Rachel’s Tavern- Shakesville Comment on Whiteness and Racial Awareness
- Arrested for BAHWB (Being at Home While Black)
- John Hope Franklin Has Died
- Bottles, Breasts, and Mothering “Choices”
- NAACP Class Action Lawsuit on Subprime Loans
- We Have a Future Blogger
- I’m Afraid President Obama, Himself, is a Bit of Coward on the Race Issue
- Highly Skilled US Immigrants are Emigrating: What’s the deal?
- Troll Comments Galore
- Mark’s Spinach Face
Nov
26
Racism Round-Up: College Racism Edition 11/27/06
Filed Under Education and Academia, Race and Racism, Racism Round-Up, Uncategorized by Rachel
For some reason? it seems like? racist incidents on college campuses have peaked? during the fall semester this year.? There? have been several blackface incidents, and other random racist happenings.? Here are a few:?
1. American Indian students take on racism at Dartmouth.
2. NAACP issues statement about recent racist incidents on college campuses.? I think they need to add Trinity College, Whitman, and now Dartmouth to the list of campuses mentioned in the article (Johns Hopkins, Texas A&M, Univ. Texas, Austin).
3. Maybe? the NAACP? also need to talk to the college republicans at Boston University, who feel the need to have a “Caucasian scholarship.”?
4. Next? we have the University of Cincinnati, where racist fliers were delievered to the campus.? The UC administration seems to be taking the exact opposite of Whitman.? When Whitman students showed up in blackface, the administration cancelled classes, according to some UC students the administration hasn’t said much at all about these fliers.?
5. Black students at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis got fed up with racism on campus and issued a list of demands, to which white students and at least a few other racial minority students declared that they wanted their tuition money back.? You can read the students grievances and demands here? (PDF). It is also interesting to see that a South Asian woman is leading the charge against the black students grievances.
6. Racial slurs and religious bigotry found on Pace University campuses.
7. I already put up this story about a University of Michigan student who was attacked on line for his opposition to an anti-affirmative action ballot iniative.
8. Students in a multicultural dorm at Lehigh University find a dead animal’s head on? their doorstep.
9. I also posted this incident earlier.? The white University of Memphis fraternity members who called their fraternity brother’s black girlfriend a racial slur.
Comments
15 Responses to “Racism Round-Up: College Racism Edition 11/27/06”
Leave a Reply
Good work as usual Rachel! Keep ‘em coming.
Has the number of racist incidents ‘peaked’, or the number of reports of racist incidents? (Peaked in quotes because those of us with a science background would label this as an upward trend. A peak can only be determined after the fact.)
From the Whitman article: “The partygoers inattentiveness to possible racial undertones sparked a question of whether the majority of Whitman students really know the history of race relations in America at all.”
Well, duh! Washington state is only about 3% black. I doubt that many white students even know a black person.
Perhaps universities should realize that if they do not want such embarrassing events to occur, then the “blackface is bad” message should be explicitly stated and thoroughly explained at freshman orientations.
[...] Racism Round-Up: College Racism Edition 11/27/06 – Rachels Tavern “For some reason it seems like racist incidents on college campuses have peaked during the fall semester this year. There have been several blackface incidents, and other random racist happenings. Here are a few…” (tags: college racism blackface) [...]
we’ve been dealing with issues of hate crimes/incidents at boston college this fall as well….
http://www.bcheights.com/media/storage/paper144/news/2006/10/19/News/Hundreds.Rally.Against.Racism.On.Campus-2377192.shtml?norewrite200611280914&sourcedomain=www.bcheights.com
http://www.bcheights.com/media/storage/paper144/news/2006/09/07/News/Swastikas.Found.In.Ugbc.Offices.Over.Summer-2261213.shtml?norewrite200611280918&sourcedomain=www.bcheights.com
[...] This is a pretty awesome site. Rachel’s Tavern lists racist incidents that have been happening on college campuses in the last couple of months. I have to say I nearly fell off my chair in reading the story about college republicans at BU who “feel the need to have a ‘Caucasian scholarship’”. [...]
Very informative list! I had only heard of the blackface incident in Texas, so it was good knowing of these others. It’s sad that these have to be on college campuses. I don’t know what that says about education, diversity and the future in an already racially divided world.
