On April 30, professors at the UC Davis Chicano Studies Department wrote students and community members expressing “our enormous anger at the recurring incidents of racial harassment and discrimination towards the Chicana/o Latina/o community at UC Davis. Faculty, staff, and students are extremely distressed by the constant macro and micro aggressions that emerge across the institution.”
They write, “We see these acts as reminders of the severe under-representation of Chicana/o Latina/o faculty, staff, administrators, and students within the UC system; a stark juxtaposition to our community’s majority population in the state of California and an indication of the remaining legacy of California’s and the US’s racialized oppressive past. Ultimately, these racist aggressions and the hurtful aftermath become an extra tax on our department, an emotional, physical, and time-based tax that is not felt across the campus nor shared across all departments.”
An April 27 letter by student groups wrote Chancellor Linda Katehi to “express our disappointment in how UC Davis has systematically failed to respond to and prevent incidents of racial insensitivity, hate, harassment, discrimination, and ignorance.”
The next day, the chancellor responded, “Let me also state unequivocally that the incidents you describe in your letter are deplorable and unacceptable. They have absolutely no place on our campus or in our community. I fully understand how painful and demeaning these incidents are to the individuals involved and to our collective campus community. As Chancellor, it pains me to acknowledge that such hurtful incidents have occurred on our campus. Like you, I recognize that to eradicate them we must face these problems head-on with a direct, swift and focused response.”
While the chancellor’s remark was strongly worded, there is concern on the part of some that her response delegated responsibility to Vice Chancellor Adela de la Torre and that “the only concrete action is to schedule a community forum. Students, faculty and staff are tired of dialogue. What are the policies and deep institutional and systemic changes that the administration is going to put into action to prevent these hateful and racist incidents from happening again?”
Below are all three letters in full…
April 27th, 2015
To Chancellor Katehi and Senior Administration of UC Davis:
We are writing to you to express our disappointment in how UC Davis has systematically failed to respond to and prevent incidents of racial insensitivity, hate, harassment, discrimination, and ignorance. It is extremely disappointing that our communities have to experience such disrespectful, ignorant, and harmful acts for several years now on campus. We call on you and your fellow senior administration to acknowledge your failure to guarantee a safe, respectful, and comfortable space for students of color on this campus. We also call on your administration to engage with students of color to develop long-term programmatic, financial, and policy changes to institutionalize UC Davis’ enforcement of its Principles of Community.
There have been several incidents that have made this campus unsafe for underrepresented communities such as:
- Alpha Gamma Rho’s “Lupe Song”
- “Catch the Illegal Immigrant Game” by the Davis College Republicans
- Anti-gay hate speech being found on the stairwell of the Rainbow House
- A wrestling team having a party called “Hoes and Hermaphrodites”
- LGBTQIA Resource Center being defaced with homophobic graffiti
- EOP office being defaced and vandalized with racial slurs
- Having the “Unfinished Dream” multicultural mural at the Memorial Union being defaced and having the Star of David drawn over the Palestinian flag on the mural.
- Having the Lambda Law School Students Association’s bulletin board being defaced with a homophobic slur
- A ribbon being written on with the words “use me as a noose” being displayed on campus during the 2011 UC Davis Student of Color Conference
- The mock KKK hood being found on the African/African-American Living Learning Community
- “Cinco de Drinko” and “Holyland” parties by Coho employees
- “Phiesta” party by the Alpha Phi Sorority and Sigma Chi Fraternity
- Members of the official UC Davis Women’s Lacrosse Team posing as “Mexican gangsters” in a photo.
- Death threats, incidents of Islamophobia and other anti-Arab attacks that have been reported on campus
And many other incidents that go unreported.
These are not isolated events. As the “One UC Davis” campaign proclaims, we are “a global network of people connected to our university”, and thus all these events are connected.
To say that these incidents have upset us would be a disservice to how much pain we and our respective communities are feeling on this campus. These are injustices.
For that reason, we no longer want letters of apologies, but a declaration by the university stating that they as an institution have failed their students in providing a safe, respectful, and comfortable space for them. That the University has failed to “maintain a climate of justice marked by respect for each other” which the “Principles of Community” proclaim . The University has not provided a space that will “confront and reject all manifestations of discrimination, including those based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, status within or outside the university, or any of the other differences among people which have been excuses for misunderstanding, dissension or hatred.”
