Has Politically Correct finally gone too far?

[Emperor Roland]

okay, first off, i know many of you are going to blast this, since it comes from Fox News, but, look past that, and read the story.  i am interested in what people think of this sort of situation, and what it really means for the United States. 

 

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/12/10/college-president-sorry-for-saying-all-lives-matter/

 

 

 

The president of prestigious Smith College is red-faced and apologetic Tuesday for telling students on the Northampton, Mass., campus that "all lives matter."

 

Kathleen McCartney wrote the phrase in the subject line of an e-mail to students at the school, whose alumni include feminists Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, former First Lady Nancy Reagan and celebrity chef Julia Child. McCartney was attempting to show support for students protesting racially charged grand jury decisions in which police in Missouri and New York were not charged in the deaths of unarmed black men.

 

Protesters have adopted several slogans in connection with the cases of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, including "Black Lives Matter." McCartney's more inclusive version of the refrain was seen as an affront that diminished the focus on black lives and racism, according to emails obtained by FoxNews.com.

 

“We are united in our insistence that all lives matter,” read the e-mail,in which she made clear she was strongly behind the protests, writing that the grand jury decisions had “led to a shared fury… We gather in vigil, we raise our voices in protest.”

“It’s hard to challenge minds while walking on eggshells.”

- Greg Lukianoff, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

But she soon received backlash from students for her phrasing. They were offended that she did not stick with the slogan “black lives matter.”

 

The Daily Hampshire Gazette, which first covered the story, quoted one Smith sophomore, Cecelia Lim, as saying, “it felt like she was invalidating the experience of black lives.”

 

In response to student backlash, McCartney apologized in another campus-wide email Friday, saying she had made a mistake “despite my best intentions.” 

She wrote that the problem with the phrase lay in how others had used it.

 

“I regret that I was unaware the phrase/hashtag “all lives matter” has been used by some to draw attention away from the focus on institutional violence against Black people,” she wrote.

In her apology e-mail, McCartney also shared some of the student emails she received.

 

She quoted one student as saying: “It minimizes the anti-blackness of this the current situation; yes, all lives matter, but not all lives are being targeted for police brutality. The black students at this school deserve to have their specific struggles and pain recognized, not dissolved into the larger student body."

 

Some who follow campus issues say that the idea of apologizing for saying “all lives matter” shows political correctness is out of control.

 

"It’s getting increasingly difficult to figure out what you can say on the modern campus, even for university presidents… Too many of today’s students want freedom from speech rather than freedom of speech,” Greg Lukianoff, President of Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and author of “Freedom From Speech” told FoxNews.com.

 

Smith College did not respond to a request for comment on the criticisms, but noted that the body of her emails is on the Smith website.

 

The issue is a problem at colleges around the country, Lukianoff said. He noted that Columbia Law School recently allowed students to postpone final exams if they felt they had experienced emotional trauma. The University of Hawaii, meanwhile, recently prohibited students from handing out the U.S. Constitution in most areas of campus, and only reversed course after being sued in court.

 

He added that such an atmosphere hinders learning at colleges.

 

“It’s hard to challenge minds while walking on eggshells,” he said.

[ken barber]

Oh hell,

 

Here I go again, after I promised myself i would stay out of the politics for a bit.

 

OK imagine this you are going through a huge personal struggle that is encompassing all your life and to you the struggle is almost insurmountable. You feel  like you being pushed against a wall and are just about to lash out when an authority figure in your life says "Oh Everyone deals with that"  The natural physiological reaction to your struggle being minimized would be anger. In your mind no knows what your going through, no one really understands. It part of the process of a struggle, individual identity, to have that stripped away is no more than someone saying..."Just get over it"

 

I know the President of Smith College did not intend that but that is what happened. 

 

In struggles whether group or individual the identity issue is the strongest element and it being minimized is the worst thing that can happen. The person or people will naturally realize they are not alone in their struggle overtime you cannot force them to accept that no matter how good your intentions are. 

 

Greg Lukianoff is a Constitutional Lawyer and not a psychologist. This is a psychological issue not constitutional, not everything can be viewed from a political or legal perspective, So I have to overlook all his quotes and comments in the article.

[Rilbur]

This is a psychological issue not constitutional, not everything can be viewed from a political or legal perspective

 

In that case, would these idiots kindly go see a shrink instead of bugging the court system?

