The dynamic is more like, now that we have integration in a community where minorities are discriminated against daily, the victims of racism and such need a way to get away. Organizational re-segregation is not the answer. But how do you keep people from spitting on others? What should be done about racism on campus? What if it were you being discriminated against?
It's utterly bizarre to see ultra-liberal Williams College being cast by these editorial writers as a place of discrimination and oppression.
If a kid (of any race or ethnicity) gets into Williams, he or she is already the beneficiary of a mammoth amount of privilege, and has had his or her ticket punched for a life of even greater privilege after graduation. Spend a few days in Williamstown and you can barely hear yourself think over the incessant sound of doors opening for every one of those students for the rest of their lives.
I'm the coordinator for a food pantry in a rural community. I invite these kids at their elite, prestigious college to come see what I see in an average week. They'll never have the nauseating audacity to call themselves "marginalized" again.
It's not liberal to try to address racist discrimination. Nor is separatism itself liberal. Liberalism, conservatism, what have you, are simply ways to address issues. If a student at any college is the victim of racism, having him or her sit down at your food pantry will do nothing to address the discrimination. It may (or may not) be that racism is less at the food pantry, and itself would be a respite for what they experience in their daily lives. No matter what privilege you have, whether riches or fame or the opportunity to attend Williams College, racism against you is a horrible thing to live with. This has nothing to do with being liberal and conservative. These approaches to governance have been contaminated in recent years. I disagreed with the separatist approach, which is a throw back, not progressive, and asked for an alternative approach to address the issue. Doing nothing is not an answer, and tours of food pantries does not sound like the most effective approach.
Maybe you misunderstood me completely --- again. And why are you talking to people like this, Jeff? It seems you don;t quite get the situation, nor my input.
It would be something if that were the case, wow huh?, imagine that, that the people who are saying that they are being discriminated against on a daily basis are just making things up. More likely, however, they are not -- although do not let this send anyone out looking for fakers, yes they exist. Instead look fo the racists. If you are not white, and you go out, you encounter them daily. All us Euro-Americans play dumb and happy if we act like racism does not exist. So let's not start as if racism does not exist when we all know better. Let's start with the fact of rampant racism in this country, and go on from there. What can be done? How do we get beyond separatism? Do we arrest all racists, keep them off the streets so that the rest of us can live good lives? No -- just when a hate crime s committed, but then again jurors get to choose which criminals walk the streets. I already covered the idea of denial. So that's a No. Separatism is a No because it is a fail. Here we are, a population that is diverse and inclusive by our make-up and history, and there are people out there, lots of them, that want it to be neither.
The dynamic is more like, now that we have integration in a community where minorities are discriminated against daily, the victims of racism and such need a way to get away. Organizational re-segregation is not the answer. But how do you keep people from spitting on others? What should be done about racism on campus? What if it were you being discriminated against?
ReplyDeleteIt's utterly bizarre to see ultra-liberal Williams College being cast by these editorial writers as a place of discrimination and oppression.
ReplyDeleteIf a kid (of any race or ethnicity) gets into Williams, he or she is already the beneficiary of a mammoth amount of privilege, and has had his or her ticket punched for a life of even greater privilege after graduation. Spend a few days in Williamstown and you can barely hear yourself think over the incessant sound of doors opening for every one of those students for the rest of their lives.
I'm the coordinator for a food pantry in a rural community. I invite these kids at their elite, prestigious college to come see what I see in an average week. They'll never have the nauseating audacity to call themselves "marginalized" again.
It's not liberal to try to address racist discrimination. Nor is separatism itself liberal. Liberalism, conservatism, what have you, are simply ways to address issues. If a student at any college is the victim of racism, having him or her sit down at your food pantry will do nothing to address the discrimination. It may (or may not) be that racism is less at the food pantry, and itself would be a respite for what they experience in their daily lives. No matter what privilege you have, whether riches or fame or the opportunity to attend Williams College, racism against you is a horrible thing to live with. This has nothing to do with being liberal and conservative. These approaches to governance have been contaminated in recent years. I disagreed with the separatist approach, which is a throw back, not progressive, and asked for an alternative approach to address the issue. Doing nothing is not an answer, and tours of food pantries does not sound like the most effective approach.
ReplyDeleteRus, you misunderstand me completely, again.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you misunderstood me completely --- again. And why are you talking to people like this, Jeff? It seems you don;t quite get the situation, nor my input.
DeleteIt would be something if that were the case, wow huh?, imagine that, that the people who are saying that they are being discriminated against on a daily basis are just making things up. More likely, however, they are not -- although do not let this send anyone out looking for fakers, yes they exist. Instead look fo the racists. If you are not white, and you go out, you encounter them daily. All us Euro-Americans play dumb and happy if we act like racism does not exist. So let's not start as if racism does not exist when we all know better. Let's start with the fact of rampant racism in this country, and go on from there. What can be done? How do we get beyond separatism? Do we arrest all racists, keep them off the streets so that the rest of us can live good lives? No -- just when a hate crime s committed, but then again jurors get to choose which criminals walk the streets. I already covered the idea of denial. So that's a No. Separatism is a No because it is a fail. Here we are, a population that is diverse and inclusive by our make-up and history, and there are people out there, lots of them, that want it to be neither.
ReplyDelete