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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: mahagonny on December 18, 2020, 05:49:39 PM

Title: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on December 18, 2020, 05:49:39 PM
We can start a tally. This one's about a company, the Berlin Ballet, that was performing Swan Lake. The dancers would wear white paint, which would make them look a little bit like swans.
"One of the company's ballet mistresses told the company's one black dancer, ChloƩ Lopes Gomes, to use the paint as well. Gomes says she told the ballet mistress, "I'll never look white," to which the mistress responded: "well, you will have to put on more than the other girls." And you know what happened next.

Here's the link to the apology... https://www.staatsballett-berlin.de/en/statement
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: dismalist on December 18, 2020, 05:54:08 PM
Kunst.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: aside on December 18, 2020, 08:49:54 PM
But there are black swans ...
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: apl68 on December 19, 2020, 06:20:21 AM
Mahagonny, I know you're annoyed at stories of political correctness run amok.  It is a real problem sometimes.  But do you not see that in trawling the internet for stories that make you mad, and posting them here to let everybody know how mad you are and try to make them mad, you're engaging in the same sort of identity politics and politics of resentment that produces the sorts of stuff you're complaining about?  In other words, you're letting yourself become part of the problem.

It's not healthy.  Either for you, or for the Fora.  Do yourself a favor and stop spending so much of your time stoking your own anger and resentment.  Maybe you can't avoid complaining sometimes, but you're clearly making it a major part of your life.  That's not doing you or anybody else any favors.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on December 19, 2020, 11:10:21 AM
Quote from: apl68 on December 19, 2020, 06:20:21 AM
Mahagonny, I know you're annoyed at stories of political correctness run amok.  It is a real problem sometimes.  But do you not see that in trawling the internet for stories that make you mad, and posting them here to let everybody know how mad you are and try to make them mad, you're engaging in the same sort of identity politics and politics of resentment that produces the sorts of stuff you're complaining about?  In other words, you're letting yourself become part of the problem.

It's not healthy.  Either for you, or for the Fora.  Do yourself a favor and stop spending so much of your time stoking your own anger and resentment.  Maybe you can't avoid complaining sometimes, but you're clearly making it a major part of your life.  That's not doing you or anybody else any favors.

I had to look up 'trawling.' Thanks for the new word.
Part of my routine is a quick look at 'RealClearPolitics' every morning. If I keep looking for the problem (your term), not even very hard, for this kind of story, and finding them, it's because it's common and growing. I think that's news.
I have no idea whether posting on this subject will convince people on the forum or not. I consider certain well regarded faculty in higher education complicit in the wave of 'political correctness gone amok.'

I do resent certain people seeing race and racism everywhere, in almost every human interaction, and then prescribing remedies for everyone based on what they think is their constructive habit of keen attention, or having written some book that sensationalizes and distorts situations. The worst of them are real idiots, and nicest thing you can say is they waste our time. Thank you for understanding perfectly.
The original forum used to have a 'Police Brutality' thread, a "Horse's Ass Thread' and a 'Name Your Favorite Adulterous Politician Thread.' Were these unhealthy dumping grounds for resentment?
Or do people voluntarily in the arena of politics, publishing, acting, public payroll etc. offer their work for comment?

on edit: of course there is always the possibility that people enjoy giving the groveling apologies. In some cases they appear to. I don't think that would prove they aren't getting brainwashed though. What do you forumites think? I am honestly interested.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: Hegemony on December 20, 2020, 01:30:12 AM
I think that apl68 is right, and that what you enjoy, mahagonny, is getting worked up with righteous anger and a sense of superiority over the perceived stupidities of others in certain subjects. I've known several people of this nature, and they generally greatly enjoy displaying their outrage and feeling superior to those who do not spend their time trawling (excellent addition to your vocabulary) the world for new details to be outraged about. And these people also enjoy the adrenaline rush of starting a fight.  They also often think that conflict is more "real" and authentic and worthy than agreement or even peaceableness. But all of it is certainly tiring to bystanders. The mono-focus is tiring, like being around someone who can't stop talking about bus tickets or Ulysses S. Grant or how their fourth-grade teacher was unfair to them. And being around someone who relishes being angry is tiring. It's not a give-and-take kind of discussion; again it's a mono-focus, of which the intent is always to come back to the same conclusion.

