Anonymous wrote:I recommend the following article:
http://www.thenation.com/article/dont-tell-the-student-protestors-at-yale-to-grow-up/

Anonymous wrote:I recommend the following article:
http://www.thenation.com/article/dont-tell-the-student-protestors-at-yale-to-grow-up/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not like the tenor of this thread: if you are black and/or are FA and something bothers you on an elite campus you should say nothing and just go to the library. You are spoiled and entitled just because you go to a prestigious university, and therefore have an easy life and should just let go and get back to class if you are denied entrance into a party because you are black. The behavior of these students is very mild compared to the free speech movement and the black power movement in the 60s. You have no idea what their lives have been like, or are now.
Do I think all their demands are reasonable, not I don't. But they have every right to articulate them. I also know from personal experience, that even if you are middle class or wealthy, you are subjected to racism if you are black. It is everywhere in our society.

The intense anger expressed toward these minority students makes me feel uneasy because it seems to be based on the notion that these students have already gotten something they were not qualified for: an ivy league education, and therefore they should be grateful and shut up. These kids have the right to express themselves. They did not forfeit that by going to Yale.

I have been critical of the students but I agree with you that they have very right to articulate their grievances (lame as some of them my be).
Now the protesters are not all minorities. In this group of 200 are many white students as well.
The anger directed at them is due to their vulgar, disrespectful conduct, and ridiculous demands that a faculty member be fired for expressing her opinion that the university should be tell students what Halloween costume to wear. Dialog yes, this is a good teaching moment. But the idea of demanding the university be a “safe place” from any offensive remark makes them seem disconnected from reality and really at odds with the whole purpose of a university as a place for a free exchange of ideas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not like the tenor of this thread: if you are black and/or are FA and something bothers you on an elite campus you should say nothing and just go to the library. You are spoiled and entitled just because you go to a prestigious university, and therefore have an easy life and should just let go and get back to class if you are denied entrance into a party because you are black. The behavior of these students is very mild compared to the free speech movement and the black power movement in the 60s. You have no idea what their lives have been like, or are now.
Do I think all their demands are reasonable, not I don't. But they have every right to articulate them. I also know from personal experience, that even if you are middle class or wealthy, you are subjected to racism if you are black. It is everywhere in our society.

The intense anger expressed toward these minority students makes me feel uneasy because it seems to be based on the notion that these students have already gotten something they were not qualified for: an ivy league education, and therefore they should be grateful and shut up. These kids have the right to express themselves. They did not forfeit that by going to Yale.

Many white students at Yale by no means discount that racism exists, but question whether the types of racism the protestors identify -- often very subtle, not intentional -- are things which are failings at all of the university and whether the proposed remedies are only going to create more problems, and not fix the ones for which the students have protested. But it is hard to even get an accurate account of who feels how because the atmosphere has become toxic -- if you express any doubt about what the protestors are doing you are called "racist" -- a term which in our culture carries almost as much stigma as the "N" word. After that, there is no debate, discussion, nothing. Erecting a statue declaring Yale stole land from indigenous peoples will not sure discrimination. Mental health workers may help students cope, but will not cure discrimination. The only way ignorant people learn not to discriminate is to comingle with other people, ask questions, and become comfortable. More money for cultural centers probably will not achieve this. Minority students complain about other students feeling they don't deserve to be there and wondering if they got in boosted by affirmative action. That is a valid observation. But that one will never stop until affirmative action is ended -- and a belief that ending affirmative action is a good policy at this point is not a "racist" belief. Affirmative action has always been a racist policy by definition -- one that we tolerated as a society for some perceived greater social good. But now one must wonder.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do not like the tenor of this thread: if you are black and/or are FA and something bothers you on an elite campus you should say nothing and just go to the library. You are spoiled and entitled just because you go to a prestigious university, and therefore have an easy life and should just let go and get back to class if you are denied entrance into a party because you are black. The behavior of these students is very mild compared to the free speech movement and the black power movement in the 60s. You have no idea what their lives have been like, or are now.
Do I think all their demands are reasonable, not I don't. But they have every right to articulate them. I also know from personal experience, that even if you are middle class or wealthy, you are subjected to racism if you are black. It is everywhere in our society.

The intense anger expressed toward these minority students makes me feel uneasy because it seems to be based on the notion that these students have already gotten something they were not qualified for: an ivy league education, and therefore they should be grateful and shut up. These kids have the right to express themselves. They did not forfeit that by going to Yale.