Excellent post, Rachel. These hateful incidents at college campuses across the nation ought to show those who claimed to be colorblind that bigotry, racism, and sexism still exists in academia and in society at large. People need to wake up and face reality as the demographics of this nation is changing every day. Celebrate diversity and divest oneself of White supremacy once and for all.
Stephanie
In regards to the Pace University story, I do not see what is racist about putting a koran in the toilet; islam is a religious-political ideology, not a race. The only thing criminal may be the potential vandalism resulting from damage to the plumbing. And as long as whoever placed the korans in the toilets acquired them via legal means, it is their property and they have every right to treat it how they wish.
To see unfair treatment of suppression of free speech via threats coming Pace’s administration go to the link below.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=25656
Michael Abdurakmanov president of the Pace chapter of the Jewish organization Hillel decided to hold a Jewish Awareness Week, a week of events relating to Judaism. As part of the activities, he wanted to show the film Obsession, a documentary that chronicles the influence of radical Islam in the Middle East.
He notified the Muslim Student Association (MSA) that they were going to show the film and have a panel of speakers discuss the film before and after it was viewed. He also offered the MSA an opportunity to collaborate with us and invited them to bring a speaker of their choice.
Dean O’Grady, head of student organizations on campus, threatened Michael Abdurakmanov that he and Hillel could be charged with a “hate” crime for showing the film of Obsession.
But who was guilt of hate? Michael Abdurakmanov attended a mediation meeting a few days later after he and Hillel received several angry and hateful emails attacking not only Hillel as a group, but the religion of Judaism as well. In the meeting the mSA president berated Michael for ten minutes and David Clark, the dean, actually placed his hands on Michael when he was trying to respond.
What were they so worried about? According to Michael, none of them had ever seen Obsession. So why would they be upset about something they new nothing about?
This is real campus discrimination and bigotry that is both committed and sanctioned by campus administrations and by protected members of the student body.
This, unlike random scribbling on bathroom walls, is a real threat to our college students.
And the people who are hurt most by this are the liberal students who will never have the benefit of learning how to defend their own world views. They cannot be protected by the leftist campus administration forever.
The hate, discrimination, racism, and bigotry that conservative students face every day on campus only strengthens their resolve and necessitates the need to develop answers to easily defeatable falsehoods that liberals hold dear.
And sadly, it is very unlikely that this blog’s admin will ever call people like David Clark, Dean O’Grady and the mSA out on it.
Editor’s note: No comments threatneing physical violence will be posted. This comment has been deleted for that reason. I know senatortombstone can be annoying, but it is not appropriate to threaten violence against him or any one.
Editors note: No comments threatening physical violence will be posted. This comment has been deleted for that reason. I know senatortombstone can be annoying, but it is not appropriate to threaten violence against him or any one. End Quote
Thanks, Rachel, sort of…
Still, I think the censoring of “Obsession” is an atrocity and to threaten the student group Hillel for disciplinary action is criminal. Hasnt the administration ever heard of free speech?
And such hostile and violent reactions to anything approaching even a mild critique of islam and individual muslims makes it even more difficult to accept — what is obviously a polite fiction that islam is a religion of peace.
Look all around the world! There is an islamic terror attack occurring approximately every seven hours! Look at the history of islam! We constantly hear of the endless horrors committed by European and American whites, but when have islamic crimes against humanity which by far exceed all of the Wests crimes been discussed in depth? It is estimated that more Hindus died at the hands of muslim invaders than all the dead of WWII put together. We love to rip into the crusaders for the sacking of Jerusalem, but when do we hear the muslims being condemned for the 400+ years of jihad that conquered Arabia, North Africa, Spain, Sicily, portions of India and southeast Asia? When do we hear muslims condemned for the sacking of Constantinople? At least the West and Catholic Church has admitted many of their wrongs and apologized. When has any prominent muslim ever given an apology for their deadly conquests?
It is also okay to refer to Thomas Jefferson, one of the principal founders of our country, as a bigoted pedophile and rapist for allegedly having relations with 14 year-old slave Sally Hemming, but it is considered bigoted and hateful to make the same accusation of muhammad who had sex with nine year old Aisha.
And to keep things in spirit of this blog, is it accurate to call anti-islamic bigotry racism?