Don't we all have that one relative whose stories always have the same theme? "The [political party of choice] are idiots and here is their latest idiocy." "I tried to help but once again I was undervalued." "My son is better than everyone else's child," or conversely "My son shows he does not appreciate me as I deserve to be appreciated." "I am right yet again but nobody gives me credit for it." The same theme, whatever the context, again and again. The challenge is not to be that relative.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mamselle on December 20, 2020, 05:43:19 AM
I agree with both Hegemony and apl68.

Further, your outrage is here based on narrowly filtered reportage on a topic like this, leaving you in the decidedly odd situation of sputtering over things you clearly know nothing about.

Having myself reviewed dance in print, this is not a new problem, and it's been a scourge to all dancers, not to have the best people in the company, and have them treated politely and fairly, because of blinkered prejudicial nonsense.

It's good to see it's being aired and adjudicated with more fairness now.

I wrote about it in the 1990s and observed that although,--in the company I most often covered--highly competent Black, Asian,, and Mediterranean individuals had been hired, until they were made soloists, and not left in the back line of the corps, the message was the same

Even having Black or Asian dancers in US and European companies at all has taken two centuries. Letting them have parts in major ballets in which they were not there simply to perform their race, as in "Othello," say, is very recent.

Why do you think Ailey and HDT came into being? The color line in dance was said to have been broken with Native American Maria Tallchief, in the 40s/50s/60s, at NYCBT, but very few dancers of color were hired there or elsewhere since...unless "something exotic" were wanted, in, say, "Coffee" for the Nutcracker's second act.

Dancers of color have been made to wear pink tights to erase their "blackness, " or "oliveness," for S. American and Mediterranean artists, thus creating the even odder sight of light legs, darker arms and face...just to satisfy a racist aesthetic that all dancers should represent a caucasian population when one look at the streets of any large city gives the lie to that attitude as representational of the human population.

It's actually not common for swans to use excessive amounts of Clown White in their makeup base across the board--but saying it is shows the article's bias further: by creating a false context of expectation, the black dancer is made to look more unreasonable.

I was glad to see that Geoffrey Rhue has continued in the performing arts, that Misty Copeland is doing well, that Stephanie Moy's achievements were finally recognized--but they each went through a lot.

Do your research and stop getting tanked on your own adrenalin.

M.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: marshwiggle on December 20, 2020, 06:38:32 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on December 19, 2020, 11:10:21 AM
I do resent certain people seeing race and racism everywhere, in almost every human interaction, and then prescribing remedies for everyone based on what they think is their constructive habit of keen attention, or having written some book that sensationalizes and distorts situations. The worst of them are real idiots, and nicest thing you can say is they waste our time.

Here are three ways you adjunct union arguments are exactly like the woke arguments about racism:

It's impossible to counter the wokeness zealots while employing the tactics they use, since that legitimizes the whole approach.

Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on December 20, 2020, 07:08:09 AM
So you concede my point, marshy, the trend of publicly shaming someone for some trumped-up charge, offense against the feelings and dignity of a minority, is over the top, not legitimate, by comparing it to something else you believe is not legitimate.  As in your view both rely on treating contested interpretations about our reality as though they were accepted ones.
Others: one is left to wonder  that part of what you convey is your displeasure at having it pointed out that academia is complicit in the political correctness gone amok, and in some instances, in the forefront of its promotion. If one believes that, as I do, and also refers to evidence, this should be a place to express it. I could go to a conservative forum like the old intellectualconservative.com, or similar, but it would be an echo chamber, just like here. Preaching to the choir. However they were not wrong about everything.
People can talk to you in ways you are not especially enjoying, and you can ask them to stop it, but they won't stop talking about you. Wouldn't you rather know what's being said? Wouldn't you rather have a chance to say 'we may not be friends on the forum, but you do make a point. And there's no harm in knowing more, not less about this phenomenon by having a thread that collects these news items.' 
I'm trying to help. Democrats are the ones who keep thinking they're going to get control of the federal government, then don't and can't figure out why voters aren't with them. I did not vote for DJT. IF I were a single issue voter, I would have, because he has the same outrage over political correctness frenzy. I refrained from voting for him for some of the same reasons you couldn't.
Alternatively we could agree to post links to the news and refrain from commenting.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: marshwiggle on December 20, 2020, 11:09:25 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on December 20, 2020, 07:08:09 AM
So you concede my point, marshy, the trend of publicly shaming someone for some trumped-up charge, offense against the feelings and dignity of a minority, is over the top, not legitimate, by comparing it to something else you believe is not legitimate.  As in your view both rely on treating contested interpretations about our reality as though they were accepted ones.
Others: one is left to wonder  that part of what you convey is your displeasure at having it pointed out that academia is complicit in the political correctness gone amok, and in some instances, in the forefront of its promotion. If one believes that, as I do, and also refers to evidence, this should be a place to express it. I could go to a conservative forum like the old intellectualconservative.com, or similar, but it would be an echo chamber, just like here. Preaching to the choir. However they were not wrong about everything.


