Cancelling Dr. Seuss

[mahagonny]

Is there a way to stop idiotic things like sorting students into groups by skin color and the having different activities for each without doing it through legislation? I ask because, democrats, here is your wake up call: It is going to be stopped, because the American people do not want it. Perhaps after this November and the thorough shellacking coming your way the wheels will start turing in some of those thick skulls. However, you have set something in motion that has a life its own. So...the time is now. Any bright ideas? Ball's in your court.

[jimbogumbo]

I know we've discussed the UIC nightmare for Prof. Kilborn but this piece seems to me to be incredibly well done, with links to every important document/reference in the case: https://ericzorn.substack.com/p/the-ongoing-saga-at-uic-over-a-certain

[Parasaurolophus]

I was reading Fox in Socks to the hatchling the other day, but the gazpacho knocked at the door and took it away.

[Wahoo Redux]

I know we've discussed the UIC nightmare for Prof. Kilborn but this piece seems to me to be incredibly well done, with links to every important document/reference in the case: https://ericzorn.substack.com/p/the-ongoing-saga-at-uic-over-a-certain

I have been reading this during breaks from grading, and it is an amazing and outrageous story.

I think there have simply been too many big news stories lately and this must have been buried.  Then again, maybe we are just getting numb to these kind of scenarios (note: most posters have fled this thread).

My father was an ex-Army paratrooper turned attorney.  He had a lot to sat about attorneys.  How are these kids in Kilborn's class going to navigate the brutal legal jungle?

I am disappointed in the Netflix sitcom "The Chair."  It would be great to see a good academic satire,  but The Chair is, I dunno, cliched and predictable in some ways and actually kind of boring.  But the one narrative thread I kind of liked concerned the professor whose in-class comments about fascism are turned into a meme and taken out of context.  The students are insistent on being outraged no matter how hard the professor works to assuage them.  Seems accurate.

Well, colleges have allowed the hysteria to fester.

[marshwiggle]

I know we've discussed the UIC nightmare for Prof. Kilborn but this piece seems to me to be incredibly well done, with links to every important document/reference in the case: https://ericzorn.substack.com/p/the-ongoing-saga-at-uic-over-a-certain

I have been reading this during breaks from grading, and it is an amazing and outrageous story.

I think there have simply been too many big news stories lately and this must have been buried.  Then again, maybe we are just getting numb to these kind of scenarios (note: most posters have fled this thread).

My father was an ex-Army paratrooper turned attorney.  He had a lot to sat about attorneys.  How are these kids in Kilborn's class going to navigate the brutal legal jungle?

I am disappointed in the Netflix sitcom "The Chair."  It would be great to see a good academic satire,  but The Chair is, I dunno, cliched and predictable in some ways and actually kind of boring.  But the one narrative thread I kind of liked concerned the professor whose in-class comments about fascism are turned into a meme and taken out of context.  The students are insistent on being outraged no matter how hard the professor works to assuage them.  Seems accurate.

Well, colleges have allowed the hysteria to fester.

Allowed? Encouraged is probably more to the point. As more faculty define themselves as "activists", outrage is increasingly fashionable and expected.

[mahagonny]

I know we've discussed the UIC nightmare for Prof. Kilborn but this piece seems to me to be incredibly well done, with links to every important document/reference in the case: https://ericzorn.substack.com/p/the-ongoing-saga-at-uic-over-a-certain

I have been reading this during breaks from grading, and it is an amazing and outrageous story.

I think there have simply been too many big news stories lately and this must have been buried.  Then again, maybe we are just getting numb to these kind of scenarios (note: most posters have fled this thread).

My father was an ex-Army paratrooper turned attorney.  He had a lot to sat about attorneys.  How are these kids in Kilborn's class going to navigate the brutal legal jungle?

I am disappointed in the Netflix sitcom "The Chair."  It would be great to see a good academic satire,  but The Chair is, I dunno, cliched and predictable in some ways and actually kind of boring.  But the one narrative thread I kind of liked concerned the professor whose in-class comments about fascism are turned into a meme and taken out of context.  The students are insistent on being outraged no matter how hard the professor works to assuage them.  Seems accurate.