Our communities want these words within our “Principles of Community” to not only be words on the website. They should instead provide the foundation for concerted action. For that reason we also want a declaration and a real commitment by the university to combat these injustices that happen on campus.
We require a prompt response, no more than 24 hours upon receiving this letter, in regards to the hate acts that have been occurring on campus. We require and demand immediate and clear consequences for any future acts of similar nature, and that those consequences be mentioned as clearly as possible to any future students who wish to partake in any similar event .
We deserve to be in a university where we are not attacked, ridiculed, shamed, harassed, or discriminated against based on our identities and appearances. We deserve to be respected, acknowledged, safe and comfortable in this community. We deserve to continue our education in a supportive campus where we can ensure Administration will confront cases of racial insensitivity, hate, harassment, discrimination, and ignorance.
As the university moves forward to becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution, we believe it will be of utmost importance that campus leaders and administrators intentionally shape our campus organizational culture to create more inclusive environments for our racially and ethnically diverse student populations.
If the university continues to ignore these repetitive harmful acts of hate, discrimination, and ignorance then it will be clear to us that this university does not care for the safety and well-being of their students. If this issue is not resolved internally with institutionalized support, we will then push to have this addressed externally.
Your students and community…
Katehi’s Response
April 28, 2015
Dear Students and Campus Community Members:
I have read your detailed and thoughtful letter. When issues arise on campus that are troubling to you, I very much want to know about them, so let me first say thank you for taking time to reach out to me.
Let me also state unequivocally that the incidents you describe in your letter are deplorable and unacceptable. They have absolutely no place on our campus or in our community. I fully understand how painful and demeaning these incidents are to the individuals involved and to our collective campus community. As Chancellor, it pains me to acknowledge that such hurtful incidents have occurred on our campus. Like you, I recognize that to eradicate them we must face these problems head-on with a direct, swift and focused response.
The sense of community UC Davis is known for cannot be truly healthy or welcoming when incidents occur like those you describe. They are an affront to us all. That is why we need a commitment from every member of our community to redouble efforts to change the culture on campus and make sure these incidents stop. You have my commitment as Chancellor that we will take action and work with you to achieve this goal.
I agree on the need for a strong, clear and decisive course of action to address this problem right now. Our Principles of Community are important, but we must do more. I have directed Adela de la Torre, our Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, to assist me and the UC Davis community in immediately beginning to identify tangible actions we must take now and in the future to forcefully address these climate concerns.
I have also asked Vice Chancellor de la Torre and her Student Affairs colleagues to meet with you, our students, as quickly as possible and to hear your thoughts about what must be done now and moving forward. I appreciate some of the good ideas students have shared already, including introduction of a restorative justice program and mandatory diversity education for all entering students, and I know you will have more constructive recommendations.
As such, Vice Chancellor de la Torre has arranged a meeting to discuss the issue with students this Thursday, April 30th at 12:00 p.m. in Meeting Room 1 of the ARC. With our students’ and the community’s help, we will identify concrete steps needed to improve the culture and direction of our campus. We cannot do this alone. We need your help and support from the entire campus community to bring about this much-needed change.
We share great pride about the outstanding work our UC Davis students, faculty and staff achieve daily in so many areas. To ensure that these collective accomplishments are never compromised or diminished, and so everyone at UC Davis feels safe, supported and welcome, we must all do a better job on the types of climate issues you have identified.
I commend you for standing up to be heard. You have my commitment to work diligently with you to address these concerns as swiftly and directly as possible.
Sincerely,
Linda P.B. Katehi
Chancellor
4/30/15
Dear Students, Community and Familia,
We are writing to you to express our enormous anger at the recurring incidents of racial harassment and discrimination towards the Chicana/o Latina/o community at UC Davis. Faculty, staff, and students are extremely distressed by the constant macro and micro aggressions that emerge across the institution. We see these acts as reminders of the severe under-representation of Chicana/o Latina/o faculty, staff, administrators, and students within the UC system; a stark juxtaposition to our community’s majority population in the state of California and an indication of the remaining legacy of California’s and the US’s racialized oppressive past. Ultimately, these racist aggressions and the hurtful aftermath become an extra tax on our department, an emotional, physical, and time-based tax that is not felt across the campus nor shared across all departments.
We are writing to voice our unconditional support to our Chicana/o and Latina/o students, staff and community at this time. As UC Davis moves towards becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution, we seek meaningful institutional change that creates an educational community that protects, values, and structurally supports under-represented students, faculty, and staff.