I'm not actually dictating what topics are ought to be open for discussion; if anything, I'm in favour of people raising whatever topics they like.  And it's good that it isn't an echo chamber where everyone thinks the same (on any topic). What I wanted to note was the way you argue when adjunct issues come up seems pretty similar to the way the woke brigade argue when other issues come up. I think that approach is no more effective for one issue than the other.


Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on December 20, 2020, 07:09:22 PM
Quote from: dismalist on December 18, 2020, 05:54:08 PM
Kunst.

Quote from: mamselle on December 20, 2020, 05:43:19 AM
I agree with both Hegemony and apl68.

Further, your outrage is here based on narrowly filtered reportage on a topic like this, leaving you in the decidedly odd situation of sputtering over things you clearly know nothing about.

Having myself reviewed dance in print, this is not a new problem, and it's been a scourge to all dancers, not to have the best people in the company, and have them treated politely and fairly, because of blinkered prejudicial nonsense.

It's good to see it's being aired and adjudicated with more fairness now.

I wrote about it in the 1990s and observed that although,--in the company I most often covered--highly competent Black, Asian,, and Mediterranean individuals had been hired, until they were made soloists, and not left in the back line of the corps, the message was the same

Even having Black or Asian dancers in US and European companies at all has taken two centuries. Letting them have parts in major ballets in which they were not there simply to perform their race, as in "Othello," say, is very recent.

Why do you think Ailey and HDT came into being? The color line in dance was said to have been broken with Native American Maria Tallchief, in the 40s/50s/60s, at NYCBT, but very few dancers of color were hired there or elsewhere since...unless "something exotic" were wanted, in, say, "Coffee" for the Nutcracker's second act.

Dancers of color have been made to wear pink tights to erase their "blackness, " or "oliveness," for S. American and Mediterranean artists, thus creating the even odder sight of light legs, darker arms and face...just to satisfy a racist aesthetic that all dancers should represent a caucasian population when one look at the streets of any large city gives the lie to that attitude as representational of the human population.

It's actually not common for swans to use excessive amounts of Clown White in their makeup base across the board--but saying it is shows the article's bias further: by creating a false context of expectation, the black dancer is made to look more unreasonable.

I was glad to see that Geoffrey Rhue has continued in the performing arts, that Misty Copeland is doing well, that Stephanie Moy's achievements were finally recognized--but they each went through a lot.

Do your research and stop getting tanked on your own adrenalin.

M.

I've been involved with theatre before. What I recall, each time, was there's a director for the production who's hired to interpret the work with clear specific choices. If he says 'male lead, you'll be wearing a black suit' the male lead doesn't show up the next day with a blue suit and say, 'hey this goes better with my blond hair and anyway I saw someone do it this way in Philadelphia and the critics loved it.'  He takes direction, or finds another gig, or he's not a professional.

Quote from: dismalist on December 18, 2020, 05:54:08 PM
Kunst.

Yes.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mamselle on December 20, 2020, 09:06:19 PM
QuoteI've been involved with theatre before. What I recall, each time, was there's a director for the production who's hired to interpret the work with clear specific choices. If he says 'male lead, you'll be wearing a black suit' the male lead doesn't show up the next day with a blue suit and say, 'hey this goes better with my blond hair and anyway I saw someone do it this way in Philadelphia and the critics loved it.'  He takes direction, or finds another gig, or he's not a professional.

Well, first, those decisions are more often made by the director in concert with the set designer and the costumier--in other words, the design team--and actors of some status usually do have a fair amount of input into what they wear, or they can, if they a) wish; b) insist; c) have it written into their contracts; d) have an agent who has worked it out in advance.

Second, wearing a blue or black suit is one of a range of options for clothing overall. You can take it off or put it on, you know?

Being born with an orange-y pink, or brown, or bronze, or lemony skin is not something you can take off or put on, and it's often the basis for a wide range of discriminatory practices and prejudicial decisions about your person, what happens to you, what your intentions are, and how honest you can be assumed to be.