Well, colleges have allowed the hysteria to fester.

Allowed? Encouraged is probably more to the point. As more faculty define themselves as "activists", outrage is increasingly fashionable and expected.

If one believes that the recent letter from our college president is serious (and it certainly sounds like it is) then working for societal change is now required of each of us. The president now writes letters to the entire faculty jointly with the director of DIE (diversity inclusion equity). What that means specifically I don't know but you already can't get a grant without being, or pretending to be, a Lefty Koolaid guzzler. Perhaps after the November elections the democrats will get over their giddiness at having defeated Trump and there might be some effect. Right now, Black History Month, the admin is on social justice cloud nine. Or maybe a Civil War is coming. Who knows?

[Wahoo Redux]

IHE: Swiss / American law professor cluelessly lets rip a racial slur.

Dunno how bonebrained this guy is.  Video linked. 

But it is a perfect example of viral rage.

[Parasaurolophus]

Even if it's not a racial slur, it would be pretty weird and rude to call someone that in French or German or, I assume, Italian...

[smallcleanrat]

It is a weird way to call on a student even if you don't think you are using a racial slur. "You in the second row/blue shirt/with your hand up, I'm sorry, I don't recall your name." How hard is that?

This also seems like a fairly small 'viral' story. 140,000 views is a pretty small splash in the twitter bucket

The 'outrage' also seems relatively tame.

The letter from the student association emphasizes they are not pushing for the prof to be fired or suspended and that they acknowledge and appreciate his apology.

The tone of their objections essentially portrays the prof as someone who had no malicious intention, but should have known better (NOT as some rabid white supremacist who needs to be ridden out of town on a rail).

They do spend a good chunk of the letter explaining why the term is considered a slur and they are urging the university to consider making bias training mandatory instead of optional. So I'm sure there will still be people labeling the students oversensitive snowflakes with victim complexes.

Even so, is there no room to acknowledge degrees of severity when it comes to 'cancel culture?'

Applying the terms 'canceled' or 'outrage' too broadly just dilutes their meanings and makes nuanced discussion more difficult. Similar to the complaints people have for overuse of terms like 'racist' or 'sexist.'

[mahagonny]

It is a weird way to call on a student even if you don't think you are using a racial slur. "You in the second row/blue shirt/with your hand up, I'm sorry, I don't recall your name." How hard is that?

Of course. I would go farther than that. Why make assumptions about someone's race at all? Your race is no one's business but your own, if you choose to 'self-identify' racially. I don't. No one knows your race. You may not even know your own. A friend of mine who always assumed he was English/Irish/Dutch got a DNA test and found out he is also Eastern European and Jewish. For people who need to concern themselves with such urgent matters, Jews are a race, as Whoopi Goldberg has learned. But it's their business, not a topic for general discussion.
Another friend of mine, a former roommate, explained that his mother was 'white' and his father was 'black.' Roommate had dark skin while his biological brother had much lighter skin. Nobody knows your race.
Of course, if we don't have races, we don't have 'white' people who are ruining life for everyone else and need to rewire their brains so they can desist, by sometime yesterday. And this will infuriate the left, because they will be left with no mentionable ideas for how to accomplish anything.
OTOH, a teacher was recently raked over the coals for accidentally calling one 'Asian' student by the name of another. And that's ridiculous. An honest, benign error.
On social media some posters look at your photo and then decree based on your appearance ('white') which common English words are off limits for you.

[smallcleanrat]

It is a weird way to call on a student even if you don't think you are using a racial slur. "You in the second row/blue shirt/with your hand up, I'm sorry, I don't recall your name." How hard is that?

Of course. I would go farther than that. Why make assumptions about someone's race at all?
[...]

That's the point I was making. Referencing someone's race to address them was inappropriate even without using a slur. It was also completely unnecessary.

[mahagonny]

It is a weird way to call on a student even if you don't think you are using a racial slur. "You in the second row/blue shirt/with your hand up, I'm sorry, I don't recall your name." How hard is that?