Racist events across campus are often seen as isolated incidents. Yet, as indicated in a recent letter sent by students who have been hurt, marginalized, and alienated by the latest racist incident, these racist behaviors by members of different university’s organizations, sports teams, and individuals are part of a long history of racist acts that have not been repaired institutionally. Within the student’s recent letter (attached here as an addendum) a lack of safety and respect on the UC Davis campus is expressed. Faculty in Chicana/o Studies share these feelings of institutionalized racism, as we too carry the burden of seeking to persist within a campus community where micro and macro racist aggressions take place constantly. This is not an isolated incident but rather an issue that demands institutional change at a time when the state of California is facing dramatic transformation.
As the state of California continues to transform with an ever growing Chicana/o/Latina/o population and as UC Davis moves to become a Hispanic Serving Institution, we seek institutional change in every sector of the campus; the Academic Senate, the Classroom, Student-Life, and in meeting the mission of the Land-Grant institution to apply research and solutions to the State’s needs; the under-representation and risk factors facing the Chicana/o Latina/o community being a priority.
Moving forward the faculty and staff in Chicana/o Studies pledge that there will be one place on the UC Davis campus where we can guarantee everyone will be valued/respected/supported and that place is within our hallway and in the classrooms of our Department. The faculty and staff also pledge that we will work with all who seek to create meaningful transformation and to fulfill the mission of public higher education within the state of California.
For now, as always, we are at your service,
Signed by the Chicana/o Studies Faculty
It was interesting that the first letter mentioned a hate incident described as a vandalism of a mural where the Star of David was painted over the Palestinian flag and references to Islamophobia and other anti-Arab attacks without mentioning the recent anti-Semitism as noted in the media this year. Is there some alliance between the Hispanic and Arab students that excludes Jewish students? After all the goal of the first letter was to “prevent incidents of racial insensitivity, hate, harassment, discrimination, and ignorance.” It seems they are only concerned about certain instances of insensitivity and hate. Just an observation.
zaqzaq
“ without mentioning the recent anti-Semitism as noted in the media this year”
I also felt this was a significant omission and feel that they would have made a much stronger statement had they included this breech of respect for all.
which suggests that there is an even bigger problem than we thought because this is not an exhaustive list.
When whites become a small minority, who will be the new evil oppressors? Asians and East Indians? Except I don’t think they will fall for any guilt trips.
i think you lack an understanding of the power dynamics here. it’s not just “minority” in terms of numbers, it’s minority in terms of political power.
It is a bigger problem because it is a coalition of specific minorities that have not problem excluding or targeting another minority.
zaqzaq, thank you for spotting such a glaring, purposeful omission, which tells us exactly who these complainers are, political operatives. There have been repeated anti-Semitic acts against our Jewish brothers and sisters, a call by an Arab student leader for the end of Israel, yet they want to highlight some stupid yet innocent college mistakes (like the lacrosse team, no pattern or malice seen there).
I think this tells us something about the work load in the Chicano/a Studies Department for faculty.
The Alpha PHI sorority had a PHiesta…not racist, just a nice play on words
“Cinco de Drinko”….clever, not racist unless you’re uber sensitive
A wrestling team having a party called “Hoes and Hermaphrodites”….really stretching aren’t they?
I think it gets to a totality of the circumstances.
No it is just them reaching to find other examples of alleged racist behavior where none exists to attempt to give more examples where in reality few exist.
BP
““Cinco de Drinko”….clever, not racist unless you’re uber sensitive”
What you dub “clever” I see as infantile and disrespectful although probably falling short of “racist”. However, if you haven’t yet, you might want to check out today’s article on the Bonillo case which to me clearly represents the presence of “racism” in our policing and legal system.
maybe we can have a redneck and cracker party? of course since whites aren’t a vulnerable population, they may not see it as threatening as minorities.
Typical that the most vocal Progressive uses the worst ethnic slur against European Americans, and also attempts to have it both ways. I gather the failure of Democratic and Obamanomics policies in Baltimore and elsewhere puts them in a tough spot.
DP, there’s big difference there. Now if you had a Russian mafia party where everyone dressed up like white thugs than that would be a better analogy. And that wouldn’t bother me in the least.
the big difference is that there is no real white parallel because white people haven’t had hundreds of years of systematic discrimination.
