Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Prof corrects minority students’ capitalization, is accused of racism - “micro-aggression”
Daily Caller ^ | November 26, 2013

Posted on 11/27/2013 2:33:10 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

Racial tensions are inflamed at the University of California at Los Angeles following several incidents — most notably, one where a professor corrected the grammar, punctuation and capitalization in minority students’ assignments.

The act of correcting a black student was “micro-aggression,” according to the members of the student group “Call 2 Action: Graduate Students of Color,” which launched a sit-in during a subsequent meeting of the class.

“A hostile campus climate has been the norm for Students of Color in this class throughout the quarter as our epistemological and methodological commitments have been repeatedly questioned by our classmates and our instructor,” wrote the group in a statement to the college. “[The] barrage of questions by white colleagues and the grammar ‘lessons’ by the professor have contributed to a hostile class climate.”

Some 25 students participated in the sit-in, including five of the 10 members of the class.

Val Rust, a professor of education and information, was the official target of the sit-in, though the aggrieved minority students had problems with UCLA’s handling of racial issues that went far beyond just one classroom, according to Inside Higher Ed.

Rust is guest-lecturing in China this week, and did not respond to a request for comment. He sent a letter to his colleagues in the education department, however, in which he clarified that he meant no offense to minorities.

“I have attempted to be rather thorough on the papers and am particularly concerned that they do a good job with their bibliographies and citations, and these students apparently don’t feel that is appropriate,” he said in a statement, according to The Daily Bruin.

Some of the corrections were clarified by sit-in organizer Kenjus Watson. Rust told one student that she should not capitalize the word “indigenous” in her papers. This correction was ideologically-motivated, according to Watson.

Rust admitted that he likely made matters worse by not aggressively and proactively taking the side of a minority student who was engaged in an argument with a white female student. The minority student told the woman that she had no right to feel oppressed, and Rust did not express agreement either way.

“Two weeks ago a Student of Color and a white female student got into a big discussion,” said Rust. “She wants to use Standpoint Theory [a method of analysis coined by feminist sociologist Dorothy Smith, based on the idea that all knowledge is subjective and based on one's position in society] in her dissertation, and the Student of Color told her she had no business claiming that she was a member of an oppressed group.”

“She came back saying there are all kinds of oppression. I likely did not handle the situation well, because I chose not to stop the discussion between them, so it went on for quite a while, and the Students of Color apparently interpreted my silence to mean I wasn’t supporting them.”

But the minority community at UCLA is upset about more than just Rust’s class. A recent report claimed that minority professors are the victims of discrimination and racial bias. The report urged the university to strengthen its bias incident response procedures and hire a Discrimination Officer.

“What we’re speaking to is part of a larger, institutionalized culture on campus,” said Watson in a statement.

The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: education; employment; english; grammer
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-91 next last
To: Cincinatus' Wife

There are different races and cultures on this planet. Some cultures are just ruder than others. Some cultures are more treacherous than others. Each race has its own color of skin.

Any race that has not mastered the grammar and punctuation of its language does not belong in college - let alone graduate school.


21 posted on 11/27/2013 3:01:16 AM PST by abclily
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Little Pig

Could be even smaller if we are talking about my budget compared to the country.


22 posted on 11/27/2013 3:01:23 AM PST by Berlin_Freeper (What we said when we said what we said was. Period. End of story.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: BykrBayb

I can use “their” if I want to. It’s up to you to figure out what I meant. Don’t oppress me with your white rules of grammar.


23 posted on 11/27/2013 3:03:31 AM PST by BykrBayb (Somewhere, my flower is there. ~ Þ)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

Only people of color can be oppressed. That is why so many people of color hate Jews and deny the holocaust. Truth be known, the most oppressed group in today’s America is the evil adult white male. I thank the Lord every day that at the age of almost 60 I am still employed. Too many of my peers are looking for a new start, having lost their careers due to 0bamanomics. I have told some of them to put the following on job applications. Last position held: “Gay Serial Killer”.


24 posted on 11/27/2013 3:05:23 AM PST by Conspiracy Guy (Did the ancients know they were ancients? Or did they see themselves as presents?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

Why don’t these stupid asses give up on education then?
Just go back to the wild and hunt with spears if you want to stay so ignorant.


25 posted on 11/27/2013 3:05:53 AM PST by Bullish (America should yank Obama like a rotten tooth before he poisons the entire body)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cowboy Bob
I wonder how many of these students are actually paying for their “education?”