Of course. I would go farther than that. Why make assumptions about someone's race at all?
[...]

That's the point I was making. Referencing someone's race to address them was inappropriate even without using a slur. It was also completely unnecessary.

Except 'Black' and other 'non-white' people are regularly encouraged by liberals of all shades to identify 'white' people by appearance and converse about any thing relevant to that in the realm of social interaction, what is rude and not rude for the so-identified individuals. And to this group of liberals the list of words, thoughts, behaviors that warrant scrutiny, by the self-appointed group, for 'white' people is growing daily. I believe they refer to this as 'calling out.'
'White' people are the only 'race' whose 'race' is an acceptable subject for general discussion, in their presence.

[smallcleanrat]

It is a weird way to call on a student even if you don't think you are using a racial slur. "You in the second row/blue shirt/with your hand up, I'm sorry, I don't recall your name." How hard is that?

Of course. I would go farther than that. Why make assumptions about someone's race at all?
[...]

That's the point I was making. Referencing someone's race to address them was inappropriate even without using a slur. It was also completely unnecessary.

Except 'Black' and other 'non-white' people are regularly encouraged by liberals of all shades to identify 'white' people by appearance and converse about any thing relevant to that in the realm of social interaction, what is rude and not rude for the so-identified individuals. And to this group of liberals the list of words, thoughts, behaviors that warrant scrutiny, by the self-appointed group, for 'white' people is growing daily. I believe they refer to this as 'calling out.'
'White' people are the only 'race' whose 'race' is an acceptable subject for general discussion, in their presence.

Which doesn't mean there is never anything to call out.

And recall there was discussion on this thread not too long ago about Whoopi Goldberg being 'called out' for her comments about the Holocaust. You don't have to be white to be called out for ignorant statements.

I'm willing to bet the prof would still have been criticized for calling a student "Mr. Chinaman" even if he hadn't been 'white.'

[mahagonny]

It is a weird way to call on a student even if you don't think you are using a racial slur. "You in the second row/blue shirt/with your hand up, I'm sorry, I don't recall your name." How hard is that?

Of course. I would go farther than that. Why make assumptions about someone's race at all?
[...]

That's the point I was making. Referencing someone's race to address them was inappropriate even without using a slur. It was also completely unnecessary.

Except 'Black' and other 'non-white' people are regularly encouraged by liberals of all shades to identify 'white' people by appearance and converse about any thing relevant to that in the realm of social interaction, what is rude and not rude for the so-identified individuals. And to this group of liberals the list of words, thoughts, behaviors that warrant scrutiny, by the self-appointed group, for 'white' people is growing daily. I believe they refer to this as 'calling out.'
'White' people are the only 'race' whose 'race' is an acceptable subject for general discussion, in their presence.

Which doesn't mean there is never anything to call out.

And recall there was discussion on this thread not too long ago about Whoopi Goldberg being 'called out' for her comments about the Holocaust. You don't have to be white to be called out for ignorant statements.

I'm willing to bet the prof would still have been criticized for calling a student "Mr. Chinaman" even if he hadn't been 'white.'

But where matters of 'race' are concerned, one group and that group alone, "white," is considered by the liberal establishment to be most often predisposed to racial aggression, hatred and desire to oppress any and all others. The left uses that supposition and the reluctance of people to stand up to the lie, to advance its self concept of superiority and its political agenda. Which is...racist.

[smallcleanrat]

This is why these threads get frustrating.

The details of the individual stories factor into the discussion so little.

Sometimes a person is slandered and maligned, and suffers for a wrong they never committed.

Sometimes a person actually says or does something worth criticizing, but receives a disproportionately vicious level of backlash and punishment.

Sometimes a person says or does something worth criticizing, people criticize them, and that's pretty much it.

Sometimes a person says or does something NOT worth criticizing, people get mad and criticize anyway, and that's pretty much it.

No matter. General comments in the spirit of 'the left is terrible' and 'nobody has it harder than white people.' tend to dominate and eclipse discussion of specifics.