“Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever.”

Taking a sound bite out of Gov. George Wallace’s 1963 inaugural address, VICE News began its apparent exposé on the segregation and integration of The University of Alabama sorority system, dutifully titled “Black, White & Greek.”

Of course, this is nothing new. Over the past few weeks, swarms of media have flocked to Tuscaloosa to cover any and every detail about this momentous step – as well they should – and by now, I think we all have seen Wallace’s face way too many times on the TV screen as he continues to be tied to our past.

However, something seemed a bit different in this report. Something seemed a bit off.

Five minutes into the video, you see why. Anyone could see that it’s a bit one-sided at this point, but by the full 10-minute wrap, the bias was all but tangible, and the facts all seemed skewed.

Right off the bat, the video intentionally misleads viewers into the assumption that the whole University promotes and maintains institutionalized segregation in broad daylight, via the use of the Retreat’s famous pool party.

After showing shots of a group of diverse male Malleteers walking by Lakeside Dining and a few of the dormitories on campus, there is a sudden switch in storyline.

The narrator, states, over video of drunken students enjoying the party, “At the beginning of every school year, there is a big pool party to welcome back the students.” Suddenly, the friends happen to be at the entrance of the Retreat pool.

Clever cinematography, VICE.

Why so clever? Basically, by splicing together a montage of activity, VICE implies that the pool party is UA-sanctioned or even on UA grounds. Never once is there a mention that the party is at an off-campus housing complex, that it is privately funded or that it has no affiliation with the University.

And as for the diverse attendees that you do see in the shots, the narrator dismisses them, saying “they are football players or ex-football players.” I guess they don’t count.

However, what it does mention is that the group of diverse students – who all seem to be wearing jeans or other street clothes – were denied entrance, assumedly because of the color of their skin.

Or maybe it could have been their obvious lack of swimming trunks, the fact that they weren’t residents of the community or guests of a member, that the event is a private party, the film crew behind them that could document illegal activity and get members in trouble, the overcrowded nature of the pool or any number of other things.

While it is great that we are getting coverage of the historic changes going on in our community, maybe we need to be a little more selective on the quality of that coverage.

This video did absolutely no reporting or investigating within its 10-minute allotment. Rather, it merely dragged the University’s name through the mud.

And while we do deserve some of that disgrace, VICE also effectively degraded all of the work that students – black, white, greek and independent – have been fighting for. The fact is, all of this work has come about because of a student movement. It started with sorority members pushing back against their alumnae, with Melanie Gotz, the Alpha Gamma Delta member who spoke out, with the student-run Crimson White that broke the story and with all of those who marched in opposition to the continued segregation within our greek system.

But without even one interview from a sorority or fraternity member and the sole focus being paid to the efforts of the Mallet Assembly (the sole beneficiary of this ridiculous excuse for journalism), all that the public will assume is the worst of all of us – black, white, greek or otherwise.

Maxton Thoman is a sophomore majoring in biology. His column runs weekly on Wednesdays.