Family of Racist Oklahoma Frat Boy Flee Their Home After Death Threats as Protesters Rally in Their Exclusive Dallas Community
Michael Zennie and Chris Spargo, Daily Mail, March 12, 2015
Dozens of angry protesters have descended on the wealthy Dallas neighborhood where racist Oklahoma frat boy Parker Rice lives–hoping to shame his parents for their son’s participation in the horrific racist chant that shocked the nation.
Rice, a former Sigma Alpha Epsilon brother at University of Oklahoma, and his parents Bob and Jan say they have been forced to flee their $650,000 home in the elite suburb of Preston Hollow–home to the likes of George W. Bush, Mark Cuban and Ross Perot.
Neighbors looked on in dismay as about two dozen protesters marched up the street on Wednesday night, shouting, ‘racism is taught’ and ‘Teach your kids another way. No modern-day KKK.’
On Tuesday, 19-year-old Rice was first identified by Daily Mail Online as one of the leaders of the racist chant ‘there will never be a n***** SAE’ that was filmed on a chartered bus full of members of the fraternity.
The other SAE brother pictured prominently in the shocking video is Levi Pettit, who grew up in a $4.1 million mansion in the wealthy Dallas suburb of Highland Park, Texas.
Protesters from the Dallas-area group Next Generation Action Network staged the protest, hoping to call attention to the rarefied Texas upbringings they they say fostered the racism seen on the SAE video.
‘I know that he was only taught this. So, that means going to his parents, the environment that he was raised in that taught him this,’ protest leader Dominque Alexander told WFAA-TV.
The protesters remained peaceful as they marched in Preston Hollow, though several Dallas police officers stood guard outside the Rice home.
At one point, a masked woman shouted at one of the officers, who is black: ‘You are a brother! They talk about killing you and you’re standing on his property? How can you do that? You’re a brother,’ according to WFAA.
When Rice issued an apology to the Dallas Morning News on Tuesday night, he revealed that he and his family have been getting threats and were forced to flee their home.
‘Sadly, at this moment our family is not able to be in our home because of threatening calls as well as frightening talk on social media,’ he said.
Some of the protesters shouted at neighbors, who had gathered on their expansive front lawns to watch the commotion.
Neighbor Mike Grimm told the Dallas Morning News that the protesters shouldn’t make assumptions about Preston Hollow because of the actions of one resident.
‘To say the whole neighborhood is racist is painting with a broad brush. Everyone is a little sickened about what’s happened,’ he said.
Preston Hollow is one of the wealthiest parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Average home value in the community is $1.7 million and several billionaires and bold-face names call the neighborhood home.
Former President George W. Bush and wife Laura settled there after he left office. Billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner and reality star Mark Cuban lives in the area, along with billionaire former presidential candidate Ross Perot. Natural gas magnate T. Boone Pickens and retired Dallas Stars player Mike Modano also call it home, according to Dallas Magazine.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, who attended the same high school as Rice, Jesuit High School, also spoke out about the incident on Wednesday.
‘I am embarrassed for the actions of one of the alumni and those things happen,’ said Rawlings, who sits on the board of directors at Jesuit.
‘It’s not acceptable, it’s disappointing but Jesuit is a great, great high school.’
In his apology, Rice said; ‘I am deeply sorry for what I did Saturday night. It was wrong and reckless.’
The young man then went on to blame alcohol as a contributing factor, while also saying he learned the song from other fraternity members.