It reads like it came from The Onion. A group of students at
the formerly prestigious Hamilton College has issued a list of demands. Of
course, it reads more like instructions for a pogrom, a cultural revolution designed
to destroy whatever remnants of American greatness remained on the campus.
Calling itself “The Movement” this group did nothing more
than affirm the fact that they are protesting because that is all that they
know how to do. They certainly cannot produce a coherent and literate piece of writing. As I
and Stuart Taylor have been at pains to point out, the root cause of this
nonsense is admissions standards that are skewed by affirmative action
criteria.
Powerline has reprinted the totality of their opus. For our
purposes I have selected out a few especially illiterate passages:
Hamilton
College cannot continue to overwhelmingly perpetuate narratives that center
whiteness, able-bodied individuals, colonization, heteronormativity, and
cisnormativity. The faculty, administration, staff, and student body at
Hamilton College almost ubiquitously encompass a single population that
continues the exclusion of historically underrepresented communities.
And,
Hamilton
College must attract diverse and innovative minds of all experiences. We must
support these minds on our campuses fully and dedicate ourselves to the needs
of all members of our campus. No Hamiltonian truly can feel included while we
exclude other Hamiltonians. We demand the vilification [sic]
of these forgotten voices. The demands below address a few of the
immediate problems facing our College and aim to offer solutions.
Also,
We, the
Students of Hamilton College, demand that the Office of the President releases
an official statement without clause acknowledging that Black Lives Matter. We
also demand a statement professing the validity of these demands and the
beginning of discussion to implement infrastructure to meet these demands
within the next twenty-four hours.
Finally,
We, the
Students of Hamilton College, demand for questions aimed at the prospective
President-Elects to center systematic oppression and Hamilton Colleges’
accountability with institutional racism.
As for the university administrators who are cowering before
this kind of illiterate mess, they are reaping what they sowed.
It does seem to be a movement ripe for a good psychology paper explanation. Affirmative action seems like a lame excuse.
ReplyDeleteI'd go with the Karpman drama triangle, where self-appointed white-guilt rescuers identify minority victims who need to be defended from self-interested persecutors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karpman_drama_triangle
Normally young people are comparatively modest in their "demands" on their elders, but when you're not doing your "demanding" for yourself, but for oppressed people in need of help, it's much easier to get all self-righteous and believe you're making sense.
I see Hamilton is a very old college, and named after Alexander Hamilton, who is on our $10 bill.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_College_(New_York)
These private school students certainly are uppity. I wonder how many patrons will continue funding these colleges if the president doesn't halt this nonsense in a hurry?
In contrast Mexican students might be more clever. I took a trip to Mexico City in 2006 and talked to some teachers there, and I forget everything they said, but I remember one said student strikes were common, and apparently they had negotiated their semester tuitions down to some token amount, and the Mexican government caved to their demands.
Of course things may have changed in Mexico since 2006, but you'd think the public university students here would be better off with a self-interested fight and graduating with less debt. There are still some blue state governments that might give in.
And while they're at it, they can demand that student loans be dischargable under bankruptcy. Success there ought to dry up the supply of bad-term private loans as least.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/02/obama-administration-backs-easier-bankruptcy-path-private-student-loans
I tend to think this group is a bunch of satirists, having a good time riffing on the "activists". They're hitting too many high points.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/07/980720081130.htm
ReplyDeletehttp://spp.sagepub.com/content/1/1/99.abstract
"Twenge has found the rise in narcissism to be especially notable in young women, so it may be no coincidence that the crybullies have so often been female."