Support NeoGAF

Dash27 · May 31, 2017

Quick summary:

1. Evergreen college has Day of Absence every year for the past 20+ years. Based on a play by Douglas Turner Ward.

2. Usually it's for people who decide to not show up for the day, to make a point, similar to the play.

3. This year, it was suggested that the students wanted no white people show up.

4. Professor Bret Weinstein from the school, a bio professor, sent a letter basically saying "no":

"You may take this letter as a formal protest of this year's structure, and you may assume I will be on campus during the Day of Absence. ... On a college campus, one's right to speak – or to be – must never be based on skin color."

Full letter is here: https://twitter.com/williamtreseder/status/867442967664934912

5. Drama. Protests. Etc.

Protest video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO1agIlLlhg

Student admits Professor was trying to leave and they did not let him:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtwWpk6h1Cg

Random excerpts: (taken from this article: https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/32824/)
And another article: https://www.insidehighered.com/news...rgreen-state-students-demand-firing-professor

— ”FUCK YOU, AND FUCK THE POLICE!"

— ”Whiteness is the most violent fuckin' system to ever breathe!"

— ”I'm tired of white people talking about what black and brown people need."

— ”These white-ass faculty members need to be holding HIM, and HIM, and ALL these people accountable!"

— ”FUCK YOU [President] GEORGE [Bridges], we don't wanna listen to a GODDAMN thing you have to say! No, you shut the fuck up!"

— ”I'm tellin' you, you're speakin' to your ancestor, all right? We been here before you. We built these cities, we had civilization way before you ever had ... comin' out your caves."

— ”You have the fucking nerve to, like, fucking dehumanize our (unintelligible)!"

Demanding no homework from the school president:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo-BGLoCDZU&t=15s

Interview with the professor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fEAPcgxnyY

Long interview but worth the watch.

Trojita · May 31, 2017

Wow at those excerpts.

It should be mentioned that TheCollegeFix is an alt-right newspaper.

AlimNassor · May 31, 2017

Lot of pent of anger at the system coming out. The Professor was the wrong target to take their anger out on. They should have protested the President and aired their grievances out to him, not a random nobody Professor.

droggg · May 31, 2017

and to think tax dollars funding this school....craziness.

Meadows · May 31, 2017

isn't that the school with that hippie commune bullshit?

notworksafe · May 31, 2017

Demanding no homework? Are these people actually 5th graders?

Mammoth Jones · May 31, 2017

notworksafe said:
Demanding no homework? Are these people actually 5th graders?

Lmao.

benicillin · May 31, 2017

Trojita said:
Wow at those excerpts.

It should be mentioned that TheCollegeFix is an alt-right newspaper.

There you go. You know where I'm hearing this story the most? Fox News, Heat Street, alt-right and conservative subreddits.

The agenda is pretty clear here.

Slayven · May 31, 2017

Trojita said:
Wow at those excerpts.

It should be mentioned that TheCollegeFix is an alt-right newspaper.

Googles "Evergreen" in news section

Breitbart
Dailycaller
Heatstreet
Theblaze

Nah I am good

Trojita · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
There you go. You know where I'm hearing this story the most? Fox News, Heat Street, alt-right and conservative subreddits.

The agenda is pretty clear here.

I mean it happened and the students are showing a lack of mental and emotional maturity.

But rags like this and Fox News use small incidents like this to portray all colleges as Liberal Hippy SJW communes. There's a difference between small occurrences like this, while the vast majority of Universities work fine with their students just trying to attend classes, and something else like the statistical result of people supporting the repeal of Obamacare.

droggg · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
There you go. You know where I'm hearing this story the most? Fox News, Heat Street, alt-right and conservative subreddits.

The agenda is pretty clear here.

Those are garbage sources, but you can watch videos containing those exerts directly from the student's youtube page. It should be ignored just because these garbage sources are reporting on it?

T.O.P · May 31, 2017

notworksafe said:
Are these people actually 5th graders?

Going by the video @3:35 that seems pretty spot on lol

Dash27 · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
There you go. You know where I'm hearing this story the most? Fox News, Heat Street, alt-right and conservative subreddits.

The agenda is pretty clear here.

If you mean they are running with this because it makes the left look really bad, agree. That's who will be covering this all day long. I haven't seen anything from the left on it but post it here if you do I'd love to hear their take.

That said, it's video of the students.

