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.
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*snicker*
Some days I just wake up wanting to oppress somebody.
Wonder who gets lucky today./s
Which is why Asians make up the plurality...ahem
My guess is that the ultimate resolution will be for university administrators to slather the aggrieved with the balm of groveling apologies, upward grade adjustments, scholarship cash, and other academic concessions and bribes. In the long term though, the fostering of a victim mentality among minorities does tremendous harm because it undermines ambition and effort toward self-improvement.
Then the prof will get hammered in student evals.
Tenure isn’t too popular around here but it’s really necessary to prevent wanton grad inflation.
Wow. Note who is worthy of capitalization and who is not.
“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.”IOW, not interested in an education, and remember THE DEBATE IS OVER. Demagogic Party of the Single Party State ping. Thanks Cincinatus' Wife.
I think your statute of limitations may have expired for a retroactive complaint against that 1960 professor. Of course, if you are member of the appropriate group(s), that rule does not apply so you ought to look into it, might help your “permanent record”...LOL!!
At the nub of this issue is the subjectivity of knowledge.
From that you can ask, “Why are these people even in college if they resist well-ordered thinking and rules of communication?”
Sounds to me like these Students of Color are practicing proto-Ebonics.
Echos of the 60s and 70s.
The Obama Department of Justice has ruled that Arizona school districts may not dismiss teachers who have poor grammar skills. “In an ideal world we would hope that those teaching our children would be able to set a good example,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “In the real world we must make compromises.” Holder pointed out that “the rules of grammar are only a convention. Non-discrimination is the law. There should be no question in our minds over which takes precedence. Besides, grammar evolves through usage. Who’s to say what will be considered appropriate in the future?”
Too funny.
This is Val Rust’s mugging. I wonder if he’ll see the light.
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As a second generation hillbilly, I don't understand why people rely on their ignorance instead of a decent education. Who are the real racists....
Don't they realize their opportunities in careers can be jeopardized by the inane sit ins instead of learning spelling, grammar, etc.
THEY handicap themselves and are too stupid to realize it.
Clinging to stupid shows their ignorance.
Idiots - careers are tight - are you going to complain when you can't get a job because you cannot even fill out an employment applications proper - or just fall back on you self-defeating racism when you have trouble getting job?
Guess racism is the fall back - it is the easier tack.
Dolts.
Next, the Black Ku Klux Klan will riot because UCLA non-black rapper student said “ni—er” instead of “ni—a”
I am so tired of the Black Ku Klux Klan
And what does this say about UCLA— we let in kids that can't write a simple paper because they're black?
The sad fact is that these Aggrieved People of Color don’t want discrimination to be eliminated.
That is so wrong, in so many ways.
Children are handicapped when they are not taught proper grammar skills. I guess failing to teach them is a good way to ensure that they will remain ignorant, unemployable, and malleable to leftist propaganda/manipulation.
College students for the most part are no longer expected or required to spell correctly. Most professors are forbidden from marking of for misspelling. Most pupils cannot even spell “misspell”.
Maybe, but they get the word "U" right every time!
IMHO, people who use terms like ‘People of Color’ are most likely racists, or progressive elitists.
Microsoft Word has a spell checker.
Microsoft Word is racist. Or a micro-racist, at least.
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