28 CommentsHuzzah! The February issue is online, on this very website, and in fact the link that is linked here is also on the left of your page.
Anti-Oppression Training: The Non-Bullshit Kind of Training
Terra Cognita (study abroad): Russia, France, China, Chile, Ancient Greece?, Egypt, Here
The Original Title Already Has a Wii Pun
This Dude Went to School in an Actual Tough Neighborhood
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28 Comments
@Sprinkles This school doesn’t need anti-oppression training.
It needs to EXPEL the people who commit hate crimes, not slap them on the wrist and say, “You’ve been a naughty, naughty boy. Go to your Broadway single.”
But then the school might lose tuition money, eh?
@hmmm... You should go to training! Capitalism, like money and (social) privilege, aren’t inherently bad… it’s about being responsible and being proactive supportive allies to disenfranchised communties with the given power.
@Yes, in other words, redistributing wealth. No thanks.
@Owain Evans BTW, Brendan, I really enjoyed the article. Clear and informative.
@Owain Evans Regarding oppression and diversity training, the obvious question is whether there is any evidence that this sort of training works. This would not be very hard to test. Take a big company (or college, or branch of government) that has used this sort of training for staff in the past few years, and see if it has made a tangible difference. For example, have the number of complaints about discrimination gone down? Do employees report a more inclusive atmosphere when you ask them about it? Is hiring done in a more fair way?
I’ve never seen any hard evidence put forward in the debate on whether this sort of training is worthwhile. Moreover, I’ve never seen evidence put forward that exercises like splitting people into a white caucas and people-of-color caucas makes any difference to how those people behave after the training.
It is plausible that this sort of training could make some positive difference, but also possible that some people will resent the mandatory training so much that they are (slightly) more discriminatory than they otherwise would be. In any case, I would want to see some good evidence before spending large amounts of money on it and making lots of people go through it. I believe that fighting discrimination is an important moral and political goal, but I need empirical evidence to be convinced that diversity or anti-oppression training is the best of way of pursuing that goal.
@An interesting question to consider is if mandating diversity or anti-oppression training actually is counterproductive. In many corporate environments, diversity training is something mocked and joked about, like the IRS or one’s mother-in-law or wife.
@Participant BUT most corporations still operate under a very fluffy let’s-hold-hand-and-celebrate-each-other approach to diversity. from what brendan writes and my experience, these trainings are different. it acknowledges that racism, sexism, etc. are still very real oppressions and that they are very real at columbia. i can’t imagine goldman sachs openly talking about how members are complicit in oppressive practices of its institution.
isn’t the fact that even misguided white people and straight folks, who enter anti-oppression trainings with the thinking they are “colorblind” or aren’t complicit to the -isms and leave with an understanding that oppression and discrimination are very real and that we have power to affect change, productive?
@Fantastic So, anti-oppression training is anti-capitalist? Since capitalism is founded on the basis of agreements between service provider and capital source, e.g. “oppression”.
Great.
@the Russia article is satire, retards.
@That's not satire. Satire is humorous. That article was not even mildly amusing. Where is the satire? Kefir tastes like yeast infection? har har har. The spirit of Russian literature? more laughter. Yeah, I definitely see the satire now. Fucking idiots.
@Maquis Bwog, i dunno if its too late but Mr. Venkatesh wrote about Maquis Park in Off the Books, not Marquis Parks.
@PDF! make the PDF version work please!!!
@Hey Are you going to put the Campus Characters in the blog front-page? As someone who knows both profiled people, they’re some of the best/most accurate portraits you’ve ever done, and definitely deserve some bwoggage.
@I just can't resist I had to dump my ex-girlfriend because she carried too much bwoggage.
Again, I’m sorry for that…
@hmm i rather enjoyed it. then again, i’m rather drunk.
rather rather rather.
@Anna Yeah, that article about Russia is pretty awful. It’s not even funny.
@i resent Paul Sonne’s article on Russia. Clearly he either never actually went to Russia, or he MISSED THE FUCKING POINT ENTIRELY.
The only thing in Russia that tastes like a yeast infection is his diseased pussy. And having skimmed Dostoevsky in his Lit Hum class does not give him the authority to make any claims about Russian literature. God, what a motherfucking idiot. I’m disappointed that you would publish such rubbish, Bwog.
@you are a fucking moron.
@Sprinkles Bronzeville is not a swear word.
That’s the real name of the community on the South Side of Chicago. If you’re familiar with Chicago, you can figure it out rahter quickly from reading the description in the book.
Call it Bronzeville. That’s what the people who live there call it. There’s no shame in living there. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote some of her most famous poetry about it. And it’s not really anonymity if Chicagoans can figure out where it is from the description, is it? I understand the need to maintain the confidentiality of the people you interview, but a neighborhood is different and there’s no shame in naming it. Plus, by giving the actual name, other scholars can go there and see it for themselves.
@... Fuck “anti”-“oppression” “training”. People should be free to discriminate as they please. I choose not to discriminate, but if I’m ever subjected to such “training”, I promise to discriminate on every single measure, especially against black lesbian women.
@erm As opposed to all those black lesbian men out there?
@"Anicent"? Spelling, Bwog?
@DHI The error is corrected.
@DHI It’s clearly a fucking typo, asshole, go fuck yourself.
(This comment is not official so I do not have to be polite)
@best comment of the day. bwog gets angry, tells douchebag grammarian to ‘fuck off.’
@hmmmmm I agree with the necessity of anti-oppression training. However, my one recommendation is, please seriously do not do a “Diversity Discussion” where (mostly rich white people) discuss how they are diverse because go on expensive vacations, and then the moderator commends them for the significant appreciation of diversity that going on luxury vacations obviously proves.
@Brendan I love you, but I’m not sure what the hell your article was about.
@cyang Venkatesh told some of his stories on an old episode of This American Life.