IronRinn · May 31, 2017

Here is an article about it from Inside Higher Ed for a more objective source.

benicillin · May 31, 2017

droggg said:
Those are garbage sources, but you can watch videos containing those exerts directly from the student's youtube page. It should be ignored just because these garbage sources are reporting on it?

No but the only reason you're hearing about it is because certain people want you to hear about it, and the attention the professor and these students get from this makes the situation a hundred times worse than it would be otherwise.

Lifeline · May 31, 2017

Wtf at those videos, what kind of college is this?

Also The president guy or whoever that is mentions he has claustrophobia and people still surround the dude. Shameful shit.

ahoyhoy · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
There you go. You know where I'm hearing this story the most? Fox News, Heat Street, alt-right and conservative subreddits.

The agenda is pretty clear here.

Doesn't change the events though.

Can argue its an isolated incident and the "trend" ofliberal colleges is blown out of proportion but it's still a ridiculous incident nonetheless.

LosDaddie · May 31, 2017

Video cracks me up. College students still have some growing up to do.

Dash27 · May 31, 2017

IronRinn said:
Here is an article about it from Inside Higher Ed for a more objective source.

Thanks I'll put this in the OP

He specifically mentions in the interview that nobody on the left has reached out to him to support him. Meaning Salon, HuffPo, MSNBC etc etc etc.

neverknowsbest · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
No but the only reason you're hearing about it is because certain people want you to hear about it, and the attention the professor and these students get from this makes the situation a hundred times worse than it would be otherwise.

Umm the fact that it's happening is a good reason for everyone to hear about this. The student center tried to exclude white people, were called out for it, and a student mob formed to denigrate and attack the whistleblower. How is that not generally newsworthy? This is a perversion of liberalism and should not be defended.

benicillin · May 31, 2017

neverknowsbest said:
Umm the fact that it's happening is a good reason for everyone to hear about this. The student center tried to exclude white people, were called out for it, and a student mob formed to denigrate and attack the whistleblower. How is that not generally newsworthy? This is a perversion of liberalism and should not be defended.

I'm sorry, I just can't get myself riled up about a bunch of students angry at the status quo of a country where people can get killed in broad daylight on a bus for defending minorities.

Fuchsdh · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
There you go. You know where I'm hearing this story the most? Fox News, Heat Street, alt-right and conservative subreddits.

The agenda is pretty clear here.

Their agenda doesn't make the fact that these students are petulant idiots any less salient. The sources promoting it is only a problem if you credulously accept the reporting as some overarching political reality. Even I of the "colleges have a problem" Atlantic-style concern think that the right's promotion of this as "liberals running amok at our colleges" is a vast overstatement (at the very least "liberals have been running amok" at colleges for more than 50 years at this point, but we've survived.)

The professor's reasoning seems reasonable here, because the argument for kicking all the white people off campus seems pretty diametrically opposed to the message of Day of Absence (I've never heard of this being a thing at campuses before now, I guess it is hyper-specific to Evergreen? I feel like this would have had a much bigger impact if it was practiced at most state schools.)

The Technomancer · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
I'm sorry, I just can't get myself riled up about a bunch of students angry at the status quo of a country where people can get killed in broad daylight on a bus for defending minorities.

.

kirblar · May 31, 2017

IronRinn said:
Here is an article about it from Inside Higher Ed for a more objective source.

Thanks for the noncesspool source link.

There are those who want equality, and there are those who want to just want to flip positions. (Or maintain the status quo.) The former are awesome, the latter are pure toxicity.

Alcotholic · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
I'm sorry, I just can't get myself riled up about a bunch of students angry at the status quo of a country where people can get killed in broad daylight on a bus for defending minorities.

I don't think you should get riled up about these protests, but is the professor the one they should be protesting in this case? Is the professor wrong for what he said?

Deepwater · May 31, 2017

I don't see anything wrong about this. There's really no need to paternalize the students, this is literally what college is all about.

Student activism has been a thing for literal decades, the very act of navigating activism on one's own campus is a "maturing" process. People will say they're acting like children, but I say they're learning how to be critical thinking adults.

There's certainly some things I did when I was college (activism wise), that I look back on and acknowledge that it wasn't the "best", but that was part of my own personal development.

