Even though this is a story about a the professor wearing a t-shirt to work, you still picture him in a jacket, vest, and a bowtie?
Iâm not seeing the difference, especially, as you say, in this context, which is where the comparison to âburgers are goodâ is useful.
Yes, âBlack lives matterâ can be taken to imply that other lives donât matter, but anyone who takes it that way is entirely misreading the phrase in its context. And in that context, it doesnât imply âOther lives donât matterâ any more than âburgers are goodâ implies no other foods are good. Except to people who entirely misread it in its context.
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Wot, again? âWhoâ is not his name. (actually, Whoâs on firstâŚ) . He is simply
"the Doctor."
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Donât forget that taking teacher-led prayer out of school causes atheism and mass shootings, gay marriage causes hurricanes and tornadoes, and thinking our police or military shouldnât kill innocent people means the UN will take our guns and set up concentration camps for Christians.
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Gotta love âALL LIVES MATTERâ folks. There is just something so quintessentially American about white people who have spent the last 10 minutes thinking about racism explaining how it doesnât really exist to black people who have spent the last four centuries being brutalized by it.
Edit: These same folks also see no irony in posting âBLUE LIVES MATTERâ memes right after the âALL LIVES MATTERâ ones.
Same problems you say? Shouldnât have NAACP you say? Here are a few more gems from self-avowed ânot racistâ ALL LIVES MATTER FaceBook posters.
Edit: I have begun a personal study of race in America. I want to learn what we really mean when we say âwhiteâ and âblackâ. Started with Ta-Nehisi Coates, James Baldwin, Nell Irvin Painter, and refreshing my Malcolm X, now looking for some more authors. I know most of you are far better read than me; would you please suggest reading that you found enlightening on the subject of âraceâ in America? Thanks.
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"ALL LIVES MATTER stands for All Americans"
lemme guess - Americans here are not inhabitants of the continent America but a small subset?
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The 15yo me had the importance of titles beaten into him
(This is a great movie especially for anyone who survived Catholic school)
How is it horribly arbitrary for me to work for 10 years for a degree and expect some respect for that? The same respect that men get just for walking into a room, whether or not they have finished their degrees or not, are tenured or not, etc. No matter their position, they automatically get the respect, instantly. Women or POC usually donât. By reminding the student that, âyes, I am indeed worthy of being here, I have done the work and I do actually know a bit more than youâ, the prof can perhaps earn some of that respect that their work should entitle them to.
Personally, I donât care what people call me in the class room once Iâve finished up. I will not tolerate outright disrespect, though. It would be nice if people took me as seriously as a man, but the reality is that they donât. I have to live with that on a daily basis. Iâm sorry if me asking to be treated equally with my colleagues is offensive to you. But Iâm not going to stop demanding respect for what Iâve accomplished just because you think itâs âarbitraryâ for me to say âhey, I put in lots of hard work, how about giving me some kudos for thatâ.
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The professoriate is much more diverse now⌠which thank god for that!
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Try some more on the construction whiteness (which I know Painter has written about). Noel Ignativ writes on teh Irish:
And David Roediger, who makes a labor based argument about whiteness:
https://www.amazon.com/Wages-Whiteness-American-Working-Haymarket/dp/1844671453/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=51ryF9fs46L&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL320_SR214%2C320&psc=1&refRID=FFCMKDT76645X5YBETJE
Another good one on the late 19th century immigration wave and race:
https://www.amazon.com/Whiteness-Different-Color-European-Immigrants/dp/0674951913/ref=pd_sim_14_8?ie=UTF8&dpID=51R6r5BdXkL&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR106%2C160&psc=1&refRID=FQAT40XVPRHP8DZ5HWQ0
On Jews and whiteness (I didnât like this one as much, actually, but itâs got some good stuff):
https://www.amazon.com/Price-Whiteness-Jews-American-Identity/dp/0691136319/ref=pd_sim_14_13?ie=UTF8&dpID=418dSir6k4L&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR107%2C160&psc=1&refRID=HSX9MCTCW8RY6H0GGEER
Oh! Gail Bederman!
