I am not your Teacher: Why Disadvantaged Groups are not Responsible for Deconstructing Privilege

     So there is a lot of buzz around discussions of privilege and its implications in social settings. In more capable areas the discussion is occurring smoothly with people working cohesively to use privilege responsibly to shape a world where there are no underprivileged groups. In other areas the responses have been violent. One only has to look at the University of Texas where students launched balloons filled with bleach at students of color on several, separate, occasions. 

      The University also has received sharp criticism for the Greek organizations race themed parties with the article citing "The local chapters of Tri Delta and Zeta Tau Alpha have recently apologized for a fiesta-themed party where two party attendees wore shirts that read 'Illegal' and 'Border Patrol.'" But the University of Texas is not the only college homes to these travesties. Colleges and Universities across the nation are dealing with these problems from Tufts University to my own Allegheny College. The common response from people in these organizations to accusations of racism or apathy in the face of racism has been, "Please don't dismiss everybody because there are people out there who care and that want to help," as Mandy Stein from the article pointed out. At Allegheny College where a forum was called to address Greek life there was a lot of this apathy in the face of racism and defensiveness in the face of blatant, and repeated incidences of Black face and cultural appropriation of Native American culture and symbols. Some students stated that they felt attacked by minority students calling them out on their actions, saying things along the lines, "well I didn't mean it like that" or "I'm not racist" with the latter eerily reflecting tweets that appeared during the 2012 Presidential Election. 

     This pattern poises a question for us, whose duty is it to deconstruct privilege? Is it, as the trends show, the responsibility of minority groups (who are already tasked with preserving their cultural heritage) to educate larger society about the pitfalls of their actions, or is it the responsibility of the privileged to educate themselves and see the dangers of privileged attitudes and blatantly racist attitudes?


The answer lies in the following passage in Stigma; Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identities by Erving Goffman, that I have bulleted and italicized for added flair, on what the assumption that minorities be the teachers of privilege means to the privileged:

• the pain and unfairness of having to carry a stigma will never be presented to them;

• they will never have to admit how limited their tactfulness and tolerance is;

• they can maintain uncontaminated by intimate contact with the stigmatized
and;

• they can remain unthreatened in their identity beliefs.

The view that it is the responsibility of minority groups to teach the privileged groups is a method of protecting privileged classes in various ways from being shocked or their views being seriously challenged. In its base this view already devalues not only the teacher but also the lesson that is being taught so that it can dismissed without any serious form of consideration. 

Notre Dame's Reaction To The Te'o Hoax Vs. Its Reaction To Sexual Assault Allegations

TW: Discussion of Rape

Notre Dame’s response to Seeberg’s accusation:

• Police waited 13 days to interview the accused perp (that’s three days afterSeeberg died), who was eventually found “not responsible” for misbehavior by a disciplinary board. 
• The university president refused to meet with her parents, claiming it would undermine his impartiality in the event he had to make a decision related to the case.
• Coach Brian Kelly made light ofthe number of Chicago Tribune reporters asking him about the case.
• A university official and a trusteeallegedlyspread rumors that Seeberg was a liar who was in fact sexually aggressive toward the player she accused on the night in question.

Notre Dame’s response to Te’o’s allegation that he’d been falsely led to believe he had a girlfriend on the Internet:

• The athletic department hired private investigators to look into the matter.
• The school held a press conference the night the news broke at which it denied that its player was complicit in the hoax.
• The school held a press conference at which its athletic director called the situation “a really frightening experience” and “an incredible tragedy.”
•  The school held a press conference at which its athletic director called the situation “an incredible tragedy” and began crying.

Read More

WATCH Antigay Activist Warns About Gay College RAs | Advocate.com

WATCH Antigay Activist Warns About Gay College RAs | Advocate.com

What do they think we're doing?
*Knock, knock, knock....* "Rez Life, anyone dying in here - have you tried the gay lifestyle?"
Hahaha! If only!!! 

