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Community college cancels their diversity meeting b/c they excluded white people

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Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
What kind of daft morons are running this thing?

(video at the link)

http://www.king5.com/news/local/Col...ying-to-exclude-white-staffers-249652471.html
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- An attempt to fight racism at a community college may have backfired.

A group of employees at South Puget Sound Community College sent out an invitation to all 300 staffers.

The "Staff, Faculty and Administrators of Color" encouraged employees to reply to the invitation to find out the confidential date and time of what was being called a "happy hour" to "build support and community" for people of color.

The invite made it clear white people were not invited.

The email read: "If you want to create space for white folks to meet and work on racism, white supremacy, and white privilege to better our campus community and yourselves, please feel free to do just that."

Karama Blackhorn, program coordinator for the school's Diversity and Equity Center, helped write the invitation.

She said it could have been worded differently, but she maintains the staff members of color would have a more honest discussion about race without white employees.

Holding a meeting to discuss how not to discriminate based on skin color...by discriminating based on skin color. Okay.
 
She said it could have been worded differently, but she maintains the staff members of color would have a more honest discussion about race without white employees.

If you can't be honest in front of a different race, diversity will never be achieved.

I did say that, but after hearing from other posters and watching the video on the link, I have come to better understand how pretty naive this statement was.
 
Is the whole issue of people being racist against white people actually going to start becoming an actual issue? Do people really think it's okay to be racist towards white people just because they have it good in this country? Why do I feel like such an asshole typing "racist toward white people" when there are people being legitimately racist?
 
Unless you want to say how much you hate whitey.

Might get awkward in front of whitey, she should invite the Nation of Islam and Al Sharpton.
I can see how that might be not so great. But I'm guessing if you hate whitey, you were never really interested in diversity.
 
Troy_and_Shirley.jpg
 
Is the whole issue of people being racist against white people actually going to start becoming an actual issue? Do people really think it's okay to be racist towards white people just because they have it good in this country? Why do I feel like such an asshole typing "racist toward white people" when there are people being legitimately racist?

All it takes is one dickhead to start to legitimise the dickheads on the other side, sadly.
 
All it takes is one dickhead to start to legitimise the dickheads on the other side, sadly.

It's like, you're getting bullied and it makes you feel like shit, you constantly talk about how horrible it is and how it needs to stop, then you just turn around and start doing the exact same thing that you've worked so hard to move beyond. Goddamn stupid.
 
All it takes is one dickhead to start to legitimise the dickheads on the other side, sadly.

There has been plenty of people hating on whitey for years.

The Nation have had no love for Equinsu ocha for the longest time ....... shit someone ring Spike Lee, he is down with hating whitey.
 
This situation reminds me a thing that happened to my friend when we were in college.

We are both milquetoast white dudes and he decided to attend a panel discussion for an on-campus feminist organization. His motivation for attending was genuine interest. It turned out that he was the only man to attend. As the meeting went on, one of the panelists (a women's studies professor at our school) seemed to get irritated at his presence and started to draw attention to him while she was speaking. The situation eventually degraded into a scene where she started yelling at him directly and he of course left the room. One of the other panelists later apologized to him.

This actually happened.

Native American.
I had assumed something like that (I was not trying to say that this was a Clayton Bigsby situation) but my point was that she literally has white skin.
 
You guys just don't get it! “Diversity” means never being made uncomfortable by people who don’t look the right way....
 
You guys just don't get it! “Diversity” means never being made uncomfortable by people who don’t look the right way....

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought "Diversity" was an old, old wooden ship used in the Civil War era.
 
Wouldn't it be better to have everyone in the meeting together? Seems like it would make a better learning environment and in the end create a stronger community for all.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought "Diversity" was an old, old wooden ship used in the Civil War era.

ahahaha.
 
whitey2.jpg


It's been said that "diversity" is just another term for racism and this story sure supports that. She should be fired yesterday. There's no defense for shit like this and "it was a mistake" doesn't cut it.


The only mistake she was sorry for was getting found out.

Blaming white people for the sins of the past is bullshit, it's like punching every German because of Hitler.


Fuck people like that!
 
I've never understood the idea that, because people of color and other minorities are systematically and pervasively disadvantage, and white people are systematically and pervasively privileged, racism against white people is therefore categorically impossible. I just don't see how that follows.

I'm in no way denying that racism against people of color is pervasive and institutionalized, and that therefore such racism is a far bigger problem than racism against white people, which is rare and virtually always isolated and provisional. But surely isolated instances of racism against white people are still possible, and still wrong, as the quote in the OP proves. Perhaps someone can help me understand better.
 
there are points to be made about white privilege and how there still is a strong form of white supremacy in modern society, but they're often put forward combatively and militantly in situations (like the one proposed by the community college) that should be constructive and as peaceful as possible

it's navel gazing, spinning in a circle, identity politics bullshit.
 
