An Unauthorised Departure From The Narrative
At the Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where annual tuition is north of $50,000, education is under way:
“Why is it okay to bring people to talk against their own people?” the student finally asked, though when [invited speaker, Burgess] Owens attempted to answer, the student again began complaining about the “structural racism” he has experienced. “Please let him answer the question,” the moderator interjected. “Let me finish talking!” the student shouted back. As Owens once again attempted to answer, the student reiterated that he was “not finished talking,” and continued to interrupt Owens. The moderator was eventually forced to shut down the question-and-answer portion of the talk, prompting cries of “white fragility!” from the audience.
You see, in the Clown Quarter, black people are only allowed to have one point of view.
And note the woke student, here, who refers to Mr Owens as an “Uncle Tom,” before hurrying away with a self-satisfied grin. Moments later, just after Mr Owens mentions the importance of debate and showing each other respect, things go downhill.
And note the woke student, here, who refers to Mr Owens as an “Uncle Tom,” before hurrying away with a self-satisfied grin.
The woke left in a nutshell.
Owens routinely speaks on leadership, especially within the black community, and the opportunities America can provide for young black men…
Well, there’s your problem: Refusing to be a victim and make excuses for one’s own inadequacies.
The woke left in a nutshell.
From what I can make out, amid the insults and interruptions, the gist of Mr Owens’ talk seems to be that if you internalise the narrative of eternal victimhood and cultivate an attitude of chippy resentment and irresponsibility, while flattering yourself and disregarding rules, then potential employers, and partners and friends, will be repelled and your life will most likely unfold in accord with that narrative. The students, having internalised said narrative, immediately illustrate his point.
Incidentally, the colleges’ motto is, “Preparing students to lead lives of consequence.” Which seems a tad ironic, given the above.
More lives ruined. Well done, The Left.
You see, in the Clown Quarter, black people are only allowed to have one point of view.
Speaking of which…
You have to wonder if the students – the ones able to attend a liberal arts college in upstate New York, where annual tuition is north of $50,000 – will entertain the possibility that the attitude they’ve embraced might be the most significant and needless disadvantage they will ever have in life.
Aargh. I cannot remember the source, but I recall a pundit describing his pre-teen daughter’s constant cries of “it’s not fay-er” whenever she felt particularly hard done by. His bitten-back reflexive response was “You’re growing up white, female and middle class in the wealthiest nation on Earth. You had better hope things don’t start getting ‘fair’ for you.”
Anyone who can afford full-time tuition to the tune of $50,000/a is not “oppressed” in any sense of the word.
An antidote (Larry Elder interviews Thomas Sowell):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_25Earz0pU
Anyone who can afford full-time tuition to the tune of $50,000/a is not “oppressed” in any sense of the word.
But if you even imply that, there’s a good chance you’ll be shrieked at, slandered and insulted. And if you’re black, there’s a good chance you’ll be called an “Uncle Tom.” By people who consider themselves enlightened.
Clearly, vanity trumps shame.
the attitude they’ve embraced might be the most significant and needless disadvantage they will ever have in life.
Is it though? The ‘attitude’ seems to be endlessly pandered to.
@Daniel Ream
I may be wrong, but I think it was P.J. O’Rourke.
An antidote (Larry Elder interviews Thomas Sowell)
Now, had Larry Elder been holding the talk at Hobart, unlike the polite Mr Owens, he would have shouted down the screaming college garbage babies trying to shout him down. I’ve heard him do it.
Note that the tall and burly student who repeatedly ignores the rules of the Q&A session – and then gets into a scuffle for the mic – invokes “structural racism” as if it were an incantation, a rhetorical full stop. The details of his alleged persecution are somewhat unclear, however, and the only obvious “structural racism” I can detect is the university’s own policy of racial favouritism in hiring and admissions, of which the student in question may well be a beneficiary, and whereby students who belong to certain minorities are granted places that they haven’t actually earned.
And which, based on the videos above, they don’t in fact deserve.
Is it though? The ‘attitude’ seems to be endlessly pandered to.
Well, fair point. It does seem to be indulged more than is decent, or sustainable. I’m assuming that a life lived on those terms – dishonestly, or delusionally – is not ideal, or an obvious basis for lasting happiness.
I may be wrong, of course.
There is no more safe a place for students than being cloistered on campus.
I was in a discussion about the latest “outrage” where some frat bros of pallor decided to dress up as gangbangers and now has the campus of Cal Poly in an uproar. There are the usual claims of structural racism and that minority students feel “unsafe”.
CAL POLY!!! A polytechnic college that still offers degrees in Agriculture and has a 700 acre farm as part of the campus located in suburbia.
