Michigan legislative action thread
Posted on 04/08/2015 10:11:34 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The Center for Campus Involvement announced Tuesday afternoon they would cancel a planned showing of “American Sniper” at UMix following a student petition over the depiction of certain communities in the film.
In a statement posted on by Facebook CCI, which runs UMix, the organization said the choice was made in response to concerns raised by students about the film in the petition.
“Student reactions have clearly articulated that this is neither the venue nor the time to show this movie,” the statement read. “We deeply regret causing harm to members of our community, and appreciate the thoughtful feedback provided to us by students.”
LSA sophomore Lamees Mekkaoui started the petition Tuesday morning after discovering that UMix, a University program dedicated to providing students with alcohol-free events on Friday nights, would be showing the 2014 war drama “American Sniper” this Friday.
Mekkaoui, who is a a member of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality and the Middle Eastern and Arab Network on campus, said she found the choice of film disconcerting because of its depictions of the Iraq War and residents of the Middle Eastern and North African region.
The film, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Bradley Cooper, is based on the autobiography of Chris Kyle, a U.S. Navy Seal who served in Iraq and has the most confirmed kills as a sniper in U.S. military history.
“As a student who identifies as an Arab and Middle Eastern student, I feel that ‘American Sniper’ condones a lot of anti-Middle Eastern and North African propaganda,” Mekkaoui said.
She added that she felt the film was released at a time when negative attitudes toward Middle Eastern and Northern African groups were at a peak.
“It was released at a time when these anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and anti-Middle Eastern (and) North African hate crimes were already skyrocketing and this movie only contributed to that,” he said.
In response to the CCI’s announcement on Facebook Tuesday morning that it would screen the film during UMix, Mekkaoui sent CCI a personal letter of concern at 11 a.m.
After posting the letter on her Facebook page and receiving positive feedback, Mekkaoui then drafted a second letter expressing similar concerns to her personal letter that was circulated to various communities on campus.
Students had the opportunity to edit the content of the letter and sign it on a Google document before Mekkaoui sent the collective letter to CCI at 1:00 p.m. It garnered roughly 200 signatures from students in the Muslim Students Association as well as other students who didn’t self-identify with the Middle Eastern, North African or Muslim communities, but wanted to contribute their signatures in solidarity
In the final version of the letter, students voiced several concerns over the film’s portrayal of Arabs and the Middle East and North Africa regions.
“Although we respect the right to freedom of speech, we believe that with this right comes responsibility: responsibility of action, intention, and outcome,” the letter read. “The movie ‘American Sniper’ not only tolerates but promotes anti-Muslim and anti-MENA rhetoric and sympathizes with a mass killer.”
In their statement, CCI said while their intent was not to make certain communities uncomfortable, they understood the impact of the film and would take more time to screen for content in the future.
“We in the Center for Campus Involvement and the UMix Late Night program did not intend to exclude any students or communities on campus through showing this film,” they wrote. “Nevertheless, as we know, intent and impact can be very different things.”
Mekkaoui said she appreciated CCI’s quick response to student concerns.
“I just want to say thank you to the Center for Campus Involvement for listening to student feedback, and for taking quick action to make sure (that) once they found that they had done something that made students on campus feel uncomfortable, they took immediate action to change that,” she said.
Would she feel ‘uncomfortable’ if the ISIS butchers showed up in Ann Arbor?
The ‘responsibility’ canard has been worn threadbare by First Amendment abolitionists as they, conveniently, decide what is responsible.
And what communities are they referring to? Troy? Flint? Grosse Pointe Shores? Oh, they only mean Muslims - the same tribal savages up thei same old tricks today.
She always has the option of just NOT GOING TO SEE THE MOVIE.
She is a leftist, she wants to make sure others won’t see it.
You should see that movie. IMHO it’s one of Eastwood’s masterpieces. Warning: it’s VERY intense.
Censorship and thought control are what the left does well
"Ours, not yours."
Steven Crowder says he feels a video coming on.
It was good but in my opinion not as good as Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima" which told the story of the battle of Iwo Jima from the Japeneese perspective. I thought that was a true masterpiece and one of the best war movies ever made.
It has always been a tactic of liberals to first try to silence anyone with beliefs differerent from theirs. If that fails, the next step is complete destruction of non liberals by every means possible.
This viciousness never changes.
” story of the battle of Iwo Jima from the Japeneese perspective”
I don´t know what is so interesting about the “other perspective”. If you attack America you deserve to die, that´s the only persective that interests me. Feeling for the enemy doesn´t make much sense to me, but that´s just my opinion. The Japanese were sneaky cowards who killled a lot of innocent people and tortured a whole lot more. Should I feel sorry for the Nazis too? Or the North Koreans?
Again, just my opinion, but Mr. Eastwood shouldn´t be trying to make the enemy the victim, it is like spitting on the graves of the men who they tortured and murdered.
UMIX to screen the film “ZULU” instead.
It wasn't "another perspective" other than the perspective of a group of soldiers being told to defend an island to the last man vs. a group of soldiers being told to attack and capture an island. The movie wasn't moralizing about the ethics or position of the Japs in general, it just showed the battle through the eyes of those trying to defend and hold it. And it was brilliantly done.
Just one more reason that I refuse to patronize any Muslim owned business establishment. If Christians and Jews in the US would not buy goods or services from these businesses, then it would have a major impact on their ability to make a living in the US, and hopefully, they would return to their countries of origin.
Bunch of damn Communists.
Wimps.
Looks like the Savior of Michigan Football, Jim Harbaughm has his head on straight: https://twitter.com/CoachJim4UM/status/585980002648199168
Oops, of course I know how to spell Harbaugh. To make up for misspelling here’s another great Harbaugh tweet: https://twitter.com/CoachJim4UM/status/584076335817056257
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