Black Student Shows Troubling Lack Of Emotion Over James Brown's Death
The consolation began the day after Christmas, when Frank Tyler, a caucasian friend of DuPris, stopped by with a large basket of okra, several chitlins, and assorted fruits of what he called "the jungle."
"I brought over several slices of watermelon because I knew it would cheer him up, since his hero died and everything," Tyler remembers of the racially sensitive gift basket, adding, "How can you not be cheery eating something like watermelon?"
DuPris was oddly unmoved by the gift basket, and by Brown's death in general, displaying an alarming absence of emotion surrounding Brown's death.
"I don't even know if he's sobbed uncontrollably yet," said Tyler.
"I hardly ever listen to James Brown's music [since his untimely passing]," admitted DuPris. "I don't know why all of my white friends are making such a big deal about him, [even though I and my tribe miss him so dearly]."
DuPris sadly had to be reminded several times that Brown was one of the founders of funk and soul music to jog his fragile, grief-stricken memory.
"I didn't know he was such a major contributor to the Civil Rights Movement, the rise of Black America, and the current dynasty of African-American pride in self," said DuPris. DuPris then turned his watery eyes back to the game of Madden 2007, connecting on a long pass from Cowboys QB Tony Romo to wide reciever Terrell Owens for 47 yards.
"It's easy to understand why DuPris would be playing video games," Liza Etheredge, a grief counselor for the university, said, adding that DuPris "prefers the comforting, fictional world of XBOX 360 to the harsh realities of this world, in which James Brown so recently and so tragically died."
DuPris admitted that he hadn't been mourning the death of Brown any more than any other celebrity, black or white, playing into predictions by his white friends that he may have a difficult time talking about his overwhelming sadness.
"We just wish he'd be his old self again: nice, funny, warm - like half of Tiger Woods might be," Tyler said of DuPris.
DuPris says he wishes everyone would just move on, but Etheredge worries the move might be an attempt to mask an internal well of pain.
"Some day, he's going to be listening to 'Say It Loud, I'm Black And I'm Proud,' and this is gonna catch up to him," Etheredge warned.
DuPris' white friends would also like to send their condolences to Osama bin Laden for the death of his dear friend, Saddam Hussein.