At Heterodox Academy Jonathan Haidt enunciates an important rule:
Do not assume that being politically progressive will protect you (as Weinstein and the Christakises found out). Whatever your politics, you are eventually going to say or do something that will be interpreted incorrectly and ungenerously. Your intentions don’t matter (as Dean Spellman found out at CMC.) This is especially true if your university offers students training in the detection of microaggressions.
And the rules will change too rapidly for you to keep up. There is no such thing as sensitive enough.
What is the goal, the end game, of all of this? Stay tuned.
Blasphemy is an intentional act that occurs in the present. This is something else. Black people think about ‘well-meaning’ white people in the same way that Trump voters think about white liberals.
I cringed when I read ‘put phenotype aside’ in that email. If I had the same thoughts as that professor and wished to express my disagreement, that word would not have been used, unless I was trying to be snarky or a jerk. It’s like when someone calls a gay person a ‘homosexual’.
I’ve enjoyed Haidt’s books and have a tremendous amount of respect for his current work.
the French Revolution with its purges/counter purges gave way to Bonaparte so, who knows
@Modulo Myself
… phenotype …
He is a Biology professor, and this may be a word he uses frequently, but maybe not.
I use words, phrases, and grammar constructs that are often flagged as archaic, and occasionally, my spellings are alternative or the British versions. I think it because of my reading choices. I try to avoid jargon, but I do apply science, IT, and philosophical concepts to other areas. I often refer to humans as “animals”.
… calls a gay person a ‘homosexual’.
I must be missing something, but a gay person is a homosexual. Now, calling a transgender person or a female impersonator a “drag queen” would be offensive as well as ignorant.
… ‘well-meaning’ white people …
Unless you are mean “‘ignorant’ white people who think and say racially insensitive things while thinking they are post-racial”, you should have used ‘liberal’ or ‘progressive’, and if you wanted to be more precise, you should have added “often rich”.
The fact that black people and Trump voters think the same way should give progressives pause. Apparently, they both think that white (often rich) liberals/progressives are the problem.
I wonder if this is a real, lasting phenomenon or if it’s just the latest fad among privileged college students.
Tasty–
I think ‘well-meaning’ white people act terribly to black people, and they leave it up to blacks to excuse them because they didn’t mean it. Like being in the front of your house in a nice neighborhood raking your leaves and having someone drive up and cheerfully offer you money to come to their house and rake their lawn. I suspect that it used to be most privileged black people surrendered to a lifetime of having to deal with these ‘misunderstands’. But that is no longer the case, I’m guessing.
The fact that black people and Trump voters think the same way should give progressives pause. Apparently, they both think that white (often rich) liberals/progressives are the problem.
Black people think white supremacy is the problem. Trump voters think supremacy is the problem. They seem pretty agnostic about the ‘white’ part.
I sure would hate to teach these tedious young people. Do they ever get off their high horses long enough to study?
@Modulo Myself
… I suspect that it used to be most privileged black people surrendered to a lifetime of having to deal with these ‘misunderstands’. …
Unprivileged black people are subjected to many small racially insensitive or ignorant dealings with supposedly non-racists, and yes, they mostly “go with the flow”. At least, that was my experience years ago, and I doubt much has changed.
I know that many of the black people I have met keep their “blackness” hidden. The “black” label is more prevalent than a derogatory racial epithet. The label has some advantages, but the disadvantages are overwhelming.
I suspect that you have an idea of what I mean. Joe is not just “Joe”. “Joe” is “black Joe”, and many times “black Joe” is not like the “other blacks”. Cue up the “there are blacks and there are n*gg*rs” speech, either explicitly or implicitly. Charlie is not “white Charlie”. He is not the present representative of white people, and he is not distinguished from the “white trash” by his ability to act civilized. On the other hand, “Black Joe” is a shining example of his race because he does not dress outrageously and does not shit on the rug.
I do not know if the older black folks still do it, but as a white person in home of a poor or lower income black family (yes Virginia, they do exist), you are treated like royalty. Again, they are trying to avoid the “blackness” label. I have seen similar behavior in poor and lower income white people, but they only need to overcome the negative stereotypes.
For many poor and lower income black folks, the stress and tension are caused by trying to not antagonize the white folks, and it is a constant undertone of their life. At any moment, “Black Joe” can become “n*gg*r Joe”. All you white people should think about that.
Andy- That is my take on it. For some reason every time this happens somewhere it gets pots of coverage. The Yale thing happened, a year ago? Still being talked about. So it is a fairly uncommon phenomenon mostly among pretty well to do kids. The schools put up with it because they don’t want to lose money. Remember the kids all living in communes in the 60s and 70s? Produced the self-centered, materialistic baby boomers. Really, we should spend less time on this and more on problems involving adults.
Steve
@steve
… Remember the kids all living in communes in the 60s and 70s? Produced the self-centered, materialistic baby boomers. Really, we should spend less time on this and more on problems involving adults.
Also, produced wash and wear leisure suits, disco, and cocaine. (I realize they only popularized it, but I like to use parallelisation.)
I have no reason to expect anything different from this bunch.
more on problems involving adults.
The adults in these situations appear to be part of the problem though. I agree that money is primarily the reason for that, and hope that the financial incentives start to work in the right direction with enrollment dropping off and alumni contributions drying up wherever the administrators cower before the mobs.
Yes, I think administrators are part of the problem and the problem seems to be limited to a handful of schools. The administrators are also doing these angry students a disservice by allowing them to believe they will be able to get away with that crap in the real world.