I've never understood the idea that, because people of color and other minorities are systematically and pervasively disadvantage, and white people are systematically and pervasively privileged, racism against white people is therefore categorically impossible. I just don't see how that follows.

I'm in no way denying that racism against people of color is pervasive and institutionalized, and that therefore such racism is a far bigger problem than racism against white people, which is rare and virtually always isolated and provisional. But surely isolated instances of racism against white people are still possible, and still wrong, as the quote in the OP proves. Perhaps someone can help me understand better.
It's a conflict of definitions. Sometimes the word racism is used only in the context of systemic racism, which exempts whites from claiming victimization. You're looking at isolated instances of bias based on race and calling that racism. Others disagree.

I'm not saying you are right or wrong, but that's what I'm guessing causes confusion.
 
I've never understood the idea that, because people of color and other minorities are systematically and pervasively disadvantage, and white people are systematically and pervasively privileged, racism against white people is therefore categorically impossible. I just don't see how that follows.

I'm in no way denying that racism against people of color is pervasive and institutionalized, and that therefore such racism is a far bigger problem than racism against white people, which is rare and virtually always isolated and provisional. But surely isolated instances of racism against white people are still possible, and still wrong, as the quote in the OP proves. Perhaps someone can help me understand better.



Because it is not wide spread it is not considered a problem, or it's a case of "get over it, try real racism etc".


As if because of the fact it is low incident mean its not an issue.

Shit, don't you know that because you are a white male (worse if your hetero) you have no right to complain about anything ....... we got it made supposedly.
 
The only mistake she was sorry for was getting found out.

Blaming white people for the sins of the past is bullshit, it's like punching every German because of Hitler.

Fuck people like that!
The past is one thing. There's still a fuckload of racism floating around. The problem is, people like this are surely not helping.
 
It's a conflict of definitions. Sometimes the word racism is used only in the context of systemic racism, which exempts whites from claiming victimization. You're looking at isolated instances of bias based on race and calling that racism. Others disagree.

I'm not saying you are right or wrong, but that's what I'm guessing causes confusion.


It's not confusion a lot of the time, a lot of the time it is down to people only wanting to use the one definition to suit their perspective.

Racism is racism, systemic or individual ........ dismissing one because it does not suit agenda is nonsense, like some want to claim the issue as only theirs.
 
It's not confusion a lot of the time, a lot of the time it is down to people only wanting to use the one definition to suit their perspective.

Racism is racism, systemic or individual ........ dismissing one because it does not suit agenda is nonsense, like some want to claim the issue as only theirs.

That's my viewpoint. Racism and discrimination sucks whether it be institutional or personal.

Belittling someone's experience because it doesn't fit your ideal criteria does nothing to further race relations and runs the risk of isolating communities further.
 
Because it is not wide spread it is not considered a problem, or it's a case of "get over it, try real racism etc".


As if because of the fact it is low incident mean its not an issue.

Shit, don't you know that because you are a white male (worse if your hetero) you have no right to complain about anything ....... we got it made supposedly.

Yeah... supposedly. >_>
 
You sure are vocal when it cuts the other way.

Anyway, what's the point of having a diversity meeting without everyone?

Oh wait, it wasn't a diversity meeting. It was a "happy hour" to build support and community for people of color. If you have a problem with that that's on you.

How about a more accurate thread title
 
You sure are vocal when it cuts the other way.
Who?

Oh wait, it wasn't a diversity meeting. It was a "happy hour" to build support and community for people of color. If you have a problem with that that's on you.
The way to build support and community isn't by excluding people. There's a reason most schools have a gay-straight alliance, not a gays-only happy hour. Even if the goal was well intentioned in creating a safe place to vent frustrations about race relations, the tone of the email is just super shitty and needlessly "fuck off."
 
As an European I wonder if this constant focus on racism in the United States isn't actually furthering racial divisiveness?
 
Who?


The way to build support and community isn't by excluding people. There's a reason most schools have a gay-straight alliance, not a gays-only happy hour. Even if the goal was well intentioned in creating a safe place to vent frustrations about race relations, the tone of the email is just super shitty and needlessly "fuck off."

There's nothing wrong with the email; it's what adults call "frank."
 
The part about assuming a meeting with white people would be about white supremacism is the only part unnerving. If that is what they think a meeting would be, I think there needs to be far more communication. Unless, that is of course, indication of what their meeting might contain... ;-)
 
The part about assuming a meeting with white people would be about white supremacism is the only part unnerving. If that is what they think a meeting would be, I think there needs to be far more communication. Unless, that is of course, indication of what their meeting might contain... ;-)

That's not what was meant by "work on" white supremacy.

Work on, as in "talk about these things and how to deal with them."

If this is the level of conversation to expect...
 
As an European I wonder if this constant focus on racism in the United States isn't actually furthering racial divisiveness?

It may be all well intention to talk about the sins of the past, but only talking about them opens up old wounds that were healing already. America has a very troubling racial history, but so do a lot of countries in the world.
 
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