"and those insisting she was a ‘Diversity Equity and Inclusion’ (DEI) hire have no real evidence to suggest otherwise."
What do you mean no evidence? She's female and black. What more do you need? Everyone knows anyone who is female or black (let along *both*) is only ever hired as diversity hire!
(Gods, just pretending to be alt/MAGA I could feel IQ points slipping away for the few seconds it took me to write that. Oh, here they come back now.)
Isn't Diversity Equity and Inclusion the ideology that's been leading businesses to actually separate its employees into work teams of all black and all white people so that they'll "feel safer to express themselves" or some other such atrocious bullshit? When I first read about that going on a few years ago I was absolutely appalled that we would have come to a point where supposed progressives were actually endorsing _voluntary segregation_ in the workplace. The whole thing makes my skin crawl and my teeth itch. It really does make me feel like before long they'll be pushing for reinstatement of the One Drop Rule and everyone to have to carry an Ethnic ID Card to prove what kinds of activities they'll be allowed to participate in, what kind of clothing they can wear, or what kind of music they can listen to. "No Japanese ancestry? Then no way you can where a Ninja costume for Halloween, 8 year old boy!"
We've gotten to a point where most younger people don't even actually know what racism even means anymore, let alone understand _why it's wrong._
It comes from exclusively focusing on the *means* so they totally forget the *ends* they are supposedly trying to achieve. Its performative condescension. "Look at me and see how liberal-minded I am, how well I recognized the hardships faced by other people and how much I want to to help them."
Actually improving things is far less important that being seen to "care".
"Not only was Obama the first black president, he was also the first radically nuanced president. Rather than crashing into America’s culture wars, Obama made a real effort to cool tensions and reach out to those he disagreed with".
I'm not a super-stan of Obama -or- Biden, but I voted for both without hesitation. You reminded me that Obama was elected in the early Facebook/X/Internet as Echo Chamber days - and what saddens me regardless of the 2024 election results is that the Obama template is as dated today as your B & W television.
To grossly oversimplify, Hillary’s campaign ineptly ignored Obama’s use of Facebook. They learned nothing from her defeat. They somehow allowed Trump to the same with Twitter.
I don’t know what medium could be used today by an innovative upstart, only that it won’t be Elmo’s X wreck.
5:28 in the clip of Fareed Zakaria: "As CNN's Van Jones eloquently said, the point of college is to keep you physically safe, but intellectually unsafe. To force you to confront ideas that you vehemently disagree with."
If you are never forced to confront ideas you disagree with, _you will never learn anything._ The entire concept of an "intellectual safe space" in a place of learning is diametrically opposed to every principle of education.
Every time I hear or read anything about the state of higher education in our country, I get more depressed. I consider knowledge and education to be some of the few things in this world that are actually _sacred,_ and yet so many higher universities seem to have become more concerned with catering to students egos and sheltering them from anything that could ever possibly give them any kind of icky feelings, rather than actually _educating them._
Don't get me started on "safe spaces". The last refuge of the cowardly. Of those so scared and insecure that can't tolerate even the possibility they might be wrong.
Love the CNN essay you shared with this -- so eloquent, nuanced and thoughtful, unlike where most of society is these days. On my first day of college, first class (in 1985), the professor walked in and said, "welcome to college, the place where you arrive thinking you know everything, and you graduate realizing you know little to nothing." These days, colleges, the media, and social echo chambers make everyone feel they are 100% right and everyone else is 100% wrong. This is why people can't work together, live together, or acknowledge any uncomfortable idea or alternate perspective at all. For decades, I've worked with hothead bosses and tried my best with varying success to anticipate their needs and manage their expectations -- now just asking a subordinate to do their work can be considered employment harassment. #metoo was a long overdue requiem on harassment, but now many people are crying "assault" for consensual relations they later regret having. "You slept with me and never called me back, I feel so violated!" I keep thinking about the Louis CK incident -- if a celebrity in a bar invites you to his hotel room, don't be surprised if he makes a move on you. Either clearly state your boundaries while in the bar or don't go. But no, pearl clutchers cry victimhood the moment CK misreads their signals. We have a society where most everyone is unable to deal with themselves, anyone else, or just about any complex issue or thought. There are no easy fixes to climate change, reparations, LGBTQ rights, space debris, nuclear proliferation, income inequality, recycling, etc -- but when you elect celebrities and bullies to positions of power, all you can expect to get in return is chaos like the world we live in today Which brings us back to Ms. Gay. She screwed up some citations in some publishing -- so what. How does that affect her role leading a university? Let's talk about what she was doing right and wrong and give her time to course correct. She was constrained by her legal team with those panel answers and should have looked up from her note cards and advice to "bridge back" to a safe message to honestly answer the question. And yes, if she was unable to do that, then yes, she was not right for the role.
