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Political Correctness Tag

Posted by Jonathan Levin on December 11, 2015 12 Comments
Notwithstanding a modest consensus that affirmative action is doomed after Wednesday's arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, there are hints the Court might delay a substantive decision, dissatisfying all parties. For background on the case, see Legal Insurrection's preview, here.  The full transcript of Wednesday's oral arguments is here. There were a number of tense and emotional moments both between the Justices and the parties' attorneys and among the Justices themselves.  From the tenor of the questioning, it is likely the University of Texas's ("UT") admissions system will be struck down despite its minimal reliance on race, if the case is decided on its merits.  If so, the result may explicitly or implicitly ban affirmative action on the basis of race in public university admissions. But the Court, including presumptive deciding vote Justice Kennedy, repeatedly returned to procedural issues.

Posted by Mike Adamo on December 09, 2015 7 Comments
Last week, the group of Hamilton College activists known as “the Movement” released a lengthy list of demands to almost universal ridicule. Few Hamilton students respect the Movement’s childish and arrogant calls for public apologies, special attention, and, of course, money. Our college administrators, meanwhile, rushed to validate the protesters’ demands and feelings. “Fwd: Demands,” read the subject line of the email President Joan Hinde Stewart sent out to the campus, though she referred us benignly to the “attached message” the young scholars of the Movement had so humbly submitted for her consideration. “Certainly,” she wrote, “we always want to do better as a community and encourage discussion.” She could start by learning what a discussion is, because it sure doesn’t involve “demands.”

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 05, 2015 6 Comments
In the aftermath of the Clock Boy incident, Ahmed and many new allies on the left claimed that his arrest was proof of anti-Islam bigotry in a racist country. This year's valedictorian at Ahmed's old high school disagrees. From the FOX News Insider:
Claims of Intolerance at ‘Clock Kid’s’ School Disputed by Muslim Valedictorian Critics around the country cried Islamophobia when 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was arrested this year for bringing a homemade clock to school and prompting fears of a bomb. Now, the Muslim valedictorian of that school is coming to its defense, saying that her experience at MacArthur High was nothing but respectful.

Posted by Anne Segal on December 04, 2015 10 Comments
Over the past few weeks, Americans have had provided to them two new and diverse sets of emojis to reflect, more precisely, their exact physical characteristics: Latino emojis and curly-haired emojis. Zubi Advertising released the Latino-culture emoji keyboard and Unilever's Dove crafted the "curly-haired" emojis, both available to download for free. If I was feeling generous, I would say this is quite the triumph of the free market: companies, sensing a consumer need, responded to than need and, voila, a gap was filled in the emoji market. It seems that this may be less of a "demand" issue than a desire to be a "first-mover" in the race to find the next empty overture to appease the gods of condemnation and political correctness.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 04, 2015 12 Comments
My alma mater Hamilton College has been in turmoil for years. Over the course of two dedaces, hard-driving leftist professors effectively drove the study of Western Civilization off campus. The multi-cultural academic agenda was so strong that in in 2013 Hamilton's multi-cultural center segregated a diversity program by race, though it later cancelled that event after publicity. But not before a desegregated campus-wide forum devolved into racial recriminations:
It soon became clear that for many people the problem had became an “us against them” battle, separate groups vs. integrated, whites vs. blacks. Though ‘The Movement’, which is a student group that hung fliers and wrote in chalk on Martin’s Way, the main path through campus, in favor of minorities on campus, said that it wasn’t a black and white issue, multiple accounts during the meeting made it clear that many people had felt it was.
The recent revelation that "The Movement" issued a list of 83 Demands has caused more racial turmoil on campus. http://hamiltonunscrolled.tumblr.com/