As far as I know, the only graduate programs where students do not pay for the education are in the hard sciences. These are also the programs that train students for jobs that have very low unemployment rates (about 2% in my field).

Graduate students in soft subjects often accumulate mountains of debt, and graduate to find out there are no jobs in their field. Sure, their masters and PhD certificates look nice on the wall, and the PhD recipients are privileged to be called "Dr.", but their degrees are worthless. There is not a lot of employment out there for people whose main skill is digging up proof of racism, sexism, and other isms everywhere they look.

26 posted on 11/27/2013 3:06:44 AM PST by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: tumblindice
I was in grad school in the ‘80s. Wouldn’t be able to do it in this brave new world:
I would be telling to many people to go **** themselves.

That probably depends on your field of study. The hard sciences still attract rational people who, for the most part, are sane thinkers. That's because people actually have to be intelligent to pursue higher study in hard sciences.

27 posted on 11/27/2013 3:09:47 AM PST by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: BlueStateRightist

Bolshevik law exempt gangs meet menshevik elitist white hypocrite liberals.

Maybe we should also have our own government gun freenzones, starting with the home.


28 posted on 11/27/2013 3:10:23 AM PST by lavaroise
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Little Pig; Berlin_Freeper
So “micro-economics” is “one-millionth economics”? What’s “macro-economics” then?

That would be economics times one million.

29 posted on 11/27/2013 3:11:51 AM PST by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

Dear God! Parents are paying money, students are borrowing money to waste time on this drivel?

This is beyond farce.


30 posted on 11/27/2013 3:12:45 AM PST by Ronin (Dumb, dependent and Democrat is no way to go through life - Rep. L. Gohmert, Tex)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: tumblindice

You just corrected your spelling. You are oppressing yourself. I am going to report you to the authorities You have no right to oppress yourself


31 posted on 11/27/2013 3:14:24 AM PST by Right Wing Assault (What happened to my tagline??)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: BykrBayb
I can use “their” if I want to. It’s up to you to figure out what I meant. Don’t oppress me with your white rules of grammar.

Haha. You saved me the trouble of having to post a correction to your earlier post.

;-)

32 posted on 11/27/2013 3:14:32 AM PST by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

It probably didn’t help when the professor remarked to the Students of Color during their sit-in:

“I see you finally found something you can excel in.”


33 posted on 11/27/2013 3:15:23 AM PST by savedbygrace (But God!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

My first History test in college (1960), as i was hillbilly freshman, was marked up and 34 words were red lined.
The professor called me out and said that “college students must be able to spell”
“you will fail the is course if you can’t spell, regardless of your knowledge of history” He was kind enough not to point me out!

Learned my lesson then and there!


34 posted on 11/27/2013 3:16:18 AM PST by primatreat ("I suffer too" .MY Obamaphone put an earwig in my brain!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

Don’t correct the student, just give them a piss poor score and move on. There is no point to trying to “educate” a tribe of idiots with a chip on their shoulder.

What pisses me off is those minority students probably have tons of loans and grants, while the white students had to pay their way, much like I had to do with my 2.


35 posted on 11/27/2013 3:22:58 AM PST by Farnsworth (Now playing in America: "Stupid is the new normal")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: exDemMom

“There is not a lot of employment out there for people whose main skill is digging up proof of racism, sexism, and other isms everywhere they look.”

It’s like basketball. A lot of people play it, most don’t make a nickle at it, but a select few at the top will do very well. Look at the Revs Sharpton and Jackson.


36 posted on 11/27/2013 3:30:19 AM PST by beef (Who Killed Kennewick Man?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: exDemMom
“Graduate students in soft subjects often accumulate mountains of debt, and graduate to find out there are no jobs in their field.”

Q: How does an engineer get a philosopher off of his front porch?

A: He pays her for the pizza.

37 posted on 11/27/2013 3:40:27 AM PST by beef (Who Killed Kennewick Man?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: beef

Lol!


38 posted on 11/27/2013 3:42:29 AM PST by exDemMom (Current visual of the hole the US continues to dig itself into: http://www.usdebtclock.org/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

Educational progress in AmeriKa. We are in deep poop, knowwhattImSayyin!


39 posted on 11/27/2013 3:44:43 AM PST by dokmad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cincinatus' Wife

My son taught grad students at the University of Texas. When he corrected graduate students spelling and grammar, he was labeled an elitist snob. He is no longer in academia.


40 posted on 11/27/2013 3:46:53 AM PST by Artie (We are surrounded by MORONS)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-91 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson