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Concerning the comment I highlighted, do you really think these type college courses constitute a conversation? What will happen to a white student who disagrees on the concept of "white privilege" for example or who thinks BLM is a hate group? At a minimum he will fail the course and be labeled a racist. If they could find a way, he'd be drummed out of the school for their version of hate crimes. A conversation would allow for more than one point of view. Colleges increasingly have taken on a thought police mentality and do not allow discussions about any racial, religious, or political issue.
I have been the sole black person in a class of white people and I have had discussions about race with all white people in a group whereas I disagreed with much of what they stated along with the instructor.
I did not fail those classes because I know how to support my arguments.
I also shared within a previous post that I personally do disagree with the concept of "white privilege." IMO it is just a new term for "prejudice" and that it confuses people. Prejudice is prejudice IMO.
If the student thinks BLM is a hate group, then they need to support that idea with reputable source material but in a discussion about "white supremacy" and defining "whiteness" why would you assume that BLM will be brought up?
Conversations at college campuses do allow for more than one view.
I'll also note that you are sharing the same viewpoint in your response to me that many black American and other students of color share about attending mainstream, majority white institutions. That their experiences are negated and disallowed and a "thought police mentality" will not allow their own views to be heard. If you are okay with this for a student of color in a race focused class, why are you trying to censor another type of race class that will make a white student uncomfortable? Do you care more about the white student's discomfort than a student of color?
IMO as a black person, I want to be presented with arguments that are contrary to where I stand. It helps one grow as an individual and makes one aware of what is going on in the society around them. I mentor young black students at a mainstream, predominantly white institution and they tell me all the time about the demeaning things they experience in class, which you and other whites probably don't give a crap about. You know what I tell them - listen to those people, educate yourself about them and break down every single piece of idiocy that they and the professor comes at your with. Knowledge is power. And it goes both ways. I personally am disheartened by the desire of both conservatives and liberals to silence the other side. You are basically saying what liberals are saying when they don't want a conservative speaker delivering a commencement - will make us uncomfortable or offend us and we don't want our feelings hurt. We want a "safe space."
I consider myself a true intellect. Intellectuals don't care about hurt feelings in an intellectual debate. I care about the points being made and how the person validates/shares those POVs. Along the way, it is also good to have an open mind about the other's views. That is how people grow.
I may have come from a middle class family with regard to my father but our stepmother came from true abject poverty. She felt it was important for us to know what that was like, and she was right.
What do you want to know? What it was like after Pinatubo blew? What it looks like when lahar eats away the skin of your neighbors youngest child and you and your brother find them? Food shortages, looting, murders, ? Pick your poison.
Yeah, I really believe you -- not.
Maybe you can convince me with a longer and more detailed resume of your abject poverty and misery.
I honestly wonder what the heck these people read/consume in regards to historic literature and media.
I did add generously. Doesn't matter what they read. To them history is an exercise in proving they are right today. It is little more than propaganda. So what else are they gonna get out of history but racism ended in 1965. Racism was only mean individuals carrying out certain acts and the government was forcing that on the rest of Americans who just see everyone as American regardless of skin color.
MLzk gave a speech in which he said color doesn't matter character does. So I'm going to pretend that's all there is know about his legacy.
So once the government changed laws, racism became a tiny or nonexistent problem of mean people.
The fact that the 14th amendment ended racial discrimination and that was followed by the 100 year terror campaign of Jim Crow in the south and housing and employment and policing discrimination in North seems to have escaped their keen minds.
Which means simply having a law on the books doesn't actually mean anything or else the 14th amendment would have stopped racial discrimination which it didn't.
They don't see white people being violent and politically organizing in labor in school in housing to dominate everything as the single most powerful political force in American history even though it clearly is.
When you accuse people of lying when they haven't, you have lost the debate.
It is my OPINION that there would be no black airline pilot neighbor of mine if Refineryworker was right.
An opinion is not a lie.
But you already knew that. I suspect you of trolling on this point.
Oh dear, we are at the point where opinions = fact.
Refineryworker's correctness with regards to his (or her I don't mean to presume) statements regarding the backslide of segregation are supported by evidence. That means that your "OPINION" that he is wrong, is a lie.
Cool I will check it out of the library tonight. I am interested to see what he has to say about European culture. Can you paraphrase so I know what to look out for?
Since you won't even look up "European culture" on wikipedia or anywhere else, and instead make jokes about the tooth fairy and big foot, hell no, I won't "paraphrase" for you.
To play off my post above, I'll also mention that the course has a list of reference material that will be discussed along with quotes from some famous black authors - Richard Wright and WEB DuBois.
WEB DuBois specifically was a stalwart black leader/intellectual who not too many white people know much about at all. Just like many of you seem to not know how radical MLK was. Reading this material IMO and this has also been in my experience, actually does broaden the viewpoints of white American students. They are not some racist monolithic group of kids. They can read and think and explore and come to their own conclusions. WEB DuBois and Dr. King especially are not very controversial figures, yet both of them spoke of the system of "white supremacy." So I do feel that in the "safety" of academia, the students will be able to have a very deep, meaningful discussion about "whiteness" and how the ideological concept of "white supremacy" came into being. I also am one not to think that everyone's feelings will be hurt over a class or to be too concerned about hurt feelings that may occur over a class. They will need to come to terms with their feelings and get over it.
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I care about the points being made and how the person validates/shares those POVs. Along the way, it is also good to have an open mind about the other's views. That is how people grow.