One involved a campus tradition called Day of Absence, which is based on a 1965 play by that name by Douglas Turner Ward. The play is about an imaginary Southern town in which all the black people disappear one day. The idea behind the play is that societies with deeply racist ideas in fact depend on the very people they subjugate. The play is in some sense the inspiration for events like this year's national Day Without Immigrants.
For many years at Evergreen State, minority students and faculty members have observed a Day of Absence in which they meet off campus to discuss campus issues and how to make the college more supportive of all students. Later a Day of Presence reunites various campus groups. Weinstein said he's been aware of the tradition for some time, and never objected to it. But this year, organizers said that on the Day of Absence, they wanted white people to stay off campus. Weinstein opposed this shift, and he posted a message on a campus email list in which he objected to the proposal to ask white people to stay off campus.

This quote adds much needed context and I definitely understand where the students are coming from.

Stinkles · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
I'm sorry, I just can't get myself riled up about a bunch of students angry at the status quo of a country where people can get killed in broad daylight on a bus for defending minorities.

Wait, are you saying that some kinds of institutional racism are somehow eclipsed by individual acts of bravery? I'm not even arguing. I'm genuinely confused about your point here.

TheOohChild · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
I'm sorry, I just can't get myself riled up about a bunch of students angry at the status quo of a country where people can get killed in broad daylight on a bus for defending minorities.

But isn't it kind of shitty they are directing that anger at some schmuck biology professor to the point where police are advising him to fear for his safety?

hosannainexcelsis · May 31, 2017

I am no fan of the students' actions in this situation, but it's useful to get some historical perspective on these kinds of situations as a counterbalance to social media in-the-moment angst. I recently ran across this little article which touches on some relevant historical stories:

At dawn on April 18, 1969 the Saturday of Parents Weekend and the day after the student conduct tribunal issued a reprimand (as minor a penalty as was available) to those who had engaged in the toy-gun spree a group of black students, brandishing crowbars, seized control of the student union (Willard Straight Hall), rudely awakened parents sleeping in the guest rooms upstairs, used the crowbars to force open the doors, and ejected them from the union.

Later that day, they brought at least one rifle with a telescopic sight into the building. On Sunday afternoon, the administration agreed to press neither civil nor criminal charges and not to take any other measures to punish those who had occupied Willard Straight Hall, to provide legal assistance to anyone who faced civil charges arising from the occupation, and to recommend that the faculty vote to nullify the reprimands issued to those who had engaged in the toy-gun spree. Upon hearing that this agreement had been reached, 110 black students marched out of Willard Straight Hall in military formation to celebrate their victory, carrying more than seventeen rifles and bands of ammunition.

The next day, when the faculty balked and stopped short of accepting the administrations recommendation, one AAS leader went on the campus radio and threatened to deal with three political science professors and three administrators, whom he singled out by name, as we will deal with all racists. Finally, on Wednesday, April 23, the faculty met at a special meeting and capitulated to the demands of the AAS, rescinding the reprimand issued by the student conduct tribunal and calling for a restructuring of the university.

Because a lot of us, myself included, were not alive during the civil rights conflicts of the 1960s and 1970s, things such as this incident can seem like a totally new and disturbing occurrence when it is actually part of a long-standing tradition of student protest.

Dash27 · May 31, 2017

Also from the interview the Professor says "That video was tense... but it was far worse later in the day"

Trojita · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
I'm sorry, I just can't get myself riled up about a bunch of students angry at the status quo of a country where people can get killed in broad daylight on a bus for defending minorities.

You don't need to partition out reactions. Based on the InsideHigherEd link it seems that the professor is actively being searched for on Campus.

I don't really see anything to support on the protestor side. Demanding no homework throughout an entire university is crazy, telling a group of people that they can't come to a school they pay money for is absurd, and requiring this professor to be fired is ridiculous.

Zen_Arcade · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
I'm sorry, I just can't get myself riled up about a bunch of students angry at the status quo of a country where people can get killed in broad daylight on a bus for defending minorities.

I don't think anyone is debating that they shouldn't be mad. It's moreso who they're taking it out on and why that makes the people protesting look bad.

ahoyhoy · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
I'm sorry, I just can't get myself riled up about a bunch of students angry at the status quo of a country where people can get killed in broad daylight on a bus for defending minorities.

So because racism continues to exist you don't care if people act like assholes under the pretense of combating it?

Dirca · May 31, 2017

There's like 3-4 active topics on racism currently.

Deepwater · May 31, 2017

TheOohChild said:
But isn't it kind of shitty they are directing that anger at some schmuck biology professor to the point where police are advising him to fear for his safety?

Link me to any historical occurrences of black students attacking professors. It's completely unfounded. Any time blacks get rowdy people start crying foul over "safety" issues.

pdog128 · May 31, 2017

I'm as bleeding heart liberal as they come, but the students in this case are insane.