I was accused of being ‘unrealistic’ because everyone knows that racism is centered in suburbia so OF COURSE the students’ feelings are legitimate.
At which point I said “if you think suburbs are all people of pallor, you don’t know Pomona.” (approx 70% Hispanic)
I really think these children should be summarily dismissed from school so they can go home to their pacifiers until they grow up.
I’m trying to think of a comparable institution in which this level of psychodrama – this theatre of improbable victimhood – would be indulged to the same degree and considered perfectly normal.
theatre of improbable victimhood
Stolen.
Stolen.
Well, this kind of institutional indulgence and endless excuse-making could, I think, bring out the worst in even the best of us. And clearly, these are not the best of us.
He’s not wrong.
Ok… not ‘stolen’…
I just hit the tip jar, think of it as a royalty payment. 🙂
I just hit the tip jar, think of it as a royalty payment. 🙂
Heh. I thought I detected a noise coming from my trousers.
Bless you, madam. And hey, I can do this all day.
“Now, had Larry Elder been holding the talk at Hobart, unlike the polite Mr Owens, he would have shouted down the screaming college garbage babies trying to shout him down. I’ve heard him do it”
–Spiny Norman
Yes, he’s great. If black Americans listened to him and Sowell instead of listening to corrupt “black leaders”, Marxist “intellectuals”, black nationalists, “celebrities” and “sport stars” the problems within that community would be gone in a generation or two. Of course, I’m not naïve… The chances of that happening in the near future are, at best, small. The Booker T. Washington types are more or less gone (save for Elder, Sowell, Jason Riley, Jesse Lee Peterson, Sheriff Clarke, Shelby Steele and a handful of others), and the Democrats have been extremely successful in convincing most (?) black Americans that any black person who is right-of-center is an “Uncle Tom”, “coon”, “sellout”, “Oreo cookie”, etc. not worth listening to (or worse, is an enemy).
Yes, he’s great.
A few years ago, Dr Ben Carson suggested that white lefties can be quite racist in their assumptions. Specifically, “because they put black people in a box and insist that they think one way – and if they don’t, they attack them as illegitimate.” Needless to say, said lefties responded by calling him an “Uncle Tom.” Also, “Uncle Ruckus,” a “puppet,” “a monster” and a “token.” The ‘progressive’ comedian Laura Levites quipped, “He can shine my shoes.” While the Daily Kos opted for the term “political Mandingo.”
I can’t help feeling they’re saying more than they realise.
theatre of improbable victimhood
Is that the band name or the debut album?
A few years ago, Dr Ben Carson suggested that white lefties can be quite racist in their assumptions.
Which party was it again that was responsible for Jim Crow laws and segregation? I can never remember.
Hmm. I don’t think he realized how that could be used in a different context.
It occurs to me that among the more telling student comments was the one cited here, again from the “Uncle Tom” lady:
So in her mind, such as it is, every white person in the room, on whose behalf she presumes to speak, is racist – she just knows this, apparently – and Mr Owens is racist too, and is encouraging others to be racist. By politely noting the importance of personal responsibility. Which you mustn’t ever do. And note the complicity of faculty and college administrators, who claim that continually interrupting an invited speaker and screaming racial abuse at him, such that the Q&A session has to be abandoned, does not qualify as disruptive behaviour.
Incidentally, the colleges’ motto is, “Preparing students to lead lives of consequence.” Which seems a tad ironic, given the above.
Well, they’ll lead lives of negative consequences.
I love how the large black guy states that his question isn’t directed at Owens, but at the students. Then, when the moderator reminds him that they asked that questions be directed at Owens, he gets all indignant (it’s like the rules don’t apply to him
he gets all indignant (it’s like the rules don’t apply to him)
But if you tell people repeatedly that they deserve special favours and exemptions, and that the norms of debate and civility don’t apply to them, then this is what will happen. You’ll fill up the world with arrogant morons.
Yes, he’s great.
Re the “Uncle Tom” business, see also this. Diamond and Silk are a “modern-day minstrel show,” according to the New York Times.
Behaviour like this fuels my enthusiasm for saddling these proto-fascists with a lifetime of debt for a degree of no value.
Behaviour like this fuels my enthusiasm for saddling these proto-fascists with a lifetime of debt for a degree of no value.
Oh, you’re not burdening them. Those college professors and such what are “educating” these snowflakes, and these very snowflakes, are consuming someone’s productivity TODAY. Somebody who is capable of producing food, shelter, etc. is producing those things. Those things are being consumed by the aforementioned for no future benefit. You can’t get blood from a turnip. We’re burdening ourselves when we tolerate this crap.