 

Or more bluntly, as little as I care for Fox News this time around they have a pretty damned good point.  'Black Lives Matter' is being turned into something just as racist as the system they're trying to oppose, and this shows it pretty well.  They really do need to 'just get over it' at this point.

[ken barber]

In that case, would these idiots kindly go see a shrink instead of bugging the court system?

 

Or more bluntly, as little as I care for Fox News this time around they have a pretty damned good point.  'Black Lives Matter' is being turned into something just as racist as the system they're trying to oppose, and this shows it pretty well.  They really do need to 'just get over it' at this point.

And that is exactly the kind of attitude that will only propagate the issue, inflaming it until it explodes. If everyone took a step back and said. Ok Blacks in the US may have a point lets look at steps we can take to curb the issue and make those steps. Giving them their identity allows them to move beyond that a stage. 

And anyone that says "Just get over it" needs to see a "shrink" as that is one of the most damaging phrases in the psychological development of society

[seabird]

I have to agree with Ken Barber. What the rioters are really saying is that SOME lives are more important than the lives of the rest of us. Now, don't get me wrong and think that I agree with killing people, be they black, brown red or white. I do NOT agree with the police over reaction to recent events, even though I can understand how they felt themselves threatened. This "shoot first and ask questions later" attitude is dangerous for us all, regardless of skin color.

 

 

The fact remains, however, that certain groups have a historic reputation for violence and, until they can "police" their own members, confrontations, however regrettable, are going to continue. In fact, they are likely to get worse as additioinal members and groups of our American Culture begin to feel threatened and feel the need to protect themselves and their loved ones from violence at the hands of rioters.

 

 

There is quite enough blame to go around and the sooner that cooler heads can come together and get beyond the screaming epitaphs, insults and threats and sit down to a purposeful dialogue, these killings are only going to get worse. America has become an armed camp and that does NOT mean just firearms. Hammers were used just the other day to kill a group of emmigrant Bosnians. Why they were killed is beyond my comprehension!

 

I am afraid that there are enough individuals in all the differing groups who DO NOT want an accord to be reached and DO NOT want to see a peaceful population, that such an accord will never be reached. Any peaceful remedy that is imposed against the will of ALL the parties will only prolong our agony! That, I am afraid, will be difficult to come by!

 

 

Charles Bird

SeaBird

[Rilbur]

And anyone that says "Just get over it" needs to see a "shrink" as that is one of the most damaging phrases in the psychological development of society

 

Most damaging or not, at a certain level it's still quite applicable.  The rioting in Ferguson after the court decision pretty much proves that they are letting themselves out of control.  They need to get themselves back into control, that that means they're going to need to get over their issues somehow.  I don't care how, but don't expect me to take any responsibility for it.  It's their issue, they need to deal with it.  They don't get to turn it around to start implying that their lives matter more.

 

What they are doing, and what is royally pissing me off, is entrenching racial differences rather than working to minimize them.  Unacceptable, and until they just get over that there's not much more that can be done.

[seabird]

Rilbur and others, has it ever occurred to anyone that these riots and murders are part of a plan? That they are being orchestrated by behind the scenes players? The simultaneous events seem too pat, too well planned to me. Who or what, I am not prepared to hazard a guess, but, if we look around to see who would benefit from all this, we might have a suspicion of the problem's origin. At this point, I would suspect it is political, so we should look at those who would benefit politically from the unrest and violence.

 

 

Charles Bird

SeaBird

[Rilbur]

The simultaneous events seem too pat, too well planned to me

The thing is, while the events are building much more rapidly than would have been possible in the past, I'd attribute that to the power of modern technology.  Apps, social media, online petitions, all the little pieces add up very quickly.  If you know how, you can use those to organize and jumpstart a protest very quickly.  And to use Ferguson as an example, because it gained such local notoriety so quickly, the social media notoriety probably grew as fast or faster than the actual 'news' story.

[tkyrchncs]

Yes, political correctness has gone too far.  To argue that "all lives matter" insults or demeans anyone is CLEARLY unbalanced.  And yes, there is absolutely a bit of "just get over it" in saying that in response to "black lives matter", (NOT what Dr. McCartney did, by the way).  That is what we all have to do.  We all have to get over prejudices held by our parents, grandparents, and American society in general, INCLUDING Black people.  I was at a dinner party a few years back, in Denver, the guest of my then boyfriend, and the only Caucasian there.  A fellow guest, a black female, said, "I just don't trust white people like I trust black people."  There were a few agreeing voices, so I did what I have always done in Virginia (I am an 8th generation Virginian, and still live in the Old Dominion) when racist comments come to the dinner table:  I stood, thanked my host for his hospitality, and stated that I would not remain at table for racist conversation, and left.  Did I disrespect her feelings?  YOU'RE DAMNED STRAIGHT I DID! They're not respectable feelings!  