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 02, 2015 42 Comments
Many campuses are seeing sets of "Demands" issued by students to administrations, often seeking to suppress speech the students deem offensive and to increase faculty and student affirmative action policies and programs. It's not surprising that the Demand movement has come to my alma mater, Hamilton College, in upstate New York. Hamilton at one time focused on the study of core subjects and Western Civilization. Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, multiculturalism took hold of the curriculum as leftist faculty from Kirkland College (which merged with Hamilton when I was a sophomore in the late 1970s) maneuvered into positions of power. The story of how Hamilton was transformed was detailed in my post in December 2012, Western Civilization driven off campus at Hamilton College:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 28, 2015 24 Comments
I haven't paid enough attention to the student protests and demands at various schools. Though I've paid some attention, such as the events at Yale and Brandeis and Mizzou. But I missed the Wesleyan University Is This Why? student protest website. (Note - I added the yellow highlighting to the image below. That highlighting has no hidden meaning.) http://www.isthiswhy.com/ The Demands include:

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 26, 2015 16 Comments
Illegal immigration and terrorism are hot political issues in the 2016 election, which makes things difficult for Democrats who aren't allowed to say "radical Islam" or "illegal immigrants." Hillary Clinton recently used the latter term at a campaign event in New Hampshire and has now been forced by the left to do penance. Dan Merica reported at CNN:
Clinton says her use of term 'illegal immigrant' was a 'poor choice of words' Boulder, Colorado (CNN) - Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that her use of the term "illegal immigrant" at a town hall in New Hampshire earlier this month was a "poor choice of words." "That was a poor choice of words," Clinton wrote during a Facebook chat. "As I've said throughout this campaign, the people at the heart of this issue are children, parents, families, DREAMers. They have names, and hopes and dreams that deserve to be respected."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 21, 2015 35 Comments
Now they've gone too far. Someone tell me this is a hoax, and we've all been had. Progressive or Parody? But, I fear this report from The Ottawa Sun is not a joke. Free Ottawa yoga class scrapped over 'cultural issues':
Student leaders have pulled the mat out from 60 University of Ottawa students, ending a free on-campus yoga class over fears the teachings could be seen as a form of "cultural appropriation." Jennifer Scharf, who has been offering free weekly yoga instruction to students since 2008, says she was shocked when told in September the program would be suspended, and saddened when she learned of the reasoning. Staff at the Centre for Students with Disabilities believe that "while yoga is a really great idea and accessible and great for students ... there are cultural issues of implication involved in the practice," according to an email from the centre....

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 20, 2015 10 Comments
Brandeis University becomes the latest school to receive a set of demands from a student protest group... or else. The group, calling itself Concerned Students 2015, made the following demands, according to an all-campus email from Brandeis Interim President Lisa Lynch forwarding an email she had received:
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Ford Hall <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Nov 19, 2015 at 1:33 PM Subject: Fwd: URGENT: Demands from Concerned Students 2015 To: [email protected] Dear President Lynch,
“The university that carries the name of the justice who stood for the rights of individuals must be distinguished by academic excellence, by truth pursued wherever it may lead and by awareness of the power and responsibilities that come with knowledge.” - Last paragraph of Brandeis University’s Mission
We, the concerned students of Brandeis University, take pride in being Brandeis students. We care deeply about the future and progress of this university and want this university to continue to attract and produce the world’s greatest and most critical minds. This is why we are dedicated to the needs of our fellow students and believe we must hold this beloved university to its mission.

Posted by Casey Breznick on November 14, 2015 13 Comments
We've all seen the news coverage,the videos, the photos, the quotes, the hashtags. Students across the country have erupted in protest and campus takeovers in response to perceived institutional and interpersonal racism on their campuses, most notably at the University of Missouri and Yale, but also at Ithaca College, Amherst College, and Claremont McKenna College. At the same time, weak-kneed administrators have for the most part appeased the student mobs, with the president of U. Missouri and the dean of Claremont McKenna ultimately resigning. Make no mistake: the conflagration witnessed all week did not spring up out of nowhere. Just take a peak at College Insurrection to see what has been going on the past few years, but understand that the degradation of higher education in this country began decades ago. Since the 1960s, college administrators and faculty have  inculcated a culture of appeasement and entitlement among their students, and whenever that was not enough---such as when black and Hispanic students at Cornell partook in an armed takeover of a building on campus---they doubled down on their efforts to serve students whatever they wished.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on November 07, 2015 34 Comments
Just when you thought the "safe spaces" PC-plagued college campuses couldn't get more ridiculous, Yale students step up to prove you wrong. Yale's Intercultural Affairs Council (yes, they have such a thing) sent out an email prior to Halloween asking that students be thoughtful in their costume selection so as not to offend others.  They listed specific examples of costumes deemed offensive,  "such as feathered headdresses, turbans, 'war paint,' and blackface as examples of inappropriate 'cultural appropriation and/or misrepresentation'.”