“The Left needs to acknowledge that antisemitism is racism”
During the Corbyn years I came to the conclusion that having antisemitism as a specific word for anti-Jewish bigotry did more harm than good and it was actually more powerful and useful to just call antisemites what they are ‘racists’ and the current situation is only reinforcing my opinion on this, the left are able to rationalise or sometimes even take as a point of pride being called an antisemite but they can’t handle just being called a racist
So Kendhis ‘.... who are not reinforcing structures of racism’ line in that tweet is him giving himself the right to ‘Uncle Tom’ any successful black person who dares speak against him or is raised by anyone else as an example that disproves his thesis
Ben, I support your work 100%, but you missed something vital here: Christopher Rufo, the darling of rightwing hate, admitted he went after Gay in his quest to take apart DEI. He did it with CRT, and he’s doing it here--smugly and without remorse.
Please follow-up on this article after you have researched Rufo’s role. I think you might see things differently.
Fareed Zakaria’s take on the decline of faith in higher institutions of learning is fraught with bias. Comparing Ivy League schools to all universities is, at best, disingenuous. Everyone in education knows they are elitist in admissions, especially those admissions that benefit legacy families.
Wealthy donor-graduates with political pull put the pressure on Gay to resign. Elitists continue to call the shots here. And to place such a strong emphasis on standardized tests--which has been a CNN darling for decades--is foolhardy when the research is vast proving that standardized tests are skewed toward white, middle class and wealthy students. This is why I stopped tuning in to CNN. Zakaria should know better than to tout corporate lies about education, but then again, you cannot rely on CNN to accurately represent what its billionaires oppose.
That said, there are many examples of plagiarism within the ranks for top college officials. Gay was hunted by the right, especially by the conservative toady Christopher Rufo who openly admits he went after her to dissolve DEI. I’m shocked that this article completely overlooks Rufo’s sinister plot to dismantle these protections in education. Please follow up after you have researched.
"The GOP on the other hand is incapable of admitting the racism rotting within the party."
Which is odd. You'd think admitting to your core principal would be easy.
"and those insisting she was a ‘Diversity Equity and Inclusion’ (DEI) hire have no real evidence to suggest otherwise."
What do you mean no evidence? She's female and black. What more do you need? Everyone knows anyone who is female or black (let along *both*) is only ever hired as diversity hire!
(Gods, just pretending to be alt/MAGA I could feel IQ points slipping away for the few seconds it took me to write that. Oh, here they come back now.)
Isn't Diversity Equity and Inclusion the ideology that's been leading businesses to actually separate its employees into work teams of all black and all white people so that they'll "feel safer to express themselves" or some other such atrocious bullshit? When I first read about that going on a few years ago I was absolutely appalled that we would have come to a point where supposed progressives were actually endorsing _voluntary segregation_ in the workplace. The whole thing makes my skin crawl and my teeth itch. It really does make me feel like before long they'll be pushing for reinstatement of the One Drop Rule and everyone to have to carry an Ethnic ID Card to prove what kinds of activities they'll be allowed to participate in, what kind of clothing they can wear, or what kind of music they can listen to. "No Japanese ancestry? Then no way you can where a Ninja costume for Halloween, 8 year old boy!"
We've gotten to a point where most younger people don't even actually know what racism even means anymore, let alone understand _why it's wrong._
It comes from exclusively focusing on the *means* so they totally forget the *ends* they are supposedly trying to achieve. Its performative condescension. "Look at me and see how liberal-minded I am, how well I recognized the hardships faced by other people and how much I want to to help them."
Actually improving things is far less important that being seen to "care".
Ooohhh, "performative condescension," that is just the *perfect* to put it.
☺️
"Not only was Obama the first black president, he was also the first radically nuanced president. Rather than crashing into America’s culture wars, Obama made a real effort to cool tensions and reach out to those he disagreed with".
I'm not a super-stan of Obama -or- Biden, but I voted for both without hesitation. You reminded me that Obama was elected in the early Facebook/X/Internet as Echo Chamber days - and what saddens me regardless of the 2024 election results is that the Obama template is as dated today as your B & W television.
To grossly oversimplify, Hillary’s campaign ineptly ignored Obama’s use of Facebook. They learned nothing from her defeat. They somehow allowed Trump to the same with Twitter.
I don’t know what medium could be used today by an innovative upstart, only that it won’t be Elmo’s X wreck.
5:28 in the clip of Fareed Zakaria: "As CNN's Van Jones eloquently said, the point of college is to keep you physically safe, but intellectually unsafe. To force you to confront ideas that you vehemently disagree with."
A+
If you are never forced to confront ideas you disagree with, _you will never learn anything._ The entire concept of an "intellectual safe space" in a place of learning is diametrically opposed to every principle of education.
