Posted on 11/13/2017 1:07:12 PM PST by simpson96
At Reed College, a small liberal-arts school in Portland, Oregon, a 39-year-old Saturday Night Live skit recently caused an uproar over cultural appropriation. In the classic Steve Martin skit, he performs a goofy song, “King Tut,” meant to satirize a Tutankhamun exhibit touring the U.S. and to criticize the commercialization of Egyptian culture. You could say that his critique is weak; that his humor is lame; that his dance moves are unintentionally offensive or downright racist. All of that, and more, was debated in a humanities course at Reed.
But many students found the video so egregious that they opposed its very presence in class. “That’s like somebody … making a song just littered with the n-word everywhere,” a member of Reedies Against Racism (RAR) told the student newspaper when asked about Martin’s performance. She told me more: The Egyptian garb of the backup dancers and singers—many of whom are African American—“is racist as well. The gold face of the saxophone dancer leaving its tomb is an exhibition of blackface.”(snip)
A Hum protest is visually striking: Up to several dozen RAR supporters position themselves alongside the professor and quietly hold signs reading “We demand space for students of color,” “We cannot be erased,” “F*** Hum 110,” “Stop silencing black and brown voices; the rest of society is already standing on their necks,” and so on. The signs are often accompanied by photos of black Americans killed by police.
One of the first Hum professors to request that RAR not occupy the classroom was Lucía Martínez Valdivia, who said her preexisting PTSD would make it difficult to face protesters. In an open letter, RAR offered sympathy to Martínez Valdivia but then accused her of being anti-black, discriminating against those with disabilities, and engaging in gaslighting—without specifying those charges.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
All the kids who want to learn, have to put up with distracting behavior such as this in their faces through the entire class, while the teacher tries to teach.
I pity today's 'normal' college students.
I would have hated my college experience if stuff like what is in this article was everywhere, every day.
Born in Babylona, moved to Arizona, Funky Tut.
Me too...but I don't think these punks would have gotten away with this kind of crap in my day.
Wow, Hillsdale is looking better every day.
Steve Martin - King Tut video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYbavuReVF4
“That’s like somebody … making a song just littered with the n-word everywhere,” a member of Reedies Against Racism (RAR)...”
So are they protesting the course entitled RAP 101 “The History and Etymology of Rap Music and the Cultural Icons of an Era”
I always thought that Goddard College in Vermont was the MOST liberal.
I used to laugh at Steve Martin, but it was in a "laugh at the class clown" kind of way - laughing at his behavior, not so much at his jokes.
Born in Arizona, moved to Baylona
Got a condo made of stone-a ...
i did not know i was such a racist... i thought that was funny.
Wouldn’t you like to just drag this self-righteous rabble out by their collars and slap some manners into them?
They are such wastes of flesh. Really.
I love living in our cottage on 32 acres surrounded by trees in Kentucky.
You people live in a really scary movie. No wonder all the zombie stuff. Art imitates life. ;-)
I think I’ll watch Idiocracy again tonight.
One of my favorite lines from the song: “He’s my favorite honky.”
Now when I die, now don’t think I’m a nut... don’t want no fancy funeral, just one like ol’ King Tut.
Next week’s movie for classroom comments: Blazing Saddles.
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