It's also a product of your heritage--it's your birthright, something to be proud of, or at least grateful for--and it's an intrinsic part of your identity.

Being told to cover it over with another skin tone, solely for the purpose of rendering you agreeable to others' prejudices, is one of the worst ways to insult a person that there is.

The case of the dancer is not merely about "design choice."

It's embedded in the soul.

You don't get to argue that, so stop trying.

M.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on December 21, 2020, 08:41:20 PM
Quote from: mamselle on December 20, 2020, 09:06:19 PM
QuoteI've been involved with theatre before. What I recall, each time, was there's a director for the production who's hired to interpret the work with clear specific choices. If he says 'male lead, you'll be wearing a black suit' the male lead doesn't show up the next day with a blue suit and say, 'hey this goes better with my blond hair and anyway I saw someone do it this way in Philadelphia and the critics loved it.'  He takes direction, or finds another gig, or he's not a professional.

Well, first, those decisions are more often made by the director in concert with the set designer and the costumier--in other words, the design team--and actors of some status usually do have a fair amount of input into what they wear, or they can, if they a) wish; b) insist; c) have it written into their contracts; d) have an agent who has worked it out in advance.

Second, wearing a blue or black suit is one of a range of options for clothing overall. You can take it off or put it on, you know?

Being born with an orange-y pink, or brown, or bronze, or lemony skin is not something you can take off or put on, and it's often the basis for a wide range of discriminatory practices and prejudicial decisions about your person, what happens to you, what your intentions are, and how honest you can be assumed to be.

It's also a product of your heritage--it's your birthright, something to be proud of, or at least grateful for--and it's an intrinsic part of your identity.

Being told to cover it over with another skin tone, solely for the purpose of rendering you agreeable to others' prejudices, is one of the worst ways to insult a person that there is.

The case of the dancer is not merely about "design choice."

It's embedded in the soul.

You don't get to argue that, so stop trying.

M.

I don't get the logic here. There's no implied message that there's something wrong with not looking like a white person. The white dancers had to wear paint. The deal is, you're supposed to look something like a swan. It's a pretty straightforward situation. It's abstract art and it deals with visuals. Nothing to do with race nor with any concept of 'what the right kind of people look like.' That's also why none of the ballerinas are six feet two inches or four feet eleven inches.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: apl68 on December 22, 2020, 07:36:40 AM
The human body is the focus of dance.  In today's environment, human bodies and assorted issues surrounding them have become extremely fraught.  In that sort of climate, I would think that a dance troop would face a complete no-win situation when it came to avoiding controversy.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mamselle on December 22, 2020, 08:21:29 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on December 21, 2020, 08:41:20 PM
Quote from: mamselle on December 20, 2020, 09:06:19 PM
QuoteI've been involved with theatre before. What I recall, each time, was there's a director for the production who's hired to interpret the work with clear specific choices. If he says 'male lead, you'll be wearing a black suit' the male lead doesn't show up the next day with a blue suit and say, 'hey this goes better with my blond hair and anyway I saw someone do it this way in Philadelphia and the critics loved it.'  He takes direction, or finds another gig, or he's not a professional.

Well, first, those decisions are more often made by the director in concert with the set designer and the costumier--in other words, the design team--and actors of some status usually do have a fair amount of input into what they wear, or they can, if they a) wish; b) insist; c) have it written into their contracts; d) have an agent who has worked it out in advance.

Second, wearing a blue or black suit is one of a range of options for clothing overall. You can take it off or put it on, you know?

Being born with an orange-y pink, or brown, or bronze, or lemony skin is not something you can take off or put on, and it's often the basis for a wide range of discriminatory practices and prejudicial decisions about your person, what happens to you, what your intentions are, and how honest you can be assumed to be.

It's also a product of your heritage--it's your birthright, something to be proud of, or at least grateful for--and it's an intrinsic part of your identity.

Being told to cover it over with another skin tone, solely for the purpose of rendering you agreeable to others' prejudices, is one of the worst ways to insult a person that there is.

The case of the dancer is not merely about "design choice."

It's embedded in the soul.

You don't get to argue that, so stop trying.

M.

I don't get the logic here. There's no implied message that there's something wrong with not looking like a white person. The white dancers had to wear paint. The deal is, you're supposed to look something like a swan. It's a pretty straightforward situation. It's abstract art and it deals with visuals. Nothing to do with race nor with any concept of 'what the right kind of people look like.' That's also why none of the ballerinas are six feet two inches or four feet eleven inches.

