Posted on 02/11/2007 4:59:55 AM PST by Nextrush
Last week I focused on how high school students are being radicalized against "hate" and in favor of "diversity."
This radicalism ends up on college campuses like the one I attended nearly 30 years ago.
Angry students, often led by the African Studies Department, would allege racism. People, who would have done well wearing brownshirts in Germany around 1930, would harangue about injustices, real or in most cases, very much imagined.
I remember my "Religion and Politics" class being invaded by African Studies students in who were supposedly opposing the insult of Egyptians (an African people by the way) by a Jewish student in the class. Of course, these folks were anti-Semetic, but of course when "racism" is the charge, nothing else is supposed to matter.
And then there is the African Studies student who ran into the campus radio station on March 30th, 1981 when Ronald Reagan was shot. He said: "Yeah, they got him."
That was then, this is now.
On Friday (February 9th) a dozen students did a sit in at Penn State University to protest discrimination at the university. They were led by Speak Out, a gay and lesbian group. Among their demands, more university money for their organization and others that are radical.
A few weeks ago a former lesbian professor, Constance Matthews, launched a federal lawsuit against the university, that among other things, alleged discrimation based on "sexual orientation."
Another federal lawsuit involving Womens Basketball Coach Renee Portland was settled last week. Jennifer Harris, a former player, alleged Portland treated her unfairly because she was a lesbian.
Gay groups are on the warpath over Portland, who was quoted about 20 years of so ago, saying she didn't want lesbians on her team. Portland has coached over 600 wins in collegiate womens basketball and she is the second most well-known head coach at Penn State.
In the face of the lawsuit, Penn State reprimanded Portland last year. They fined her 10-thousand dollars and threatened her with dismissal for any future violations of discimination policy. She was ordered to take professional training "devoted to diversity and inclusiveness." Portland complied with the punishment, but said she disagreed with the finding against her.
The issue of race has been on the table at Penn State since the 1980's with statistics being cited showing a low minority enrollment.
How does one repsond to the complaints?
It looks like the administration caves in and brings more radical views into its leadership and adopts policies to appease the radicals, who as we can see above, are always demanding more.
The case in point here is that of the man who was appointed to the position of Vice Provost for Educational Equity, Dr. Terrell Jones.
Since he's been in the post, Jones has faced some controversial confrontations that show a racial attitude, an attitude that would have forced a white person who said the same things out the door a long time ago.
Lets take a closer look and try to go beyond the racial implications and see the political ones that underly it.
In April of 2001 the "Daily Collegian' newspaper described it this way:
"Taking questions from two white newspaper reporters, Vice Provost for Educational Equity Terrell Jones, who is black, declined to answer and said 'I don't think most white people are particularly good at dealing with race issues.'
In his interview with reporters, Jones said he was still upset by an October 2000 Collegian article in which a student was quoted making a racist remark against him. Jones was informed about the quote before it ran in the paper and declined an invitation to respond to it.
Jones told two newspaper reporters that most white people are not good at dealing with racism. Turning to the Collegian reporter, he said the reporter was untrustworthy.
'Please put that in your paper I said I don't trust you.' Jones said. He turned away and said nothing more."
Next year, in 2002, Jones butted heads with student government in this situtation described by the "Daily Collegian" as follows:
"Despite sharp criticism from the Undergraduate Student Government Senate, the 1999 Framework to Foster Diversity report will remain confidential. Terrell Jones, Vice Provost for Educational Equity, said yesterday.
During a meeting last week between the Senate Diversity Committee and Jones, Jones expressed doubt in the senate's ability to understand diversity because the senators present weren't diverse themselves.
'You can't talk about diversity since you're all white,' he said."
Which brings us back to the question of what diversity is really all about? Is it about people or is it about politics. Jones attitude in these two situations says that if he were really interested in attacking racism and being inclusive, he would accept the input and opinions of others who happen to be white.
No way. It seems that Jones fed the idea that non-white people are victims of racism and creates the conflict that is now spreading beyond racial complaints by radicals to new complaints that gays are discrimated against.
My thesis remains the same. Diversity is the politicizing of our differences by left-wing people who want to exploit our differences so they can gain political power.
Diversity divides us into oppressed and oppressors as seen by Karl Marx. The conflict created leads to new laws and policies that make government more powerful and people less free.