I have been critical of the students but I agree with you that they have very right to articulate their grievances (lame as some of them my be).
Now the protesters are not all minorities. In this group of 200 are many white students as well.
The anger directed at them is due to their vulgar, disrespectful conduct, and ridiculous demands that a faculty member be fired for expressing her opinion that the university should be tell students what Halloween costume to wear. Dialog yes, this is a good teaching moment. But the idea of demanding the university be a “safe place” from any offensive remark makes them seem disconnected from reality and really at odds with the whole purpose of a university as a place for a free exchange of ideas.

Anonymous wrote:I do not like the tenor of this thread: if you are black and/or are FA and something bothers you on an elite campus you should say nothing and just go to the library. You are spoiled and entitled just because you go to a prestigious university, and therefore have an easy life and should just let go and get back to class if you are denied entrance into a party because you are black. The behavior of these students is very mild compared to the free speech movement and the black power movement in the 60s. You have no idea what their lives have been like, or are now.
Do I think all their demands are reasonable, not I don't. But they have every right to articulate them. I also know from personal experience, that even if you are middle class or wealthy, you are subjected to racism if you are black. It is everywhere in our society.

The intense anger expressed toward these minority students makes me feel uneasy because it seems to be based on the notion that these students have already gotten something they were not qualified for: an ivy league education, and therefore they should be grateful and shut up. These kids have the right to express themselves. They did not forfeit that by going to Yale.

Anonymous wrote:I do not like the tenor of this thread: if you are black and/or are FA and something bothers you on an elite campus you should say nothing and just go to the library. You are spoiled and entitled just because you go to a prestigious university, and therefore have an easy life and should just let go and get back to class if you are denied entrance into a party because you are black. The behavior of these students is very mild compared to the free speech movement and the black power movement in the 60s. You have no idea what their lives have been like, or are now.
Do I think all their demands are reasonable, not I don't. But they have every right to articulate them. I also know from personal experience, that even if you are middle class or wealthy, you are subjected to racism if you are black. It is everywhere in our society.

The intense anger expressed toward these minority students makes me feel uneasy because it seems to be based on the notion that these students have already gotten something they were not qualified for: an ivy league education, and therefore they should be grateful and shut up. These kids have the right to express themselves. They did not forfeit that by going to Yale.

Anonymous wrote:I do not like the tenor of this thread: if you are black and/or are FA and something bothers you on an elite campus you should say nothing and just go to the library. You are spoiled and entitled just because you go to a prestigious university, and therefore have an easy life and should just let go and get back to class if you are denied entrance into a party because you are black. The behavior of these students is very mild compared to the free speech movement and the black power movement in the 60s. You have no idea what their lives have been like, or are now.
Do I think all their demands are reasonable, not I don't. But they have every right to articulate them. I also know from personal experience, that even if you are middle class or wealthy, you are subjected to racism if you are black. It is everywhere in our society.

The intense anger expressed toward these minority students makes me feel uneasy because it seems to be based on the notion that these students have already gotten something they were not qualified for: an ivy league education, and therefore they should be grateful and shut up. These kids have the right to express themselves. They did not forfeit that by going to Yale.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Amherst is the PC joke -- they've managed to make even their reasonable demands look ridiculous.

What happened at Amherst?

To the person who wanted this thread locked or deleted: shame on you. I've spent most of my twenties in undergrad and grad school. Most of my profs and peers and I are beyond sick of people like screamer girl and the Yale protesters browbeating the public and forcing unnecessary curriculum changes. Go home if you can't handle studying uncomfortable truths or interacting with people as humorless and insufferable as you are.

I saw this problem coming years ago; I'm glad parents and older alumni are now learning how much the quality of education is suffering now that this is a national story. All because we have to blindly worship at the altar of PC.

Parents, please try and be better role models for civility and reason. Your kid's future classmates will thank you for their well developed coping skills so they know better than to rip down posters, scream at people, shout down any speaker slightly to the right of far left, or demand that books that hurt their feelings be removed from the syllabus. It's college: grow the f up.

Some protesters have even tried to silence those who oppose affirmative action policies as purveyors or "hate speech."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting that these days you are more likely to have pc 'protests' like this at a place like Yale than Cal-Berkeley.

I wonder why that is. Cal was ground zero for the protest movement in the 60's-70's

Cal has become "Silent Cal."

Ca. has a very high percentages of Asians. They are busy in class and the library studying. They get it.