Erika Christakis, Associate Master of Silliman College, responded to the email and defended students' right to wear Halloween costumes of their choosing, even if said costumes might be considered outrageous, inappropriate, provocative, or even offensive.

Christakis further urged students "not to take offense at insensitive Halloween costumes," and she told students, "'If you don't like a costume someone is wearing, look away, or tell them you are offended.  'Talk to each other. Free speech and the ability to tolerate offence are the hallmarks of a free and open society'."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 03, 2015 72 Comments
This is the next battlefield, which already has arrived. As far as the feds are concerned, it is unlawful discrimination if a school provides anything less than full, unrestricted access for male transgender students to areas previously deemed private girls-only areas, such as showers and locker rooms. The NY Times reports, Illinois District Violated Transgender Student’s Rights, U.S. Says:
Federal education authorities, staking out their firmest position yet on an increasingly contentious issue, found Monday that an Illinois school district violated anti-discrimination laws when it did not allow a transgender student who identifies as a girl and participates on a girls’ sports team to change and shower in the girls’ locker room without restrictions.
These threats are being made by the same Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Education whose threats of action against universities led to the current kangaroo court situation on campuses, where accused students (almost always male) have few procedural protections. In the letter, the feds made clear that the limitation of access to the showers and locker room was the only issue. In all other respects, the feds acknowledged, the District "has honored" the student's "request to be treated as female," including access to girls' restrooms. The school even allowed the student -- who has not undergone a sex change operation -- to change in the girls locker room, but behind a curtain, the Times reported:

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 31, 2015 32 Comments
As a member of Generation X, I was lucky enough to enjoy Halloween as a child in the 1970's before progressives began trying to ruin it with politics. What used to be a fun night of costumes and "trick or treat" with your friends has become the latest casualty of political correctness. In case you haven't heard, many costumes are no longer acceptable. There is some good news though, kids. You can dress up as a solar panel. The Daily Caller reports:
DOE Wants Kids To Dress Up As Solar Panels and Windmills For Halloween The Department of Energy (DOE) is celebrating Halloween by carving DOE themed Jack-O-Lanterns and instructing kids to dress up in “energy themed” costumes. The DOE official website includes instructions on how kids can dress up as a solar panel, a wind turbine, an “energy vampire,” a particle accelerator, or Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 15, 2015 42 Comments
How politically diverse is the Cornell University faculty? Not very, according to a study done by The Cornell Daily Sun, the student newspaper. By dollar volume, 96.62% of political donations during 2011-2014 went to Democratic candidates or related PACs, and just 2.76% to Republicans or related PACs. By number of donors, rather than dollar amount, the contrast is equally stark. There were only 15 faculty members who donated to Republicans, out of a total of 323 faculty donors, or 5 percent. There were a total of 1628 faculty at the university as of 2013, but there is not reason to suspect that the 323 donors are not representative of the total. I was one of the 15, which might make me part of the smallest minority on campus. The Daily Sun reports, Cornell Faculty Donations Flood Left, Filings Show:
Of the nearly $600,000 Cornell’s faculty donated to political candidates or parties in the past four years, over 96 percent has gone to fund Democratic campaigns, while only 15 of the 323 donors gave to conservative causes.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 14, 2015 31 Comments
Ithaca College is pretty sensitive to "microaggressions." What is a microaggression? Where have you been, under a rock? (I hope that didn't offend you.) One of the inventors of the terminology and theory describes it this way:
Microaggressions are the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership. In many cases, these hidden messages may invalidate the group identity or experiential reality of target persons, demean them on a personal or group level, communicate they are lesser human beings, suggest they do not belong with the majority group, threaten and intimidate, or relegate them to inferior status and treatment.
For some background, see our prior posts: At Ithaca College, in what may have been a first, last spring the student government voted to set up a microaggression reporting system. (I don't know if they actually ended up setting it up.) This semester started at Ithaca College with accusations of campus security insensitivity:
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