A Wesleyan University student named Bryan Stascavage who writes for the student paper, the Wesleyan Argus, recently penned an op-ed which was critical of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Since then, all hell has broken loose.
Here’s a sample of Stascavage’s column:
Why Black Lives Matter Isn’t What You ThinkA 20-year-old man walks into a church and massacres nine people, claiming that he was afraid that America was being taken over by Black Americans, citing American race relations as evidence. About a month later, a man wears a GoPro, tapes himself walking up to a local reporter and a cameraman, and shoots them both on camera, proclaiming racial injustice in this country as his motive.Police officers are looking over their shoulders as several cops have been targeted and gunned down. The week before classes started, seven officers were killed in the line of duty; a few were execution-style targeted killings.An officer I talked to put it succinctly: “If they want to come after me, fine. Just come at me head on. Don’t shoot me in the back of my head. I’d rather go down with a fighting chance.”Is this an atmosphere created by the police officers and racist elements in society itself? Many, including individuals in the Black Lives Matter movement, believe so.Or is it because of Black Lives Matter? Many believe that as well, including a police chief who made his remarks after one of his officers was shot and killed—he claimed that Black Lives Matter was responsible for the officer’s death. Some want Black Lives Matter labeled as a hate group.
Since the article’s publication, students affiliated with #BlackLivesMatter and faculty, have launched a petition to defund the student newspaper.
You can read more about the petition here.
Andy Thomasen of the Chronicle of Higher Education reports:
Group Petitions to Defund Wesleyan’s Campus Newspaper, Saying It’s Not a ‘Safe Space’A group of students and faculty members at Wesleyan University are petitioning to defund the Connecticut campus’s newspaper, The Wesleyan Argus, because “it neglects to provide a safe space for the voices of students of color.” According to an article in theArgus, the protesting group has also pledged to boycott the newspaper until its demands are met. Among them:
- Space on the newspaper’s front page should be devoted to submissions from minority voices.
- Positions should be created at the newspaper that count for course credit or work-study.
- Diversity training should be provided to members of all campus publications.
The Argus reports that the petition to strip the newspaper of its student-group funding was discussed in a Sunday meeting of the Wesleyan Student Assembly and that it will be the subject of an open forum on September 27.
We cover this sort of thing at College Insurrection all the time but this is an exceptional example of what’s happening on college campuses across the nation.
Academia has become infected with a strain of progressivism which loathes free speech and uses accusations of racism to stifle anything with which it disagrees.
Robby Soave of Reason has more:
Wesleyan Black Lives Matter Group Vows to Punish Student Newspaper for ThoughtcrimeIn response to a recent Argus op-ed that was mildly critical of BLM’s tactics, the protest group launched a petition calling for newspaper staff members to undergo diversity training and set up a space on the front page specifically for “marginalized groups/voices.” If no one submits content for this space, Argus staff members are instructed to instead print an advertisement “for your voice.” More than 100 students and faculty members have signed the petition.Unless these and other conditions are met, members of Black Lives Matter will dispose of any copies of The Argus they find. They also want the student government, which allocates funding to The Argus, to take action. Troublingly, they seem to have the support of both the student government president and vice president.
The petitioners’ demands are so absurd that even the far left site Gawker has noticed:
Too many of today’s college students believe they have a right to not be offended and that the point of higher education is activism and protests.
This is a problem that’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Featured image via YouTube.
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