The punishment of Renee Portland wasn't enough for these radicals. Will adminstration cave further and will students, coaches and faculty be punished even more? (What did Joe Paterno say and when did he say it?)
People who work in public schools like yours are being given "diversity training." And that's our stop next week as this series continues..................
Next week an eyewitness account of "diversity training."
ping
Oh, I love this:
"Diversity is the politicizing of our differences by left-wing people who want to exploit our differences so they can gain political power."
That's a keeper.
As Dennis Miller said the other night on fox "I don't think our racial issues are so much because of the color of our skin as from the thickness of it."
I have been predicting that by the time my 1.5 year old is old enough for college, the current system will have collapsed and there will have been a radical reworking of higher education in favor of lower cost entrants into the market. This article points to yet another reason: parents will eventually get sick of stories like this and of paying escalating prices for colleges that are nothing but leftist propaganda wings.
As a teacher who belongs to a staff that was forced to go through "diversity training" I can tell you it's highly destructive nonsense.
It's all about power. Once a "victim" makes charges the easiest thing an administration can do to make the charges go away is to forced everyone into "training".
In "training" people are forced to stand up in front of the group and announce their sins and what they are going to do about them. At the end, the leader of this "training" essentially absovles everyone of their "guilt" and says in a secular-humanist way: "go and sin no more".
That's about the size of it.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by this phrase. What are "lower cost entrants"?
Wow! It's seems all that's missing is the bell, book, and candle.
New competitor colleges who don't charge nearly as much as the current behemoths.
At some point, white people will increasingly not give a damn if non-Europeans are offended
The problem is that a diploma from an accredited college is currently needed as a gate-pass into most professional jobs, and the groups that control accreditation are under the control of the diversity crowd
They need to recreate the "white guilt" of the 1960's that greased the skids for the "the Great Society" social programs.
We all know that racism existed then, it exists now and will exist in the future. The real question is about whether bigger government is the solution.
Repentence and change in attitude is good, but in the context of one's own faith. Not in the secular- humanist church of public education. Is that an establishment of religion you are describing?
Paging PSU's alumni...Your alma mater is running amok. Sure you still wanna keep shelling out all that cash?
The administration went after Renee Portland because they thought they could get away with it and mollify the radicals. People still have this mystical attachment to their high schools and colleges quite often based on sports which drives financial support.
I just shredded the invite to a college reunion at my alma mater that was no doubt a funraising pitch in disguise.
Joe Paterno is untouchable and I guess sports still has some power in the ideological war, but I rhetorically asked if he is next. That may stir some people up. His successor will have to toe the line.
Our legislature held hearings last year to say there is no liberal bias in education. Ha....Ha....
The public is far from outraged at this point here in PA.
It just blows my mind how far our nation has fallen into the pit of depravity. I will NEVER accept homosexuality as anything other than the "abomination" that God declares it to be. It is a sick perversion.
She should have gone to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education for help in fighting such an outrageous injustice.
1. Not everyone needs to go to college.
2. People gravitate to this stuff because they're too stupid/lazy to grasp actual college topics.
3. We're going to get creamed in the global marketplace if we don't get rid of the flakes in higher education.
Depends on what you mean by racism. I have not personally heard the N-word uttered aloud by anyone other than a black person for a good twenty years now. I work with high-achieving black folks every day, who are subject to no job discrimination except the benefits of affirmative action. I see racially mixed couples every day, and nobody is lynching them or even giving them a second look. My next door neighbor is black, and somehow my other neighbors and I have refrained from burning a cross in his yard.
What's left of "racism" is minor prejudicial slights like women tucking their purses under their arms when they pass mobs of teenage black male loiterers on street corners. Most of it is good common sense, even if it does occasionally insult someone with no evil intentions. Any sensible person would do the same if they were passing a crowd of boisterous, idle young men of any ethnicity.
I don't think this country, and in particular its white inhabitants, get nearly enough respect and gratitude from minorities for the major changes that have already been made in their favor. My ancestors shed their blood to end chattel slavery, and dismantled Jim Crow. My children will be at a vast disadvantage to theirs when it comes to college and job prospects. I think we can jettison the white guilt and bullying sensitivity seminars any time we want.
-ccm
One can only hope!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.