Wednesday, May 13, 2015

A Case in Point of "Real" Racism

1) Incoming Boston University professor Saida Grundy calls "white college males" a "problem population” in angry tweets. And in other recent Twitter messages she says that "white masculinity is THE problem for America's colleges." And "Deal with your white (%*#*@), white people; slavery is a ‘YALL’ thing.” And "Every MLK week I commit myself to not spending a dime in white-owned businesses. And every year I find it nearly impossible."

2) Is she fired? No. Boston University Robert Brown acknowledged that her messages could be “hurtful” but then gave her plenty of understanding.  "I do not say this lightly or without a great deal of consultation and soul-searching," Brown's letter reads. "I understand there is a broader context to Dr. Grundy's tweets and that, as a scholar, she has the right to pursue her research, formulate her views, and challenge the rest of us to think differently about race relations. But we also must recognize that words have power and the words in her Twitter feed were powerful in the way they stereotyped and condemned other people."

3) Saida Grundy apologizes...in her way."I regret that my personal passion about issues surrounding these events led me to speak about them indelicately. I deprived them of the nuance and complexity that such subjects always deserve."

4) And the response of other liberals? Hey, Saida ain’t racist! You are! A hashtag campaign ensued and a petition of support which read, “Racism extends to virtually every institution in American society - including higher education. Calling Professor Grundy's tweets racist minimizes the very real effects of racism for people of color in the United States."

5) So calling white people names; smearing all white people by making them responsible for slave ownership; insisting that white males are the primary, if not sole, problem in American colleges; and bragging about race-oriented discrimination in consumer decisions — that’s not racism. Real racism is thinking that Professor Grundy is out of line.

6) Saida Grundy starts her job in July.