@The bottom line Spec’s editorial on SHOCC is welcome, but they miss the most fundamental problem with the group and its agenda: its ridiculously broad definition of a term with such serious overtones as “hate crime.” Here, look at their explanation of the term in their written materials:
“What is a hate crime?
Hate crimes include any and all forms of speech, writing, literature, or expression that stereotypes, marginalizes, denigrates, and isolates an individual or group based on an aspect of his or her identity. Hate crimes challenge an individual or group’s sense of self, safety, and belonging within their community. Hate crimes on campus deny the safe space to which all members of a university are entitled. Hate crimes on campus make Columbia a dangerous place to be.”
So, if you’ve ever been talking and denigrated (i.e. disparaged, belittled, mocked, criticized, spoken ill of) an individual because of some aspect of his/her identity, well then, you’ve committed a *hate crime*. That’s just ridiculous. Have you ever, when talking, invoked, referenced, or drawn upon a stereotype w/r/t to an aspect of any identity that an individual might have? Well, buddy, then you’ve committed a *hate crime*. Time to be punished and denounced. You’ve just seriously endangered the community and deserve official condemnation.
@me too it’ll all be very nice for the class of 2010+ to read bell hooks, cornel west, and more dubois in CC. but at what cost? most CC classes already do a lot of texts. who are we going to cut out? plato, aristotle, locke, hobbes, hume, smith, rousseau, kant, mill, hegel, nietzsche, freud? there are so many! and all these philosophers have undoubtedly been far more influential than hooks, west or dubois. oh, and hobbes, hegel, freud, etc, just happen to be white. get over it!
@but… what about Fanon, Foucault, and DeBeauvoir? There are things on the optional list that could easily be made required, and they deal with hugely important intellectual movements in Western thought. Colonialism, race, gender, and sexuality are all important parts of the Western discourse, and it wouldn’t be difficult to add a few more voices.
@um.... …yes it would. I don’t know about your CC class, but in mine, we’re having trouble getting through all of the material required in two semesters. Can you imagine if you added 3 more people…that would be at least 1.5 more weeks. Leave the Core how it is and let’s get some better instructors. My Lit Hum class was awful because of my terrible instructor, yet CC is amazing due to a wonderful instructor.
@anti-anti-oppression training I want to hold a protest against the actual institutionalization of anti-oppression training, which appears to be happening! this is unbelievable!
@Nick (of time) Thank god I’m graduating before SHOCC can turn the campus into a hate-filled (you heard me), paralyzed cesspool of inane orwellian thought.
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6 Comments
@The bottom line Spec’s editorial on SHOCC is welcome, but they miss the most fundamental problem with the group and its agenda: its ridiculously broad definition of a term with such serious overtones as “hate crime.” Here, look at their explanation of the term in their written materials:
“What is a hate crime?
Hate crimes include any and all forms of speech, writing, literature, or expression that stereotypes, marginalizes, denigrates, and isolates an individual or group based on an aspect of his or her identity. Hate crimes challenge an individual or group’s sense of self, safety, and belonging within their community. Hate crimes on campus deny the safe space to which all members of a university are entitled. Hate crimes on campus make Columbia a dangerous place to be.”
(source: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cssn/shocc/media.html )
So, if you’ve ever been talking and denigrated (i.e. disparaged, belittled, mocked, criticized, spoken ill of) an individual because of some aspect of his/her identity, well then, you’ve committed a *hate crime*. That’s just ridiculous. Have you ever, when talking, invoked, referenced, or drawn upon a stereotype w/r/t to an aspect of any identity that an individual might have? Well, buddy, then you’ve committed a *hate crime*. Time to be punished and denounced. You’ve just seriously endangered the community and deserve official condemnation.
@me too it’ll all be very nice for the class of 2010+ to read bell hooks, cornel west, and more dubois in CC. but at what cost? most CC classes already do a lot of texts. who are we going to cut out? plato, aristotle, locke, hobbes, hume, smith, rousseau, kant, mill, hegel, nietzsche, freud? there are so many! and all these philosophers have undoubtedly been far more influential than hooks, west or dubois. oh, and hobbes, hegel, freud, etc, just happen to be white. get over it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:African_American_philosophers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_philosophers
@but… what about Fanon, Foucault, and DeBeauvoir? There are things on the optional list that could easily be made required, and they deal with hugely important intellectual movements in Western thought. Colonialism, race, gender, and sexuality are all important parts of the Western discourse, and it wouldn’t be difficult to add a few more voices.
@um.... …yes it would. I don’t know about your CC class, but in mine, we’re having trouble getting through all of the material required in two semesters. Can you imagine if you added 3 more people…that would be at least 1.5 more weeks. Leave the Core how it is and let’s get some better instructors. My Lit Hum class was awful because of my terrible instructor, yet CC is amazing due to a wonderful instructor.
@anti-anti-oppression training I want to hold a protest against the actual institutionalization of anti-oppression training, which appears to be happening! this is unbelievable!
@Nick (of time) Thank god I’m graduating before SHOCC can turn the campus into a hate-filled (you heard me), paralyzed cesspool of inane orwellian thought.