Really? Jews or Irish weren’t discriminated against? I think you need to read some history books.
the key is history. jews are the most affluent subgroup in america now.
I proved your “no white parallel wrong”.
you didn’t. more importantly, you didn’t prove it wrong in the sense that i was writing it – a contemporary experience of systematic prejudice. you can go back to in time and find prejudice against catholics as well, and then remember it was a wasp dominated society in america. as recently as 1960, they were asking a presidential candidate if they could be loyal to the us over the pope. the kkk used to go after catholics as papists just as much as they went after jews and blacks. you’re missing the forest through the trees however if you think you proved anything by bringing that up. you don’t have parallel levels of discrimination in current society for whites as non-whites and so any examples you give are unlikely to resonate because the targeted individual is not a person in a vulnerable position. to the jewish example however, the concern you and others have expressed for jews on campus however demonstrates that you kind of get it more than you’re letting on.
Irish need not apply – gangs of new york.
It a sad state of affairs when bad taste becomes exaggerated into something that is now “threatening”.
I don’t like how you think; your brain is simply wired totally differently from mine. I consider the above remarks ignorant, racist and offensive.
Alan,
I agree with you in that DP’s mind is wired differently to the point where he believes he can make ignorant, racist and offensive comments based on his biased opinion about who is a “vulnerable population”. Next he will have a vulnerability rating for different ethnic and other populations. Will they have to achieve a specific score to be deemed “vulnerable”?
6am…. “then put your little hand in mine, there aint no hill or mountain, we cant climb…. I got you babe, I got you babe”……..
…. okay campers, rise and shine… and don’t forget your booties because its coold out there!!…
It’s not a good analogy for you to use because the end result of the movie is that there really were problems with the world that the main character was able to rectify having to go through the same problem over and over again. So if we point out racial problems in the community over and over again, then perhaps eventually we’ll figure out a way to address them.
yea except that I’m bill murray, and the vanguard is not the real problems, its the frikkin song on the alarm clock.
IF the community at UCD is so successful with the population of students and most of the City hires people from Davis, why is this still happening? Why are students who show up here still insensitive or ignorant, each generation of new students?
You cannot end this circle of Life, you can only combat it by education and communication. the University has a program to “End racism” and they think they did it. That is ignorance. Just like “Ending Hunger” or “Ending Homelessness” it is stupid to think you ended anything, except a reprieve for a brief time. Next year a new crop of Freshmen arrive, just like Kindergartners, and you have to start all over again.
When they abolished “quotas” for racial diversity, they got One Black the next year on campus. Blacks knew when they were being screwed, no matter the press release, and they stopped applying. IF Hispanics (they hate that term), I mean Latinos (they hate that one too), and Chicanos (oops, another lump of cultures encompassing the Americas) stop applying, they get the message.
Talk to them instead of putting out a press release.
Davis has its own Al Sharpton.
what is interesting is that david was not the primary author for either piece.
cosigners for april 30 letter:
Carlos F. Jackson, Associate Professor & Chair, Chicana/o Studies
Angie Chabram, Professor, Chicana/o Studies
Yvette Flores, Professor, Chicana/o Studies
Sergio de la Mora, Associate Professor, Chicana/o Studies
Natalia Deeb-Sossa, Associate Professor, Chicana/o Studies
Maceo Montoya, Assistant Professor, Chicana/o Studies
Susy Zepeda, Assistant Professor, Chicana/o Studies
Clarissa Rojas, Assistant Professor, Chicana/o Studies
Alyssa West, Program Coordinator, Chicana/o Studies
Alma Martinez, Student Affairs Officer, Chicana/o Studies
consigners for april 27:
Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlan (MEChA) de UC Davis
La Fe Latino Fellowship
Scholars Promoting Education, Awareness, and Knowledge (SPEAK) of UC Davis
La Familia
Sac Girls Speak
Voices of Color
Sexual Assault Awareness Advocacy Committee (SAAAC)
DREAM Committee (DREAM)
Sergio de la Mora, Associate Professor, Chicana/o Studies Dept.
