Patteeu, this is why the two of us can't have a constructive dialogue about this issue. Black students say they feel unwelcome on campus, through treatment from the school and from slurs said at them by fellow students. Some white persons say back to them that they have a victim complex (as if it's their fault they are recipients of bigoted slurs & racist treatment, or as if those things are not happening in the first place). It's not in me to side with the persons who are telling students that they are making it up.

Like, I'm a teacher. I care about my students, and because of this I listen to them. I taught (as a grad student) at a large state school for 5 years and heard many, many painful personal stories of racial mistreatment from my students. The grad student council would try to put forward suggestions to meet the concerns of our students; sometimes those gained traction & sometimes we were shrugged off. But we listened to our students and we tried to work within the system to help them. A few UA students just released a video as part of a class project the other day. Their stories are very common, and speak to experiences that black students have at, I'd safely guess, the majority of big college campuses:
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/145380616" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
As a teacher at my current college, I teach mostly students of color. I listen to them. The campus environment is a bit different because of the racial demographics and the size of the school, but my students know they can count on me to try and fix problems, should they occur. Because I listen. It's not in me to NOT listen, which is what your position requires. It requires a literal willful ignorance of what students are saying they experience. I can't do that.

DJ, again nothing started out as a protest. Dictating terms came late in the process.

That's like admitting that you never went to church on Easter when you were a kid.

Listening isn't really the issue. You seem to lack any level of critical skepticsm. Unconditional love and approval has it's place. It's great when you know your mom will have your back no matter what heinous crime you've been charged with, for example. You think you're a teacher, but it sounds like you're really a great mom.

Even great moms, though, do their kids a disservice when they reinforce the idea that every boo boo is a major wound.

No one likes rude behavior, but almost everyone is exposed to it to one degree or another and you can't wipe it out. Even if we accept the "litany" (your word, your exaggeration) of allegations as facts, they don't seem to add up to anything more than low-frequency, spontaneous, rude behavior. That's not OK, but it's also not any worse for these students than the equally not OK spontaneous, rude behavior faced by many women, gays, foreigners, mormons, greeks, nerds, uglies, fatties, townies, white guys, jews, and almost everyone else.

The reason we can't have a useful dialog isn't because I won't listen. It's not even because you listen uncritically. It's because you want a different result than I do.

Haha. Ha.

But your last paragraph is true, yes.

Now that I think about it, there was that 7th grade dance where all the guys tried to dress like we were on Miami Vice. Those pants were white.

Clay Travis: the "poopsticka" might actually be a slur against Nazis. Since it's taking their symbol and making poop out of it.

This is one of those 'weak arguments hurt your strong ones' moments.

C'mon - I'm pretty sure people that sketch in excrement don't have much in the way of heightened social awareness.

This probably is something of an idiot skinhead that was making poo doodles. I ask again, just exactly how the hell does this have anything to do with institutional racism?

Because it's racism. At an institution. Therefore change the system.

Travis was obviously laughing when he posted this satire. Highly doubt he's making any "argument" at all.

I understand the frustration of students affected if the University took little to no action on their claims over the course of two years, I do. But for them to go as far as to say allege that Mizzou fostered such a racist environment is quite frankly dishonest, imo.

Early when this broke out, there were those in this very thread saying how they had heard nothing of any of this, nor saw anything relating to what was being alleged. Hardly sounds like an institution that openly gives no ****s to how minorities are being treated on their campus.

DISCLAIMER - That is not to say racism isn't alive and well on the campus. Show me one campus large or small in this country that doesn't have their fair share of dumb****s that throw the N bomb out arbitrarily because they are nothing more than a bunch of dumb****s.

#NationalOffendACollegeStudentDay

https://twitter.com/hashtag/National...rc=twsrc%5Etfw

So which CS1950 kid did it?

Oh, and I though liberals thought think like pissing on the crucifix and other such stuff was art. Did anybody think to ask if there were any art majors on the floor?

And freshmen really need to explorer their options too.

I wonder if claiming they're "afraid" might eliminate any need to sit-out a year if they transfer to a real school with an adult coach.

ROFLROFLROFLROFLROFL