It isn't just these recent cases; everyone seems to have a chip on his shoulder these days, be it based on race, religion, politics, gender (including identity and expression), politics, or whatever.  It sometimes seems impossible to speak without offending someone, and the older I get, the less I care if I do.  Those who take offense where none was intended are creating their own misery, so feel miserable if you want to:

MERRY CHRISTMAS, BOYS AND GIRLS! 

[D'Artagnon]

I would point out that, while I wasn't at said dinner party, the lady in question spoke her mind from her own experience, which may or may not match yours.  Could it have been a racist statement?  Possibly.  Sometimes we have to look past these things to see what the real problem is.  She said the word "trust", not dislike, hate or fear.  She may have reason to not trust.  And in that, perhaps her feelings there have some relevance.

 

I agree, there's a lot of people walking around giving each other glares over things that rationally should be discussed instead of allowed to fester.  I like the idea of talking out problems, keeping a cool head in the face of extremes of opinion and above all, treating each other with the dignity we expect to receive.  I should also say that I respect your choice to leave the situation rather than allow things to escalate.  Sometimes it's good for thought for both parties to make a point of granting space.  It gives you a chance to cool down and not say things you might regret, and it lets others know you have the courage to stand for your own convictions, giving others a public moment to question what actually happened and think about things.

 

Thank you for sharing, tkychncs.  All opinions matter.  All angles should be considered.  And more importantly, examples of good culture, manners, civic restraint and civil debate will get us through all this to find solutions.  I think you may have a line on where we need to be going.

 

[tkyrchncs]

if you treat anyone differently because of his skin color, that is racism.  It doesn't matter if you love them or hate them because of it, it's still racism.  It's making the distinction, for benefit or detriment, on the basis of factors beyond the person's control that's the problem.  I have withdrawn on a number of occasions, because I refuse to participate, even tacitly, in racist banter, and I will not be so ill mannered as to quarrel with my host's other guests in his house.  I do make it clear why I am withdrawing when I do.  I believe that people's behavior, including their speech, should be ruled by their intellect more than their emotions, and that one's emotions require close introspective monitoring in order to avoid making foolish comments like my boyfriend's friend did-no race is demonstrably more trustworthy than any other, whatever her experience might be.  And if that is the way she truly feels, even if based on experience, SHE has the same problem she seems to be attributing to another whole race of people.  

[Emperor Roland]

running the risk of throwing this thread off topic (which never happens on this board )  I wish to present to all of you, something that, when i first read it, stunned me.  not in a bad way, but in a way that made me think about it, made me want to argue against it, but the more i did, the more i realized i was validating it even more. 

 

For those that have never read this series of books, i strongly recommend them.  It is the Sword of truth Series. 

 

But now, for the reason i bring this up here.  Wizard's 6th rule.....

 

"The most important rule there is, the Wizard's Sixth Rule: the only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason. The first law of reason is this: what exists, exists, what is, is and from this irreducible bedrock principle, all knowledge is built. It is the foundation from which life is embraced.Thinking is a choice. Wishes and whims are not facts nor are they a means to discover them. Reason is our only way of grasping reality; it is our basic tool of survival. We are free to evade the effort of thinking, to reject reason, but we are not free to avoid the penalty of the abyss that we refuse to see. Faith and feelings are the darkness to reasons light. In rejecting reason, refusing to think, one embraces death."

 

Most people who hold racial prejudices, simply refuse to think anymore.  they simply wallow in the fact people 'hate them' even when there is no evidence of it.  of course the ironic thing about it is, the people that claim racism the most are the worst racist out there.  but what do i know?  lol

[D'Artagnon]

I would agree, but add this.  People fear and hate what they don't understand.  Understanding requires the wisdom to put aside fear and see things for what they really are, as in the Wizard's Sixth Rule (which sounds an awful lot like something espoused by Roman Emperor Marcus Aureilius - "Of each thing, what is it's nature?")

 

Thinking clearly, finding understanding, that's the first step to defeating the ignorance and mistrust.  Not being ruled by our emotions but admitting that those emotions are a result of valid questions should also be high on the list.

 

What do you guys think?