Laura Young.

Roseanne Riding.

Susanne Farrell.

Carla Stalling.

Judith Jameson.

Extremes of height may in some cases affect a partnering decision, but that is rarely based on optics; instead it is based on the physical capacity of the male dancer to lift someone of a particular height in relation to their own.

In other words, how big he is.

M.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on December 22, 2020, 03:58:25 PM
Quote from: apl68 on December 22, 2020, 07:36:40 AM
The human body is the focus of dance.  In today's environment, human bodies and assorted issues surrounding them have become extremely fraught.  In that sort of climate, I would think that a dance troop would face a complete no-win situation when it came to avoiding controversy.

It's not healthy to notice that.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: larryc on December 23, 2020, 02:52:10 PM
Quote from: mahagonny on December 19, 2020, 11:10:21 AM
I used a grievance aggregator to save time.

Splendid. Much healthier.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on December 23, 2020, 03:11:12 PM
Quote from: larryc on December 23, 2020, 02:52:10 PM
Quote from: mahagonny on December 19, 2020, 11:10:21 AM
I used a grievance aggregator to save time.

Splendid. Much healthier.

I didn't write that. Don't even know what an aggregator is. Fora malfunction?
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: larryc on December 27, 2020, 01:13:53 AM
Quote from: mahagonny on December 23, 2020, 03:11:12 PM
I am addicted to getting angry over ginned-up nonsense.

I just don't see the appeal.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on December 27, 2020, 05:39:15 PM
Quote from: larryc on December 27, 2020, 01:13:53 AM

I am one crafty bastard.

You don't say!
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: larryc on December 28, 2020, 09:12:54 PM
Quote from: mahagonny on December 27, 2020, 05:39:15 PM
Quote from: larryc on December 27, 2020, 01:13:53 AM

I am one crafty bastard.

You don't say!

There you go! Happy Holidays.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on December 29, 2020, 08:35:48 AM
Happy Holidays Professor C.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: Diogenes on December 29, 2020, 09:03:20 AM
I follow a great facebook group called "Conservatives getting angry over things they made up themselves." I find it fitting here.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on December 29, 2020, 09:58:19 AM
Quote from: apl68 on December 22, 2020, 07:36:40 AM
The human body is the focus of dance.  In today's environment, human bodies and assorted issues surrounding them have become extremely fraught.  In that sort of climate, I would think that a dance troop would face a complete no-win situation when it came to avoiding controversy.

This is not something someone made up. It's real and people will have additional stress in their job of presenting art, some will be angry, innocent bystanders such as dancers who are hoping for continued employment may be affected while others may not be as angry and just figure the wokelings and the 'antiracists' are begging for ridicule or to be ignored whenever possible.  Of course some people may find giving the apology is no big deal and if that's the case that's their affair as far as I'm concerned. But even that wouldn't mean there aren't more problems coming that, just maybe, could be the work of liberals getting angry about things they have made up.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: marshwiggle on December 29, 2020, 04:03:10 PM
Quote from: Diogenes on December 29, 2020, 09:03:20 AM
I follow a great facebook group called "Conservatives getting angry over things they made up themselves." I find it fitting here.

Would this be like people on the left getting angry over other people not using the pronouns that they made up themselves?
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on December 30, 2020, 05:26:11 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on December 29, 2020, 04:03:10 PM
Quote from: Diogenes on December 29, 2020, 09:03:20 AM
I follow a great facebook group called "Conservatives getting angry over things they made up themselves." I find it fitting here.

Would this be like people on the left getting angry over other people not using the pronouns that they made up themselves?

And reinventing rules of spelling with no one's permission. The letter 'x' is not a vowel. (Womxn, Latinx)
I see less of people getting angry over these attempts to mainstream terms like you describe. More often it seems to be an intentional social splintering that seems to be enjoyed. At the same time, the glaring insult to any white person named Karen is, I have to assume, considered a manageable cost for the outcome of treating everyone with respect. (!)
It's ironic -- a colleague at work is a Black woman named Karen with whom I have pleasant conversations from time to time, while maybe not yet a close friend. Wonder what she thinks of it.
This should be obvious: not all Black Americans are enthusiastic about campus wide antiracism incentives on steroids. Some feel that they and their neighbors are doing OK and don't need it. Just as the term 'Latinx' often gets a lukewarm reception among the people to whom it refers.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: Diogenes on December 30, 2020, 09:52:01 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on December 29, 2020, 04:03:10 PM
Quote from: Diogenes on December 29, 2020, 09:03:20 AM
I follow a great facebook group called "Conservatives getting angry over things they made up themselves." I find it fitting here.