Conceptualize growing fundamentalism into Progressivism - 1

Moving from a traditional base in order to challenge ideals such as Heterosexism, racism, cultural bigotry, transphobia, and other such categories built to separate us could possibly lead towards some of the most radical transformations in social thought that we can experience. That if we, as catalysts of social change, use fundamental concepts rooted in the consciousness of our families and communities to  move our values out from within the sky or above our heads, as things out of our grasps, into realities inside our communities, things we no longer need to value because they're foundations, we can truly enact inherent and indestructible change. 

Hillary’s shocking comments about Bradley Manning

News From Off the Web

by Logan Price

For those who don’t believe that Bradley’s personal life and sexuality may be used against him by officials or media critics, this gem of information was presented in a recent Vanity Fair articleabout Hillary Clinton, while on tour in the Middle East:

“Hillary told staff that she could not fathom how an army private, Bradley Manning, withpsychological problems and a drag-queen boyfriend could single-handedly cause the United States unprecedented embarrassment just by labeling massive downloads as Lady Gaga songs.”

Were those comments verbatim, or just the ill-chosen words of the author? We probably won’t know, but one thing is for sure:  they were published in a major pop-culture outlet, so there is no taking them back.

Here, is a good take-down of the allegation that Manning had “psychological problems.”  As for the comments about Bradley’s sexuality, you can be the judge of that.

If Hillary did indeed say anything of the sort, it is yet another reminder of the Obama administration’s willingness, almost as retaliation for their own embarrassment, to disregard public outcry about Bradley Manning’s charges and detainment and the fact that he has not yet been convicted of any crime.

At a fundraiser in San Francisco in April, Obama told me that Bradley Manning “broke the law,” a legally irresponsible and inappropriate statement that could constitute the ‘unlawful command influence’ of any military judge or jury that may preside over Bradley’s case.

Should the President and commander-in-chief –or the Secretary of State for that matter– really be saying such things about a high profile prisoner like Bradley Manning who has not yet been to trial?

The release of the Diplomatic Cables may have been embarrassing for the Obama Administration, but the life (not political career) of the most important whistleblower of my generation hangs in the balance.

It seems unlikely that we will hear any response from Hillary about this. This administration seems content to say one thing and mean another. Remember the sad irony felt when former white-house briefer Ray McGovern was rather brutally arrested last January for standing up in silent protest during Hillary Clinton’s lecture about free speech at George Washington University?

Not to mention Obama’s unexpected persecution of more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act than any previous administration, while giving this speech about the Arab Spring,

“Through our efforts we must support those basic rights to speak your mind and access information. We will support open access to the Internet, and the right of journalists to be heard – whether it’s a big news organization or a blogger. In the 21st century, information is power; the truth cannot be hidden; and the legitimacy of governments will ultimately depend on active and informed citizens. Such open discourse is important even if what is said does not square with our worldview.”

Ironically, that sounds a lot like Bradley’s alleged chat logs, which are being held by the Pentagon as evidence that Bradley was ‘aiding the enemy.’

“I want people to see the truth, regardless of who they are… because without the truth you can’t make informed decisions as a public.”

Doubly ironic is that the cables Manning is alleged to have leaked have beenhailed as a catalyst of the growing democracy in the Arab world.

The triple irony is that the greatest charge against him is that of  ’aiding the enemy.’  Despite campaign promises our leaders act at home as if democracy is only good for us on their terms — in fact it just might be ‘the enemy.’  Or we are.  Same thing, really.

Democracy, as the Arab world is showing us, is a do-it-yourself skill that requires courage, humility, and commitment to the truth– no matter the stakes.  If Bradley Manning is indeed guilty,  it is of these “psychological problems.”  He is our Egyptian.

Logan Price is a member of the Bradley Manning Support Network.   You can follow him on twitter @kstrel.

This is not the work of Ehahlil's Notebook.

Chris Brown the Anti-Islamic, Xenophobic, and overall Sad Individual

Has sunk to new lows this halloween as seen from his twitter account

It can be found on his twitter page as the last post for the 31st.