Mariah K. Watson, ASUCD President
Anabiah Syed, ASUCD Senator
Andrea Velazquez, ASUCD Senator
Danielle Mae Santiago, ASUCD Senator
Casey Nguyen, ASUCD Senator
Harley Litzelman, Director of the ASUCD Office of Advocacy and Student Representation
Nilofer Chollampat, Ethnic & Cultural Affairs Commission Chair
Joanna Jaroszewska, ASUCD Business and Finance Commission Chair
Yee Xiong, Student Director of Southeast Asians Furthering Education (SAFE)
Maria Salazar, Student Assistant for the Department of Chicana/o Studies
Lamia Hajani, Asian/Pacific Islander Coordinator @ Cross Cultural Center
Karen Gonzalez, Student Director, RROC Board Chair
Sabrina Sanchez, Holistic Retention Coordinator
Erica Perez, Gender and Sexuality Coordinator
Angelica Flores, Middle School Outreach
Adriana Fernandez, High School Outreach
Alondra Morales, Administration
Recycle, reuse… the Lupe song controversy goes back 40 years… think a frat was suspended a bit for that…
Love the new dictionary for the hypersensitive, victim mentality, social-justice crusade.
If you stare at my dog long enough he will growl at you. Staring is micro aggression?
it must be sad to see the world pass you by and you’re probably not even aware of it:
“Microaggression is a form of unintended discrimination. It is depicted by the use of known social norms of behavior and/or expression that, while without conscious choice of the user, has the same effect as conscious, intended discrimination.”
it reminds me of the lady who spoke at the breaking the silence of racism event this year.
but you’ve never experience that, so you’d rather mock it.
I think he’s experienced it, but he sounds like a confident man with a lot going on in his life, so if someone takes a dig at his waistline, or a comment about losing hair or something being out of place, he hasn’t been conditioned to be butthurt. He’ll make light of it, ignore it, or maybe even add in a self deprecating comment, and move back to his extensive to-do list. He is not a Victim. Remember, there are no victims, only Volunteers.
This, about the Vanguard’s most butthurt poster? Roflmao. A person who truly believes the crap he writes would assume he’s the most terrified white man in America.
;>)/
“Chicana/o Studies Faculty” are concerned about their safety at Davis… to illustrate their fears they list a brief list of anonymous graffiti, songs from events they hadn’t attended and take on the burden of other communities that they clearly do not understand or represent… But clearly they wouldn’t waste all of our time unless there was a serious safety concern right? So I decided to google hispanic and see about assaults that they have suffered in the Davis community. Here is what I came up with in 5 minutes of searching…
Davis police investigate sexual assault Davis Enterprise
www.davisenterprise.com/…/davis-police-investigate-sex…Davis Enterprise
Oct 14, 2014 – A 20-year-old woman reported being the victim of a sexual assault early … He described the suspect as a Hispanic male in his early 20s …
Shots fired from SUV in downtown Davis Davis Enterprise
www.davisenterprise.com/…/shots-fired-from-suv-in-do…Davis Enterprise
Apr 3, 2015 – … vehicle with custom chrome wheels and occupied by three Hispanicmale adults, … Sexual assault awareness campaign recognizes teens.
Police investigate weekend robberies Davis Enterprise
www.davisenterprise.com/…/police-investigate-weekend…Davis Enterprise
Apr 21, 2015 – He described the suspect as a Hispanic male between 18 and 25 years old, about … Sexual assault awareness campaign recognizes teens.
Police investigate gunpoint robbery Davis Enterprise
www.davisenterprise.com/…/crime…/police-investigate-g…Davis Enterprise
Apr 14, 2015 – A man reported being robbed at gunpoint Sunday night on Covell Boulevard … Police described the suspect as a Hispanic male in his mid-20s, …
Sexual battery reported in South Davis Davis Enterprise
www.davisenterprise.com/…/sexual-battery-reported-in-s…Davis Enterprise
Mar 22, 2015 – … described as a Hispanic male in his 20s, with a small mustache and wearing a … Sexual assault awareness campaign recognizes teens.
Purse stolen on G Street Davis Enterprise
www.davisenterprise.com/…/purse-stolen-on-g-street/Davis Enterprise
Apr 5, 2015 – Davis Police Cpl. Michael Moore said the alleged theft occurred after 2 … Moore said, but she recalled being approached by a Hispanic male, whom … College leaders must join the conversation on campus sexual assaults.