Would this be like people on the left getting angry over other people not using the pronouns that they made up themselves?

If you are mad about those made-up words, wait until I tell you about all other words!
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: marshwiggle on December 30, 2020, 09:56:52 AM
Quote from: Diogenes on December 30, 2020, 09:52:01 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on December 29, 2020, 04:03:10 PM
Quote from: Diogenes on December 29, 2020, 09:03:20 AM
I follow a great facebook group called "Conservatives getting angry over things they made up themselves." I find it fitting here.

Would this be like people on the left getting angry over other people not using the pronouns that they made up themselves?

If you are mad about those made-up words, wait until I tell you about all other words!

It's the people who made up the words, and their "allies", who are mad about other people not using them.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: Descartes on January 02, 2021, 12:53:31 PM
We had an entire thread over at the last fora for people to post "police brutality," in quotes because half of what got posted wasn't brutality by anyone's definition ("Man is detained and ID'd returning home after buying tacos when he was mistaken for a criminal suspect" type stories.)

Everyone then commented and generally got themselves and others worked up over stories that may or may not have been current, didn't involve them or anyone they knew personally, and often appeared to leave gaping holes with regards to details.

That was one of the more popular threads over there, going for years and years.

Now you're telling Mahogany he can't have his fun?
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mamselle on January 04, 2021, 03:32:43 AM
The issue, which several here want to put their hands over their ears and sing "la-la-la" about, is that this:

Quote("Man is detained and ID'd returning home after buying tacos when he was mistaken for a criminal suspect" type stories.)

is so much more statistically , factually, nationally likely to happen to a male person of color than any other category.

And it's those stats that lead to the next batch, which ARE brutal, lethal, and ignonimous.

It's not just the appearance of a slippery slope: the fire hydrants of the country are hosing down the clay and giving the victims a shove over the cliff.

M.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: marshwiggle on January 04, 2021, 05:33:51 AM
Quote from: mamselle on January 04, 2021, 03:32:43 AM
The issue, which several here want to put their hands over their ears and sing "la-la-la" about, is that this:

Quote("Man is detained and ID'd returning home after buying tacos when he was mistaken for a criminal suspect" type stories.)

is so much more statistically , factually, nationally likely to happen to a male person of color than any other category.



By the same logic, it is probably the case that when a police officer is killed, it is more likely that the officer is white. So if the killer is not, is that conclusive evidence that the killing was racially motivated?
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: Diogenes on January 04, 2021, 07:31:13 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on January 04, 2021, 05:33:51 AM


By the same logic, it is probably the case that when a police officer is killed, it is more likely that the officer is white. So if the killer is not, is that conclusive evidence that the killing was racially motivated?

Nope, because you have to compare the proportions of each group. It's not a coin toss where every outcome is equal. If 80% of police are white, you should expect 80% of the deaths to be white officers. If the actual number significantly diverges from that without any other reasonable hidden variable playing a role (geographic location or something), then something is likely afoot.

You can see from this site that while white people are killed by police, white people are disproportionately underrepresented, especially when it comes to unarmed victims. https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/

This is first day statistics 101 stuff.

Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: marshwiggle on January 04, 2021, 07:41:09 AM
Quote from: Diogenes on January 04, 2021, 07:31:13 AM
Quote from: marshwiggle on January 04, 2021, 05:33:51 AM


By the same logic, it is probably the case that when a police officer is killed, it is more likely that the officer is white. So if the killer is not, is that conclusive evidence that the killing was racially motivated?

Nope, because you have to compare the proportions of each group. It's not a coin toss where every outcome is equal. If 80% of police are white, you should expect 80% of the deaths to be white officers. If the actual number significantly diverges from that without any other reasonable hidden variable playing a role (geographic location or something), then something is likely afoot.


