I don’t know:
We both have biases!
/s (this sarcasm tag makes me feel dirty, but in the post-parody world we live in, it is necessary)
all she wants is to enlighten our wallets.
thats so damn lazy. but. right? but. smh.
sadly true…
Oh, that’s what pp at the end of a list means?
SCNR.
This thread.
It’s getting to me.
I feel less like going sarcastic.
More like going ballistic.
Wait. The thing is not all work is the same, if I have a bias in my job against a certain type of person literally the only person who is going to be harmed by it is me. I work in the back end of bloated corporate software systems and whatever amazing enterprise suite is going to revolutionize them in the next five years once it’s set up and running assuming another one doesn’t come along in the interim or the company doesn’t decide it’s going to forgo updates because money. I’m routinely reminded of bias in the workplace, and pretty sure if some one felt basically anything I did was costing them money or dragging out work I’d be subject to some immediate feedback. The academic world is not like that which is why I ran screaming from it, but that’s another issue. The thing I want to point out is that not all jobs are equal in terms of how bias can harm others. For instance a racist sign language interpreter or social worker can do a lot more harm. Yes some bias is human, but bias that puts other people at immediate risk can and SHOULD be scrutinized. Also, if we don’t continually confront and analyze our own and other people’s biases how the hell are we going to overcome them?
What real good does just shrugging and thinking “oh well…” do past a certain point? People will ignore everything and anything they can until they can’t anymore.
I realize I’m getting to this post 3 days late (getting caught up on my RSS!), but if this really is a professor and not just some adjunct, there are surely tenure-related due process provisions that 1) prevent an immediate firing and require hearings etc. and 2) prevent the school from commenting except for a bland statement. GWC’s actions are consistent with that.
I always answer “I am from California” but then people always ask - “no I mean originally” or “where were you from before that”. There is no getting around the conversation I’ve found after 1/2 a lifetime of trying. Look it’s not the worst thing in the world and I wouldn’t even call it overly racist , more just a practical acknowledgment of what the percentage races are as well as a bit of curiosity. But I just am saying I find it really annoying to be asked this all the time. I really don’t get it too much anymore in NY but anywhere outside a big city it’s a landmine. There are worse things.
Also - How come i get strange reactions and looks from white people when I try to ask (or guess) where there European anscestors came from eh?
I don’t bring it up out of the blue as some people might be inclined to do, if i’m in the kind of conversation where i’m talking about personal topics then i’d be inclined to ask… but yeah i’ve seen people flat out ask where someone is from out of the blue and it’s not the best.
In the Americas, quite an appropriate questions. If people would actually would think instead of just apply bias.
Sadly, the out-of-Africa-same-as-you answer doesn’t even register with most racists as the correct one.
Just FTR:
They think that if they are in the minority, they’ll be treated as minorities in America have historically been treated. They see it as a zero-sum game, with someone like Louis Farrakhan speaking for all minorities.
Not really. There are most certainly some very conservative corners of academia (the Chicago school of economics come to mind, as do certain questions on, say Israel, in certain schools). It’s not all a bastion of left-wing politics as many imagine. If I had to describe the academy as a whole (at least in the states - YMMV for other countries), I’d say it’s center right, with a strong leaning towards FDR liberalism. Let’s not forget that academia in the US is slowly being corporatized, with fields that tend to have a higher correlation with the political left, slowly being economically starved via this process. The humanities are seen as no longer necessary and a liability in the new corporate academy. If it doesn’t net an immediate paying job, it’s not seen as being worth funding, no matter what sort of benefits a liberal education actually has for individuals.
They are some of them who are sure that as soon as ‘the swarthy furrin devils and other tan folk’ can they will exact revenge for the history of ‘being put down by the man’
Galt’s Gulch?
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