- Joined
- Oct 22, 2010
- Messages
- 62,851
Looks like IT covered in brownies.
This thread will be getting a lot of bumps in the run up to Halloween won’t it?
This thread will be getting a lot of bumps in the run up to Halloween won’t it?
Wasn't there some movie a while back where two black guys painted their faces white and posed as white girls? Not saying there should be outrage, just that it can be done and the sky doesn't cave in.It seems to be a case of "better safe than sorry" after a few professional victims took it upon themselves to be offended, but she has literally nothing to apologize for. This is one of those cases where the term "PC gone too far" applies. If painting your face black draws accusations of doing blackface, regardless of context, the people doing the accusing need to take a step back and reassess their priorities.
White Chicks. I don't remember much of it (saw it after it came out on DVD back in 2005 or something), aside from Marlon and Shawn Wayans looking horrendous as white women. And Terry Crews being hilarious.Wasn't there some movie a while back where two black guys painted their faces white and posed as white girls? Not saying there should be outrage, just that it can be done and the sky doesn't cave in.
Ah, yeah I haven't seen it so can't say comment on how well it was done. I do wonder how the same movie would do now, 13 years is a long time in PC land.White Chicks. I don't remember much of it (saw it after it came out on DVD back in 2005 or something), aside from Marlon and Shawn Wayans looking horrendous as white women. And Terry Crews being hilarious.
Even the wording of the correction is poor. It says they are recommendations, not proposals, ie it could be on the agenda, then the last line says they aren'tThat's an outrageous allegation to make...
They're haven't said sorry at all.
Even the wording of the correction is poor. It says they are recommendations, not proposals, ie it could be on the agenda, then the last line says they aren't
I really wouldn't read to much into that, you try and avoiding using the same word twice in a sentence and I see them as interchangeable.And also still referring to a white person is an 'author' and a black person a 'writer', and ran with a cartoon satirising the news they invented today, and have published a follow up article including reference to the article they've 'apologised' for, and are still misreporting the story in their correction.
Yeah, I had to read it twice. Bit weird.Even the wording of the correction is poor. It says they are recommendations, not proposals, ie it could be on the agenda, then the last line says they aren't
I really wouldn't read to much into that, you try and avoiding using the same word twice in a sentence and I see them as interchangeable.
I really wouldn't read to much into that, you try and avoiding using the same word twice in a sentence and I see them as interchangeable.
Absolutely. Although, no doubt, twitter is full of people taking all sorts of offence over their choice of wording.
Not a great surprise tbh. Clearly as the white authors are mentioned first, the black ones get the synonym.Absolutely. Although, no doubt, twitter is full of people taking all sorts of offence over their choice of wording.
I'd judge them to be interchangeable and a way to avoid repetition, just as we use CEO, boss and chief interchangeably. In the second sentence says 'replace white authors with black ones [ie authors]'Of course thats true, but the wording is the same in the original story, the correction, and is followed even when the other word is not present in the sentence e.g. in the original article.
It seems to be pretty clear that the preference is to call black people 'writers' and white people 'authors'. I'm not implying that that is a conscious decision, but I would say it's a pretty obvious example of subconscious bias.
I also fundamentally disagree that both words have exactly the same connotations.
As I say, one time? Fine. When you do it every time including when the other word isn't in the sentence? It's hard to believe it's a pure coincidence.
Not a great surprise tbh. Clearly as the white authors are mentioned first, the black ones get the synonym.
That is true- save alliteration for the headlines.Also,"white writers" is a bit of a tongue-twister. Try saying it 6 times quickly!
Not a great surprise tbh. Clearly as the white authors are mentioned first, the black ones get the synonym.
I'd judge them to be interchangeable and a way to avoid repetition, just as we use CEO, boss and chief interchangeably. In the second sentence says 'replace white authors with black ones [ie authors]'
Also,"white writers" is a bit of a tongue-twister. Try saying it 6 times quickly!
I've not read the original article tbh. It looks like we disagree on this, but I'd describe George Orwell, a personal favourite, meaning it as a compliment as I enjoy his writing style.Even in that example where black author is 'used', the word is never actually used, and 'black writer' appears in the second paragraph of the original article without any need to avoid
repetition.
That is not to say that I have any issue with writer being used as a descriptor, but I do not agree that the two words are completely synonymous. To me, and you may not agree with this definition, 'writer' is much more workmanlike; a writer is someone who writes. An author is, of course, a writer, but it also contains connotations of the creative process involved in writing. A historian is a writer, but we'd probably call them a historian first. A journalist is a writer, but we'd probably call them a journalist first. All of these word choices reflect that there is more than simply writing in the process of producing the thing that has been written. That doesn't mean that it's wrong to call an author a writer, but that if the instinctive reaction is to think of a white person as an 'author' and a black person as a 'writer' then that says something about our perceptions.
I find it similar to the language people often use to describe black footballers. All footballers are, of course, athletes, but if you refer exclusively, or even more regularly, to black footballers as athletes rather than footballers its hard not to see that as a implicit rejection of the technical ability of the black footballer.
Which, again, isn't to say that I think this is done deliberately. Just that word choices reflect subconsciously held beliefs and can serve to perpetuate those beliefs.
But 'black authors' isn't, so whats the excuse there?
[QUOTE="NinjaFletch, post: 21648782, member: 46569]But 'black authors' isn't, so whats the excuse there?
This thread will be getting a lot of bumps in the run up to Halloween won’t it?
They're not 'mixing up' though. They're consistently using one word to refer to one group and one word to another even in sentences where the other word doesn't appear. Whatever value you place on the terms, their calling white authors 'authors' and black authors 'writers' differentiates the two groups and implies a difference.