If black people make up 13% of the population, then if more than 13% of white officer deaths are caused by black people, does that indicate racial motivation?
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: Descartes on January 04, 2021, 02:10:44 PM
What matters to me is that when you drill down, most of these shootings are actually legally and morally justified.  Most of the rioting is and was based on lies.  Ferguson, and the ensuing violence was based on a lie - and that came out after black witnesses from the neighborhood testified to the grand jury that Michael Brown never had his hands up, never said "don't shoot," and was continuing to act as the aggressor against the police officer.  Never mind the activists hyperbolic language about "extrajudicial execution," which even in the worst of the NON-justified killings I have never seen.

Someone on here (*well, the old fora) once said "Well you CAN'T 'drill down,' because ... uhh ... you know, statistics and what matters is the BIG picture that more blacks are killed." 

What if more blacks are killed justifiably? 

There are also police interactions with millions of blacks and whites everyday that don't end in any force being used.

The whole thing is and was alarmist fiction.


Now ... let me look for some "woke gone wild" stories to share, which, you know, also aren't an epidemic but are fun to laugh about.

Add all of that to the fact that
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on January 10, 2021, 08:16:43 PM
https://www.paulickreport.com/news/the-biz/toxic-words-and-divisive-behavior-trainer-guillot-banned-by-nyra-1-st-racing-racetracks/

Career is over. Not that I care about his career that much. He's perfectly set for life. But Ken Rudolph is a jerk.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: Descartes on January 15, 2021, 10:42:07 AM
A relative just sent me a screenshot of the syllabus for a COMMUNICATION course she is taking at a major midwestern university.

Are you ready for what kind of COMMUNICATION topics they will be covering?

"Naturalizing sex roles"

"Policing bodies, sexuality, bathrooms, and queer intimacy."

"Slut shaming, slut walks, and walks of shame."



Listen, I'm not arguing that these aren't things to ever study.  These topics seem like they would be right at home in some upper level sociology courses (or a graduate students' research agenda);  but have we apparently gotten to the point that leftist hot button topics must permeate every subject?
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on January 16, 2021, 11:35:03 AM
Quote from: Descartes on January 15, 2021, 10:42:07 AM
A relative just sent me a screenshot of the syllabus for a COMMUNICATION course she is taking at a major midwestern university.

Are you ready for what kind of COMMUNICATION topics they will be covering?

"Naturalizing sex roles"

"Policing bodies, sexuality, bathrooms, and queer intimacy."

"Slut shaming, slut walks, and walks of shame."



Listen, I'm not arguing that these aren't things to ever study.  These topics seem like they would be right at home in some upper level sociology courses (or a graduate students' research agenda);  but have we apparently gotten to the point that leftist hot button topics must permeate every subject?

That is ridiculous. A friend of Little Mahagonny Jr. graduated with a degree in communications and she is impressively equipped, i.e. well spoken, competent, methodical, knows how she is perceived in conversation. I doubt she studied at the place you mentioned.
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on February 26, 2021, 05:24:45 AM
Latest casualty in the campaign to alleviate whiteness....https://nypost.com/2021/02/25/toxic-wokeness-taints-a-campus-and-causes-liberal-staffer-to-resign/
Title: Re: Groveling Apology to the Gods of Wokeness Thread
Post by: mahagonny on March 12, 2021, 03:30:37 PM
Since I can't start any new threads on the fora without an objection from somewhere, I'll just put it here. Here's one where there's been an apology, but that's not enough. It seem that Sandra Sellers was lamenting the fact, or impression, that the black students in her class were the lowest performing. Which should be taken as a sign of mere exasperation that one's teaching hasn't been more effective in helping students to excel. An absolutely common sentiment among educators.
Let the stoning begin:
https://meaww.com/sandra-sellers-georgetown-law-professor-racist-comments-black-students-plain-bottom

But then, Rod Dreher, who dares to ask 'why?'

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/sellers-racism-georgetown-law-doesnt-care-about-the-truth/

In any case, what I've heard about attorneys who work as adjunct professors is they never need the money. It's mostly just a way to keep an affiliation that looks good on one's resume. So, if it's not helping you look good, resign. Which she did. And if apologizing makes you look better, then do that also. Because using the affiliation for positive publicity is the whole idea, isn't it?
Is she truly sorry? I doubt it. I think she's too intelligent for that.
Maybe we'll reach a point where colleges can no longer get the services of good quality professionals as part time teachers, for a pittance, that they never deserved in the first place. Wouldn't that be a shame.

on edit: and if anyone thinks they're not coming for you because you've got tenure...good luck. You may need it. Ultimately it may not depend on what protections you have as much as who's gunning for you and who's willing to be silent.