Every time I hear or read anything about the state of higher education in our country, I get more depressed. I consider knowledge and education to be some of the few things in this world that are actually _sacred,_ and yet so many higher universities seem to have become more concerned with catering to students egos and sheltering them from anything that could ever possibly give them any kind of icky feelings, rather than actually _educating them._
Don't get me started on "safe spaces". The last refuge of the cowardly. Of those so scared and insecure that can't tolerate even the possibility they might be wrong.
Nice! Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, and safe spaces are the last refuge of the cowardly.
*Knew* you’d get the reference, Aaron.
Love the CNN essay you shared with this -- so eloquent, nuanced and thoughtful, unlike where most of society is these days. On my first day of college, first class (in 1985), the professor walked in and said, "welcome to college, the place where you arrive thinking you know everything, and you graduate realizing you know little to nothing." These days, colleges, the media, and social echo chambers make everyone feel they are 100% right and everyone else is 100% wrong. This is why people can't work together, live together, or acknowledge any uncomfortable idea or alternate perspective at all. For decades, I've worked with hothead bosses and tried my best with varying success to anticipate their needs and manage their expectations -- now just asking a subordinate to do their work can be considered employment harassment. #metoo was a long overdue requiem on harassment, but now many people are crying "assault" for consensual relations they later regret having. "You slept with me and never called me back, I feel so violated!" I keep thinking about the Louis CK incident -- if a celebrity in a bar invites you to his hotel room, don't be surprised if he makes a move on you. Either clearly state your boundaries while in the bar or don't go. But no, pearl clutchers cry victimhood the moment CK misreads their signals. We have a society where most everyone is unable to deal with themselves, anyone else, or just about any complex issue or thought. There are no easy fixes to climate change, reparations, LGBTQ rights, space debris, nuclear proliferation, income inequality, recycling, etc -- but when you elect celebrities and bullies to positions of power, all you can expect to get in return is chaos like the world we live in today Which brings us back to Ms. Gay. She screwed up some citations in some publishing -- so what. How does that affect her role leading a university? Let's talk about what she was doing right and wrong and give her time to course correct. She was constrained by her legal team with those panel answers and should have looked up from her note cards and advice to "bridge back" to a safe message to honestly answer the question. And yes, if she was unable to do that, then yes, she was not right for the role.
“The Left needs to acknowledge that antisemitism is racism”
During the Corbyn years I came to the conclusion that having antisemitism as a specific word for anti-Jewish bigotry did more harm than good and it was actually more powerful and useful to just call antisemites what they are ‘racists’ and the current situation is only reinforcing my opinion on this, the left are able to rationalise or sometimes even take as a point of pride being called an antisemite but they can’t handle just being called a racist
So Kendhis ‘.... who are not reinforcing structures of racism’ line in that tweet is him giving himself the right to ‘Uncle Tom’ any successful black person who dares speak against him or is raised by anyone else as an example that disproves his thesis
He really is a clever grifter
“I am suggesting however, that both sides don’t make any sense.”
Nailed it.
You said this generated some controversy for you, but I think you threaded the needle, here. Thanks for writing it.
Ben, I support your work 100%, but you missed something vital here: Christopher Rufo, the darling of rightwing hate, admitted he went after Gay in his quest to take apart DEI. He did it with CRT, and he’s doing it here--smugly and without remorse.
Please follow-up on this article after you have researched Rufo’s role. I think you might see things differently.
https://dianeravitch.net/2024/01/05/chris-rufo-takes-a-victory-lap-with-claudine-gays-scalp/comment-page-1/#comment-3505608
Fareed Zakaria’s take on the decline of faith in higher institutions of learning is fraught with bias. Comparing Ivy League schools to all universities is, at best, disingenuous. Everyone in education knows they are elitist in admissions, especially those admissions that benefit legacy families.
Wealthy donor-graduates with political pull put the pressure on Gay to resign. Elitists continue to call the shots here. And to place such a strong emphasis on standardized tests--which has been a CNN darling for decades--is foolhardy when the research is vast proving that standardized tests are skewed toward white, middle class and wealthy students. This is why I stopped tuning in to CNN. Zakaria should know better than to tout corporate lies about education, but then again, you cannot rely on CNN to accurately represent what its billionaires oppose.
That said, there are many examples of plagiarism within the ranks for top college officials. Gay was hunted by the right, especially by the conservative toady Christopher Rufo who openly admits he went after her to dissolve DEI. I’m shocked that this article completely overlooks Rufo’s sinister plot to dismantle these protections in education. Please follow up after you have researched.
https://dianeravitch.net/2024/01/05/chris-rufo-takes-a-victory-lap-with-claudine-gays-scalp/comment-page-1/#comment-3505608