A UC Berkeley fraternity is under fire for misguided haunted house decor left literally hanging outside their frat house on Halloween. Theta Delta Chi thought it would be a good idea to feature a fake body dangling from a noose outside a third-story window on Durant Avenue, prompting many critics on campus to compare the decorations to racially charged public hangings.

The zombie body, which was actually just a pair of jeans and a shirt stuffed with straw and topped with a grey head, has since been taken down after a picture of the decorations provoked accusations of racism on Facebook. "This is another incident that convinces me and my community that this campus and society is not post-racial and racist is alive and well," Black Student Union chair Salih Muhammad told Onyx Express, a magazine dedicated to the Black Community at Berkeley. The house's location at the corner of College and Durant was also questionable, seeing as how it is directly across the street from a residential space for Black students.

Although the fraternity's Facebook page is now locked, comments on the Daily Cal's article ranged from the defensive: "Scots and Irish have been hung by the English... It seems like people will get offended at anything. Ridiculous !!" To the angered: "You should be ashamed of yourself if you are trying to pick a battle over this." To the sardonic: "How can this possibly be interpreted as racist? say the white people..." And, of course, the irreverent: "That dummy is clearly Australian."

Along with the strands of fake spiderwebs, the body was part of the decorations for a charity haunted house. The event is one of Theta Delta Chi's biggest and proceeds benefit Autism Speaks and Green Stampede. According to fraternity philanthropy chair Devin Shoop, this whole thing was a huge mixup. "There was no intention whatsoever as to present it as a black person, and it was a poor choice of head to use because it was a dark grey color," Shoop told the Daily Cal. "We understand that this has offended people, and we’re sorry for any turmoil this might have caused."

Last year, the UC Republicans student group was also accused of racism when they held a "Diversity Bake Sale."

[DailyCal]
[OnyxExpress]