A group of employees at South Puget Sound Community College caused outrage after they made it clear that white people would not be welcome at a planned diversity “happy hour” event.
The event was focused around an effort ” to “build support and community” for people of color.
“If you want to create space for white folks to meet and work on racism, white supremacy, and white privilege to better our campus community and yourselves, please feel free to do just that,” stated an email which was sent out to 300 employees.
Students at the college expressed their bewilderment at why a “diversity” event would specifically exclude people of a certain race.
“This….contradicts the message they’re trying to send, don’t judge people based on their color but they’re judging white people because they’re white” said one student.
College spokeswoman Kellie Purce Braseth said the exclusion was “not condoned” by the school, adding, “If you want to come you should be able to come, that just makes a richer conversation.”
However, despite being forced to apologize, Karama Blackhorn, program coordinator for the school’s Diversity and Equity Center, who helped write the invitation, seemingly doubled down.
“That space is not for white people, that space is for people of color,” said Blackhorn, asserting that staff members cannot discuss race issues with white people present.
“That’s not diversity, that’s anti what we’re preaching here,” responded one student.
Indeed, Blackhorn’s claim that white people should be excluded from certain spaces or events at the college is no different philosophically to how black people were similarly discriminated against during segregation.
By asserting the contrived myth of “white privilege,” predominantly white liberals are attempting to rationalize the clearly ludicrous notion that it is impossible to be racist towards white people.
In reality, this mentality functions as a crass and cynical ploy to shut down debate and discriminate against the equality of a person’s freedom of speech based on their skin color – which is the very epitome of racism.
Re: Diversity
Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:20 pm
by dgs49
Makes perfect sense to me. There are Womens' groups, African-American groups, and "Latino" groups that are exclusively for people of that characteristic, and nobody gives it a second thought. A "diversity" group is a collection of such subgroups, which also excludes people in the majority - who have no business being there. I would take exception to the exclusion of women, but that's just me.
Is there any doubt that "diversity" is a code word for advancing the interests of everyone who is not white and male?
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 12:25 am
by rubato
In college I knew the head of the Vietnamese student association. He lived in an apartment with a number of other students and told them he wanted to hold a VSA meeting in their apartment and could they please be somewhere else. Black student, "sure, I get it", Chicano student "ok", white student "but WHY can't I come to your meeting WHY?". "You're discriminating that's wrong" Whine fucking whine fucking whine.
After a few minutes of fruitless conversation Tran* said "ok, you can come, but you have to wear OD green".
yrs,
rubato
* Not his real name.
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 12:36 am
by Lord Jim
The folks who came up with this are obviously hypocrites with no sense of irony, whose self-righteousness and sanctimoniousness has blinded them to their hypocrisy and the glaring irony...
However, we live in a country where one is free to be a self righteous sanctimonious hypocrite with a severe irony-deficiency, if one so chooses...
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 12:45 am
by Joe Guy
They shouldn't have made an issue out of this. No white people would go to the diversity meeting anyway...
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 1:38 am
by Gob
SSsssnuuuuuurttTT!
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 3:26 am
by Scooter
Is there any evidence that those who planned this actually called it a "diversity" event? Or is that just being assumed because it was planned by the Diversity and Equity Center?
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 1:58 pm
by Sue U
Gob, would you please stop sullying the board with garbage from Alex Jones? It's just degrading to everyone, but most especially you.
Of course, this was not a "diversity happy hour" celebration of multiculturalism or whatever. The event was intended to be a meeting of minority employees to discuss their perspectives on racism and diversity issues and to build a supportive community among them. While the express exclusion of "white" staff was probably unnecessary and certainly ham-handed, the fact is that the express purpose of the event was to elicit views of, and discussion among, minority staff, faculty and administrators.
And any time you have a minority group asserting itself as a minority group, you can count on the white racist claque to start screaming, "They're the REAL racists!!!!11!!!1!!!"
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 2:59 pm
by Lord Jim
please stop sullying the board with garbage
Quite right...
We'll have no dodgy, biased, or agenda driven sources posted 'round here, thank you very much...
You let that sort of thing start up, and where will it end? Next thing you know, people will be posting articles written by Paul Krugman...
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 3:37 pm
by Joe Guy
Sue U wrote:Gob, would you please stop sullying the board with garbage from Alex Jones? It's just degrading to everyone, but most especially you.
Quit accusing Gob of sullying the board, you racist!! The Welsh* aren't really all that much different than us white people.
(I've got your back, Gob)
*Cornish?
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 4:36 pm
by Crackpot
Give the man a break he's suffering fro Steve withdrawal.