Davis Enterprise » Crime, Fire + Courts
re-repent3.rssing.com/chan-3401846/all_p14.htmlhttp://www.davisenterprise.com/category/local-news/crime-fire-courts/feed …. man came up the driveway, assaulted her and demanded her bank bag . … Miramontes is described as a Hispanic male with dark hair and brown eyes, 5 feet …
Two jailed after burglary, police chase Davis Enterprise
www.davisenterprise.com/…/two-jailed-after-burglary-p…Davis Enterprise
Apr 16, 2015 – An alleged daytime home burglary led to a high-speed chase, a crash and the arrest of two people on multiple felony charges, Davis police …
Reward offered in search for burglary suspect Davis …
www.davisenterprise.com/…/reward-offered-in-search-f…Davis Enterprise
Mar 13, 2014 – Reward offered in search for burglary suspect. By Enterprise staff … Read the complete story in Friday’s Enterprise. … Lopez is described as a Hispanicmale, about 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Robbery, pursuit in Central Davis lead to one arrest Davis …
www.davisenterprise.com/…/crime…/robbery-pursuit-in-…Davis Enterprise
Aug 31, 2014 – The incident included a truck stolen out of Woodland, a robbery on … two or three Hispanic males had stopped in front of him, before one or … Reach Anne Ternus- Bellamy at aternus@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8051.
Man robbed at gunpoint in South Davis Davis Enterprise
www.davisenterprise.com/…/crime…/man-robbed-at-gun…Davis Enterprise
Mar 6, 2014 – Davis police are seeking two suspects in an armed robbery that … Waltz described the suspects as Hispanic males in their late teens, both …
Robbery turns violent; suspects sought Davis Enterprise
www.davisenterprise.com/…/robbery-turns-violent-suspe…Davis Enterprise
Dec 22, 2013 – A robbery-turned-assault Saturday afternoon left one victim with a facial … The suspects — two men about 30 years old, one Hispanic, one …
Foursome who robbed man sought Davis Enterprise
www.davisenterprise.com/…/crime…/foursome-who-robbe…
Davis EnterpriseDec 17, 2013 – Davis police are seeking the suspects in a robbery that occurred early … Glasgow described the suspects as Hispanic males between 16 and …
News in Brief: Two robberies reported | The Aggie
http://www.theaggie.org › City News The California Aggie
Jan 7, 2013 – The first robbery occurred at around 2:30 a.m. at East Eighth Street and … Another person who accompanied the suspect was described as a Hispanic male, about 20 … 3 The Davis Enterprise released its first newspaper not.
Thanks for this meaningless, but clearly intended post.
;>)/
Hardly meaningless, Biddlen… the only “hispanic safety” issue in the Davis community appears to come from Hispanic males.
Spot on, Gunrock, “perceived hurts” are more important than actual violent crimes.
no – they are different. we have police, prosecutors, judges, courts, jails and parole officers to deal with those crimes. we don’t have any institution that is parallel to those institutions or the amount of resources we deal with crime to deal with the issue in this article.
we spend millions of dollars locally to arrest, try and incarcerate people who commit assaults. we have already assigned a value to that. what people are complaining about with regards to the racial incidents is not that they are more important than assaults, but rather that we have a solution as to how to deal with assaults but no consensus on how to deal with racial incidents.
And who gets to define what “racial incidents” are “hurtful”? I’ve seen potentially offensive Irish t-shirts, etc., especially around St. Patricks Day, but the Irish typically have a strong sense of self, and don’t wilt over poor or tasteless humor. And yes, DP, they were systematically discriminated against for a long time and had to work their tails off. Some thought John Kennedy couldn’t become president because he was Irish Catholic.
See, in 1970 or 1990, we had no vehicle – like the Internet – to post and repost the “Seniors” sports poster and to whip up resentment or hurt feelings. Same for the slip of paper under the door.
thank you for blindly posting 15 incidents with hispanic suspects over a 30 month period in davis. now what the heck does that have to do with anything?
The issue dear Davis Progressive is one of SAFETY. Their whole nonsensical letter claims their fear for their safety from their list of perceived safety concerns. What the list is actually is one of perceived slights that they have aggregated to create an opportunity to ask for goodies from the chancellor. Well I fundamentally disagree with the notion that this has ANYTHING to do with safety. The only safety issue that seems to be relevant is one that is caused by hispanics in the city of Davis, it is routine to have a group of young hispanic males mug a lone walker in downtown evening at night. Routine! But this group of windbags want to pretend that the real safety issue is what someone sings at a party they didn’t attend.