Remember, islam is a religion not a race. One can be anti islam and not anti Arab, southeast Asian, African, Balkan, etc. And since islam is a religion that makes being a muslim a choice, not an accident of birth that is race.
I do not see how it is racist to make judgments of people based on their choices.
I also do not understand how being critical of islam to any degree is bigoted by default.
This information was very intersting because a lot of people think that racism has gone away. What is even more intersting is the fact that i attended the University of Memphis and although i didn’t expreience racism i’m surprize to see that it was there.
Hey let’s not forget the Iranian student at UCLA who was tased by campus police multiple times.
Senator Tombstone-please check all yout facts. Islam caused more atrocities than the West? Islam is a religion of violence? You are so ignorant it is painful to even have to respond to your claims. First off, Muslims are not hell bent on having the world turn Muslim-you have to ignore centuries of historical and ongoing colonialism to simply posit this as “crazy muslims strike again.” People do not become suicide bombers and “terrorists” because they are blood thirsty fiends-they do it because they are literally backed in a corner fighting forces which control their lives and they have no other recourse with which to attack the powers that be. Why are suicide bombers the ONLY terrorists? What about the state of Israel-is it because it is a recognied nation-state that makes all of its actions palatable and ok? I bring up this example to bring up a point-you are ignoring the current context in all these countries just so you can sleep at night with your simple explanation as to why people are behaving the way they are.
Look around the world!!! Look who’s ruling and dropping bombs and why!!! Any respected scholar will in-depth explain why the rule of Islam differed from that of the Imperialist West’s rule. Islam practiced tolerance-lets not forget that under Muslim rule, Christians, Jews, and Muslims flourished in Spain. Who killed and kicked the Muslims and Jews out then? I am not saying that Muslim rulers did not fight wars of expansion or conquest, but I am saying that you are making baseless claims. Also, please do not speak of the West’s atrocities as if they are over-they are ongoing. Western companies rule countries through their neo-coloniast endeavors and still lay claim to the abundant resources of “third-world” countries. American troops are stationsed at multiple locations in the Midlle East (as well as countless othre places in the world). Tell me, would we stand for it if some other country decided to exert a military presence on our soil? No, we would be screaming about soveriegty etc etc. The West thinks it’s the only place with a right to freedom.
Furthermore, just because we all have a right to free speech that does not mean we should exercise it without any regards to WHAT we are saying. It is not right to say racist and hateful things and then, instead of discussing why your speech is problematic, run around screaming free speech.
The claims you make about Islam ARE bigoted-beause you seek to posit Muslims as one-dimensional people. It does not matter if people “choose” Islam-you can still be a bigot based on what you are saying. Furthermore, I just read your previous post about placing the Koran in the toilet. The people who did that obviously did it as a way in which to hurt Muslims and create a hostile atmosphere. You cannot do such things without considerign the consequences and repurcussions. Yoiu cannot say people are overreacting or being silly when you place their Holy book in the toilet-that is a deliberately malicious act. You do not just target “the book” there-you target the very people who place faith in that book and I think that was the intention of those who placed the Koran in the toilet.
Look at your ignorance!!! You are spewing ignorance approximately every minute of your waking life!!
A note on choice-adhering to a certain faith is a bit different, than, oh say, being a member of something like the College Republicans. Religion is a major component of many peoples’ cultures as well. Most people do not change their religions-they practice or at least associate themselves with the religion of their birth. Religion is a highly communal thing as well, which is partially why people do not look outside the faith of their communities. Which brings me to my next point. Islam is practiced differently within different communities. You can’t paint Muslims and Islam as one thing without recognzing and exploring the diversity of belief within the faith.
“I do not see how it is racist to make judgments of people based on their choices.”
Your assesment of Islam is clearly based in racism. You see Muslims as these other peoples whose cultures and customs you dont understand, so it is that much easier to not try to understand them and simply say they are backwards and violent. Check it-that is racist. Furthermore, you do not even understand Islam, so yeah the judgements you make are predicated on your prejudiced views.
[...] It seemed like a wave of racist incidents swept across college campuses all over the country in 2006. Just between October 1 and January 4 I bookmarked no less than 19 items relating to campus racism. Of course, it’s impossible to know whether racism is on the rise, or if we’re just hearing about it more often. Here are just some of the incidents we covered on Racialicious. See my del.icio.us page and this post from Rachel for even more stories. [...]