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 5:57 pm
by Sue U
Also too:
By asserting the contrived myth of “white privilege,”
Anyone who thinks white privilege is a "contrived myth" has never hailed a cab or shopped a department store while black, much less tried to steal a bike:
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 6:22 pm
by Rick
I'm surprised there are any "people of color" in the puget sound area (not really).
The only thing I see wrong with this picture is that the invite was sent to "all" 300 staffers just to exclude some of them.
Folk want
The "Staff, Faculty and Administrators of Color" encouraged employees to reply to the invitation to find out the confidential date and time of what was being called a "happy hour" to "build support and community" for people of color.
to have a secret meeting, fine have one why invite everyone to tell some sorry yer not invited?
That's not racist, that's stupid.
That aside other than a few white supremist sites this really didn't develop as a blip on the radar, that prolly pissed the "diversity" leadership more than anything.
Now had this happened around here...
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 8:55 pm
by Gob
Sue U wrote:Gob, would you please stop sullying the board with garbage from Alex Jones? It's just degrading to everyone, but most especially you.
It wasn't from Alex Jones? Who he?
An event meant to celebrate diversity and combat racism at a Washington state community college has been cancelled after a flier emailed to guests said white people weren’t invited.
A group of employees, under the name “Staff, Faculty and Administrators of Color,” at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia sent an invitation to all 300 staffers to attend a diversity “happy hour,” a local news station reported.
SEE ALSO: College offers to pay students to take year off: ‘Be with yourself’
School officials were asked to reply to the invitation to find out the confidential date and time of when the event would be held. According to the station, the invite made it clear white people were not invited.
“If you want to create space for white folks to meet and work on racism, white supremacy, and white privilege to better our campus community and yourselves, please feel free to do just that,” the email read.
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- An attempt to fight racism at a community college may have backfired.
A group of employees at South Puget Sound Community College sent out an invitation to all 300 staffers.
The "Staff, Faculty and Administrators of Color" encouraged employees to reply to the invitation to find out the confidential date and time of what was being called a "happy hour" to "build support and community" for people of color.
OLYMPIA, Wash. ― South Puget Sound Community College says it was a mistake for an employee group to invite only people of color to a diversity “happy hour.”
The group that sent out the email last week apologized the next day and canceled the event, said Kellie Purce Braseth, dean of college relations.
The college believes the best way to celebrate and discuss diversity is to include everyone, Braseth told TV station KING.
“If you want to come you should be able to come; that just makes a richer conversation,” she said.
The invitation to all 300 staffers said the “Staff, Faculty and Administrators of Color” encouraged employees to reply to the invitation to find out the confidential date and time of what was being called a “happy hour” to “build support and community” for people of color.
The invite made it clear White people were not welcome.
The Washington Times; isn't that the paper owned by the Moonies?
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 9:52 pm
by Lord Jim
Re Sue's video:
First of all I have to say part three is hysterical...
The Old Farts actually offering to help The Babe steal the bike...
That's priceless...
But while I'm not going to try to make an argument that being a middle class white person when dealing with the police has no advantages, (it certainly did in my case in my younger days) I do have some questions about this particular video: (Laying aside editing questions; which would be another issue)
1. It's pretty obvious that this video was shot in a park area frequented primarily by white middle class people...(most of them middle aged; though there is one middle aged middle class African American lady who says that she doesn't expect white boys in general to have the tools available for thievery...)
2. It would be interesting to see these results compared to a similar experiment conducted in an area frequented primarily by African Americans...
3. The narrator of the video says that the actors involved are comparable, except for the difference in their race. That simply isn't true...
First of all, the white actor is much bigger than the black actor...(which would make a person less inclined to confront them; regardless of their race)
And also if you look at the way the black actor is dressed, (the cap side-ways, the droopy pants) he presents a very different impression, (especially to middle class white people...)
Again, I am not denying that there are advantages to being white in dealing with the law...
But I am questioning whether or not this video is good evidence of it...
Re: Diversity
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 10:01 pm
by Gob
Sue U wrote:
Anyone who thinks white privilege is a "contrived myth" has never hailed a cab or shopped a department store while black, much less tried to steal a bike:
Thanks for the tip Sue, I need a new bike!
Re: Diversity
Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2014 2:15 pm
by Lord Jim
This looks like a good place to insert an old racist stereotype joke about a bicycle:
Little Johnny, who is half black and half Jewish, looks very depressed. So his father asks, "Why are you so unhappy Johnny?"
Johnny replies, "Dad I've got a problem. This kid down the street has a bike I want; he wants 20$ for it, and I can't decide whether I should steal it or talk him down to 10..."
