Beenie Man and his anti-gay lyrics, it is hard to ignore the irony of Coming Out Day so closely followed by Beenie Man's performance.
As the popularity of Beenie Man has grown over the past 15 years, he has been blamed for homophobic acts of violence in the way video games such as Doom are blamed for Columbine. He has even seen concerts cancelled in the past because of protests by groups such as OutRage! - a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender human rights campaign group in Britain.
But there is no reason the concert today should cause any controversy. Both of these events have legitimate places on campus and represent the diversity of viewpoints that Tufts should encourage.
There is a fine line between respecting diversity and plain respect. Tufts' Concert Board is funded by the student activities fee and therefore has a responsibility to uphold Tufts' nondiscrimination policy. But the Concert Board is merely presenting an opportunity on campus, available to those who wish to attend.
Beenie Man's lyrics will no doubt remain heated and charged despite the worst of the profanities being removed. But it is up to the discretion of each individual attendee to determine if any part of his performance is offensive and understand that it was his or her decision to attend.
It is important to maintain free speech on campus, however even in remunerating an alleged bigoted performer, the University has to be aware. Beenie Man has been alerted via his agent that the controversial lyrics will not be permitted, and the Hip Hop Show will likely go off smoothly.
Beenie Man seems to have renounced his previous views of homophobia and targeted violence, but questions still linger as he also defends himself on the grounds of representing a segment of Jamaican culture through his music.
As recognition at the top of western music charts continues to elude Beenie Man, he seems to be gradually sanitizing his views to make them palatable to the mainstream. There will likely be little public outburst if his lyrics err on the side of caution and avoid homophobic references.
What is most disappointing regarding the recruitment of Beenie Man is the complete ignorance of the Concert Board. As a group designated to spend student fees, there should be some degree of accountability and awareness.
When an artist has been contracted to perform, one would expect a degree of background research. Any simple search on Beenie Man will show that he has had a checkered history, yet both of the Concert Board co-chairs appeared to have not heard of such information.
The Concert Board's recent history is not rosy: we have paid Busta Rhymes twice for not performing. Public issues of censorship have peaked in recent years with national scandals such as Janet Jackson's Super Bowl wardrobe mishap, and Clear Channel's conservative dominance of radio.
What yet another performer mishap shows is the need for increased diligence among those responsible. In an environment where conflicting views are encouraged to be exposed, many delicate situations arise. There needs to be more thought about the context in which artists will be performing. Just as a Toby Keith concert would not be successful on a heavily Democratic campus, a former homophobe is not the best follow-up to Coming Out Day.