And this is an excellent history of African American women from the Civil War to the Great migration⌠I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book - itâs one of my favorite history monographs, hands down:
https://www.amazon.com/Joy-My-Freedom-Southern-Womens/dp/0674893085/ref=pd_sim_14_17?ie=UTF8&dpID=51RUF-8XD-L&dpSrc=sims&preST=AC_UL160_SR106%2C160&psc=1&refRID=FHJG3N6G8Q56ZR3NY7EK
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Iâm all for giving respect to those who deserve and have earned it and academic achievement is certainly laudable, but donât titles originate from an effort to create unequal classes of people? Why would we want to perpetuate the patriarchal values of setting some people above others? Titles are only applied to individuals and not to all members of oppressed classes/groups, so itâs not a very equitable way of lifting people up. In my experience, privileged white males donât respect POCs or women, regardless of their titles or even if the POCs and women outrank them in a workplace hierarchy or academic environment. I think taking away the titles from the privileged white males (and collaterally everyone else) would go farther towards equality than just âpromotingâ the individuals who achieve a certain level of academic achievement, especially since due to their privilege, white males have had a greater likelihood of achieving such titles historically.
Please tell me what I said that implied that I didnât understand that, when I generally reminded of it on a daily basis.
[ETA] And donât forget that the rhetoric about the uselessness and the drive to defund liberal arts educations in this country tracks almost exactly with a rise of more women and POC in especially the humanities. All of a sudden, fields like mine are far too politicized and need to be âbalancedâ at just the same time that white men are no longer the sure majority (although in history, I do think men still dominate, by not by as large a margin as the hard sciences). But Iâm sure thatâs a coincidence. Maybe you know something about that? Iâd like to hear your views, if you do.
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I didnât intend to imply that you didnât understand. I was only stating the things Iâve observed that supported why I feel that titles are an uncomfortable proxy for a better system of respect in society. I know a number of old privileged conservative white male jerks who like to pretend that their doctorates mean theyâre smarter or more correct when discussing any topic, even when most are unrelated to their subject matter expertise. Iâd rather as a society we recognized accomplishments that were morally or ethically laudable over academic achievements, sort of like a secular use of titles like reverend to refer to people who fight for equality or win significant court cases that expand rights to the underrepresented and oppressed.
My imagining is not so much about his dress as it is about the character from the tv show The Paper Chase.
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I understand what youâre saying, however, do you think that academic achievements canât be moral and ethical, depending on what it does? Plenty of academics use their privilege to make a difference in society in meaningful ways. Many professors are activists and see a strong connection between their work and bettering society. I can think of a long list of individuals, famous and not, who have done so. One example I can think of is the late Cliff Kuhn from the GSU history department - a fine example of an academic who saw no distinction between his work and activism, and who made the world better for that lack of distinction:
And he rarely insisted we call him professor or doctor, despite his relative privilege⌠Not really a guy hung up on elitism, but on using his privilege to improve the world around him.
But once again, my point was that many people who expect their title to be used are women and POC who have historically been kept out or marginalized in academia, and in general they are the people who are not afforded the same respect as their white, male colleagues get just by showing up. That says nothing about the historical inequalities in academia, rather it addresses it directly.
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Standard UK title for surgeons is âMister.â You have unmasked yourself as a foul Yank. 
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MADNESS.
âMisterâ is what we just call men here.
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I think we need a venn diagram for men and surgeons nowâŚ
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All the people Iâve ever heard say âFuck titles, theyâre elitist!â have been white guys who just donât know what itâs like to need a title to get, finally, a consistent kind of respect thatâs something like the kind of respect that white guys get on the regular, just for being white guys.
And itâs not just that people who earn titles want their hard work recognized via usage of the title to address them. Hearing others use the title is also, for women and racial minorities especially, about getting some measure of the respect that theyâre very often otherwise denied, just because because theyâre women and/or minorities.
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