You guys have won. I’m just going to get off the internet forever.
Just know that you’re like, opressing my freedom of expression, man. You’re just as bad as , like, those other guys who oppress people.
11 Likes
12 Likes
You’re perfectly free to say whatever you want, and everyone else is perfectly free to react to that. No oppression there. It’s not like you’re getting escorted out with your arms behind your back.
17 Likes
Ah, the “Why can’t I drop n-bombs in public?!” defense.
5 Likes
8 Likes
6 Likes
Just asking the question of why is it racist when nobody (regardless of their race or heritage) is allowed to do what this kid did (because it’s not an appropriate place for it), he was told not to do it, did it anyway, and was escorted (not arrested, not beaten, not intimidated, not threatened) by police out of the ceremony?
Would they have called the police on a different kid who ardently refused to comply with the dress code of the ceremony in other ways? What if he were Hispanic, or Polynesian, or Asian? Let’s say he refused to wear the cap and gown altogether, citing a lack of respect for the euro-centricity of the ceremony, and chose to wear robes or clothing appropriate to his culture. Would/should he have been allowed to walk? How much of a disruption is enough/too much/just right?
How about the larger community he’s a part of? His friends, peers, teachers, neighbors are all just as much a part of his life story as his cultural background is, but he’s disrespecting all of them by disrupting the ceremony and calling attention to himself over everyone else. What makes him special enough to be allowed to break the rules and get away with it? It seems from all the other comments here that the answer is “Because he’s black, and to come to any other conclusion shows profound and deep seeded racism on your part now sit down and shut up because other people are talking.”
My assertion is, and has always been, that it’s not racist if it applies equally to everyone. Whether the rule is good or bad isn’t part of whether it’s racist or not.
The police presence was the only response available. The teachers at the commencement ceremony don’t have the power to simply suspend or eliminate the rules just because one student decides to disobey them.
So rewriting the rules is out.
Punishment for breaking the rules needs to be proportionate to the level at which he escalated the situation. He already showed he wasn’t going to listen to the “rent-a-cop” as he put it, so the next step were the real police.
They didn’t storm the stage and knock him over, holding the kente cloth like a trophy over yet another bruised black boy.
They didn’t interrupt or disrupt or threaten or do anything other than escort the kid out of the ceremony, even going so far as to let his dad get his diploma and bring it to him. He wasn’t handcuffed, wasn’t detained, wasn’t arrested. Just because actual cops ejected him (like they would anyone who disrupts a large ceremony) suddenly it’s a big deal?
Saying “You have to leave because you broke the rules” isn’t racist.
Now, if we want to have a discussion about whether or not students ought to be allowed to wear symbols of their heritage to their graduation ceremony, we can do that too. We can talk about how to apply the same standard to everyone’s rights and abilities to express themselves. We can talk about what constitutes an inappropriate size or configuration of symbol to bring or wear. We can talk about whether you can only wear it or if you are allowed to carry it.
2 Likes
NOPE.
13 Likes
So what then? Can’t rewrite the rules in the moment, can’t let the kid walk as-is because it wouldn’t be fair to everyone else (and would actually BE racist, implying that one race or heritage was better than everyone else who didn’t get to display theirs) and he already demonstrated that he would defy anyone who tried to stop him. The police escorted him off the premises. That’s it. What else was there to do? What if he disrupted the ceremony in a way that was less appropriate than just wearing a kente cloth? Who is the judge of appropriateness?
1 Like
If a school administrator can’t handle a student refusing to take off a cloth, they need a new job (far away from education). Getting the police involved at all is a massive escalation. I’m not going to entertain your hypothetical “what if he was less appropriate”, because frankly, he wasn’t.
8 Likes
It’s very nice of @tropo to answer you. However, I assure you, the answers you so desperately seek appear upthread. Repeatedly.
11 Likes
I just figured because he asked me directly. It really is all up there though.
5 Likes
Hey look, a meme.
8 Likes
If ya can’t beat 'em, point out the irony of quashing discussion in the thread for an article tagged “tolerance” in a backhanded, ‘turnabout is fair play’ sort of way.
It’s an ironic image. I think I’ll excuse myself at this point though. Toodles!
15 Likes
Yay! first use of the abandon thread gif that I have observed… I really need to start posting to the .gif thread more often.
9 Likes
8 Likes
How dare people have opinions counter to yours. Be sure to get the last word about how people care too much!
6 Likes
