Everybody Loves Raymond

During a basketball game last month, the San Jose State dance team performed a suggestive routine to the raunchy lyrics of "Move Somethin'" by LL Cool J. Alumnus Ray Silva, a 74-year-old San Jose businessman and major university booster, didn't like it. In his words, "It was like a burlesque, with bumps and grinds. I just came unglued," so he started yelling, "Trash! That's trash!" LINK

There was a confrontation later and now a possible lawsuit, but the university is re-considering its racy dance show.

One man was willing to step up, and the lewd people are now backing down. How often would that happen if more of us were willing to step up and object? What would be their defense, "No, we want our girls to act like whores in public"? Maybe most people understand shame and decency and are willing to admit they crossed the line when confronted. Maybe, just maybe.

One of the dancer's fathers, by the way, is mad that Ray referred to the routine as trash. It's just another instance of that warped idea of freedom: freedom to do what one wants but not suffer the consequences of it. In this case, a girl should apparently be allowed to dance like a piece of trash without being called trash. We disagree. Maybe she has the right to behave like trash, but people like Ray then have a right--aye, maybe even an obligation, depending on the situation--to tell her she's behaving like trash.