I appreciate the tradition and meaning behind it, but like the professors says, they've totally subverted it. Ordering people out of a shared space is not the answer. Hell, forcefully taking someone else's "space" is not going to be a constructive solution.

benicillin · May 31, 2017

Deepwater said:
I don't see anything wrong about this. There's really no need to paternalize the students, this is literally what college is all about.

Student activism has been a thing for literal decades, the very act of navigating activism on one's own campus is a "maturing" process. People will say they're acting like children, but I say they're learning how to be critical thinking adults.

There's certainly some things I did when I was college (activism wise), that I look back on and acknowledge that it wasn't the "best", but that was part of my own personal development.

This quote adds much needed context and I definitely understand where the students are coming from.

Yes, this is a good perspective to take.

Jag · May 31, 2017

LosDaddie said:
College student section still have some groaning up to do.

Well Matt Groening did go to Evergreen. So did Michael Richards, but that probably doesn't help this situation.

MisterShine · May 31, 2017

The professor's quote from the article InsideHigherEd on the Day of Absence:

"There is a huge difference between a group or coalition deciding to voluntarily absent themselves from a shared space in order to highlight their vital and underappreciated roles (the theme of the Douglas Turner Ward play Day of Absence, as well as the recent Women's Day walkout), and a group encouraging another group to go away," Weinstein wrote. "The first is a forceful call to consciousness, which is, of course, crippling to the logic of oppression. The second is a show of force, and an act of oppression in and of itself."

That is an entirely reasonable distinction to make.

Dash27 · May 31, 2017

benicillin said:
I'm sorry, I just can't get myself riled up about a bunch of students angry at the status quo of a country where people can get killed in broad daylight on a bus for defending minorities.

msdstc · May 31, 2017

This is actually happening... I love that a ton of people in here are pretending it's not. There's a video of it even

Scrooged · May 31, 2017

Detailed interview with Bret Weinstein, the biology teacher who was told that it was no longer safe for him to teach on campus. What's happening on that campus is outrageous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fEAPcgxnyY

I know it's in the OP, but people don't tend to read that thoroughly.

T.O.P · May 31, 2017

Gotta love the "please take down the video, it makes us look bad" demand

Zornack · May 31, 2017

Here's the letter the students want him fired over.

Chmpocalypse · May 31, 2017

Nice right-wing propaganda you got there, OP.

Transparent as glass.

Majukun · May 31, 2017

so,maybe i misundersttod the whole thing,...but the professor seems entirely right

benicillin · May 31, 2017

Scrooged said:
Detailed interview with Bret Weinstein, the biology teacher who was told that it was no longer safe for him to teach on campus. What's happening on that campus is outrageous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fEAPcgxnyY

Oh look, it's Dave Rubin, the leech who attaches himself to every bit of drama he can find. Now if Colin makes a Patreon video about this the final seal will be broken.

*vomits uncontrollably*

Trojita · May 31, 2017

Deepwater said:
Link me to any historical occurrences of black students attacking professors. It's completely unfounded. Any time blacks get rowdy people start crying foul over "safety" issues.

I mean you are asked for one, so I'm just going to mention the post above where threat of violence to specific professors and administrators was used to make faculty capitulate.

Deepwater · May 31, 2017

MisterShine said:
The professor's quote from the article InsideHigherEd on the Day of Absence:

That is an entirely reasonable distinction to make.

There needs to be a discussion that many well meaning white people cannot internalize the weight of their own privilege until it works against them. Flipping this Day of Absence thing would have been an insightful exercise and could have opened the door for many dialogues on inter/intraracial experiences, privilege, etc.

Instead, white people got defensive and I would assume didn't even try to understand why the request was made and immediately doubled down to "oppression".

AlimNassor · May 31, 2017

People are ruled by emotions. The most dangerous thing in the world are unruly kids seeking justice.

Support NeoGAF

Evergreen State College Racism Controversy

Member

Rapid Response Threadmaker

Banned

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Rapid Response Threadmaker

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Unconfirmed Member

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Member

card-carrying scientician

Member

Banned

Member

Clothed, sober, cooperative

Member

Member

Member

Rapid Response Threadmaker

Banned

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Incredibly Naive

Totally wronger about Nintendo's business decisions.

Banned

Member

Blizzard

Member

Banned

Rapid Response Threadmaker

Member

Banned

Similar threads