The group of “academics” involved in this incident should be fired for wasting everyone’s time and being so utterly removed from the reality of “safety” issues.
no the issue dear gunrock is as tbd put it: ” “perceived hurts” are more important than actual violent crimes.” spending represents values and spend literally millions locally on enforcing laws and punishing crime. the reason that the other issues are being brought to light is we don’t have an effective system to deal with those types of grievances. it isn’t that public safety isn’t important – it’s that we already have a system in place to deal with it.
So what happens when you have so many groups with “perceived hurts” that are not based on reality and then come into conflict with each other. Freaking out every time some groups feathers get ruffled by some alleged slight gets ridiculous with time. Some people need to grow a thicker skin and move on.
My sense here is that she is out there in her positions and her activism and hence draws attention to herself. I would say that should demand that she should expect and have to accept criticism of and opposition to her positions. If she cannot take the heat, she should get out of the kitchen. Otherwise this is just passive-aggressive BS.
It is like you are throwing rocks at others and when a rock gets thrown back and it hits near you, you jump up and down and claim you are in fear of your safety within a certified victim group and demand new rules are put into place so only you get to throw the rocks.
Three of the six “most wanted” criminals on the City of Davis Police website are Latino males, two are wanted for rape.
Is this where we’re headed? Even when she was treated nice she had to turn it into a racial incident.
http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/07/leave-it-to-sally-kohn-to-make-a-nice-gesture-seem-racist/
you’re saying that the incident described above were simply efforts to treat someone nicely turned badly?
No, I’m saying she was treated nicely by a subway attendant then she had to turn it into a racial statement. She couldn’t just say thank you and leave it at that. Read some of the comments on the link, others get it. That gives me hope.
no she’s stupid and doesn’t get it, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things to be concerned about.
She was making a valid observation and accepting the fact that if she wanted to get to work on time, she’d better take advantage of the inequity. I have seen white passengers on sacrt light rail trains get an opportunity to purchase one at the next station if they forgot to buy a ticket or get a pass. Never seen anyone of colour get that break.
;>)/
maybe true, but it was a stupid thing to say that was more likely to blow up in her face than help.
Biddlin, read the comments on the link. Many posters said that they’ve seen people of all colors offered the same courtesy. But it doesn’t surprise me that you would see it her way.
i’m skeptical that you’re getting real accounts. particularly since you’re linking from a very conservative blog.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/sally-kohns-claim-of-white-privilege-on-nyc-subway-so-very-very-wrong/
So funny DP, you don’t believe this story but in turn you excoriate anyone who doesn’t buy into the Woodland College story or the Chicano studies dept. allegations.
The Chicana/o Studies professors want to see more of their tribe in academia faculty positions, but the problem is that when a lot of students focus on majors like lightweight “Chicana/o Studies”, they don’t qualify for positions in engineering, physics, chemistry, etc.
A lot of people see the opening of a campus support facility for illegal immigrants as a huge sign of support for the Latino community, one that even bothers some alumni.
Another useless major that will not lead to meaningful employment. The UCs have an obligation to emphasize majors that will lead to meaningful employment . This is almost as bad as a history or political science major.
Zaqzaq
Interesting choice of example of “useless majors”. I double majored in Anthropology and Political Science. There are many roads that lead to “meaningful employment.”
zaqzaq, some will go to law school or such, but for many, yes, their employment ability will be diminished.
Seems to me the posted examples of “offensive” messages are simply reactionary messages by college students against today’s sacred cows and taboos–every generation there is a certain percentage of adolescents between about 16-21 years old who have rebellious reactionary tendencies, and will express their rebellion against the establishment by mocking those things the establishment holds up as most sacred and taboo against criticism–today these most prominent sacred things include multiculturalism and ethnic identity politics.
So congratulations, ethnic tribal and multiculturalism supporters, you have made it! You’re part of the american establishment now, worthy of being mocked by todays crop of reactionary adolescents! (–surely better than being completely ignored?)
Like Frankly said, wouldn’t last ten minutes inside the locker room. But I also don’t enjoy the “game of life” as some people play it. They get ahead by stepping on people, not leading them.
Some of the protests have been more about rallying the young and ignorant than the educated and reasoned. So when they arrive, just as the LGBTQIA groups in the 80’s, they had to be strident to terrorize the Administration into backing down. And they do. Then another press release patting themselves on the back.
Have there been many (or any) incidents of violence or threats of violence at UCD for which there is clear evidence of a racial/ethnic motivational component? Honestly, I don’t know–worth bringing up any such information in the context of perceived danger vs. actual physical violence.