Although I can understand why you might be inclined to give the author/journalist/writer the benefit of the doubt, in an incredibly problematic article I'm not sure why we would assume that the reason is purely linguistic preference and not an example of the same world view that led to the bollocks article in the first place?
Cambridge to 'decolonise' English literature
Cambridge University’s English Literature professors could replace white authors with black writers, following proposals put forward by academic staff in response to student demands to “decolonise” the curriculum.
For the first time, lecturers and tutors would have to “ensure the presence” of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) writers on their course, under plans discussed by the English Faculty’s Teaching Forum.
The University denies there are any plans to replace white authors with black ones.
The move follows an open letter, penned by Lola Olufemi, Cambridge University Student Union’s women’s officer and signed by over 100 students, titled “Decolonising the English Faculty”.
Now I'm getting confused over what all the fuss was about in the first place.
The only copy of the original article I can find online starts off with the following:
The rest of it is behind a paywall. As far as I can see that's a reasonable representation of the open letter which kicked things off.
The tweet above has a different headline. Has the article been rewritten since?
The one thing that I think is disgusting here is the way the girl who wrote that open letter has apparently been the subject of horrific online abuse from assorted scumbags wound up by the DT (and whatever other papers covered the same story) Gotta love social media, eh?
This is not a call for the exclusion of white men from reading lists, needless to say: it is a call to re-centre the lives of other marginalized writers who have been silenced by the canon.
They're black authors in this piece, so it isn't a house style thing.
10 BAME authors who should be on every reading list
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/10-bame-authors-should-every-reading-list/
1: The byline is wrong, the open letter doesn't call for white authors to be replaced (in fact it specifically addresses that complaint):
2: The article is wrong, CUE staff discussed the letter and the topic at a teaching forum, but this body does not 'propose'. This is the bulk of the correction as they now claim this body made 'recommendations', but they're still misrepresenting what the teaching forum is and what they do.
3: The 'article' was actually a front page spread with picture of the girl and (incorrect) claim that 'student forces university to drop white authors', the picture was taken without her permission and used with an quote that misrepresented what she said.
4: In the same issue as the correction they posted a cartoon based on their incorrect reporting.
5: In the same issue as the correction they posted a follow up article making the same claim as the original.
6: The article is still available online without correction
7: The article misrepresents how universities work, and how modules are organised.
There's some basic points, but in that light I find it hard to believe that the black writers/white authors thing is an innocent way of avoiding repetition rather than a reflection of the same mindset that saw this open letter represented in the way it was in the Telegraph.
As a general point, this debate is one that is happening in all fields at the minute including mine. It's a valuable and important debate about what is considered essential (Literary scholars would call this the canon), how we teach that material, and how this has been influenced and shaped by the attitude of those that have gone before us. Misrepresenting that as an attack on white people is dishonest, dangerous, and downright horseshit.
Isn't the byline just the bit where they say who wrote their article? Do you mean headline? Because I can see a headline in the above tweet that is wrong but it's different to what is on the Telegraph website. Although I'm guessing that's been altered since this all kicked off. Would be interested in seeing the original because I'm struggling to see how anyone could take issue with what's up there now? The bit that's this side of the paywall anyway.
Cambridge University’s English Literature professors could replace white authors with black writers, following proposals put forward by academic staff in response to student demands to “decolonise” the curriculum.
The cartoon you refers to also has a go at the Tories sticking their noses into universities re Brexit, so they're taking the piss out of both ends of the political spectrum. Which is something I can get behind.
Re the article, other than the headline in the tweet higher up the page, I honestly don't see how they misrepresent what is going on at all (see above) but again, I would really need to see what was first published in case it's radically different to what's up there now.
Re authors/writers, the open letter from the students which kicked this off only ever uses the word "writers" in the context of non-white people and only ever describes white writers as authors". Make of that what you will. Admittedly it uses authors for both white and non-white people but you can see how an inconsistency like that can creep into a relatively short piece without any malign intentions.
My general beef with all of this is that there's enough shitty things going on in the world that I don't think it helps anyone to look for perceived slights where none might be intended. Focus on the obvious stuff and ignore the trivial. Otherwise you're just reinforcing the "snowflake" crap that undermines so many legitimate protests
No one should have to pass someone else’s ideological purity test to be allowed to speak. University life — along with civic life — dies without the free exchange of ideas.
In the face of intimidation, educators must speak up, not shut down. Ours is a position of unique responsibility: We teach people not what to think, but how to think.
Realizing and accepting this has made me — an eminently replaceable, untenured, gay, mixed-race woman with PTSD — realize that no matter the precariousness of my situation, I have a responsibility to model the appreciation of difference and care of thought I try to foster in my students.
If I, like so many colleagues nationwide, am afraid to say what I think, am I not complicit in the problem?
As tensions continued to mount, one student decided to create an online forum to debate Hum 110. Laura, a U.S. Army veteran who served twice in Afghanistan, named the Facebook page “Reed Discusses Hum 110.” But it seemed like people didn’t want to engage publicly: “I did receive private responses from people who wanted to participate but who were afraid to do so,” she said. One student drafted a comment but deleted it “because I realized it wasn’t worth the risk of having basically 80 percent of my social circle vilify me for my opinion on an honestly relatively minor issue.”
Another student wrote to Laura in a private message, “I'm coming into this as a ‘POC’ but I disagree with everything [RAR has been] saying for a long time [and] it feels as if it isn't safe for anyone to express anything that goes against what they're saying.”
Only good news is that new students have finally revolted against this it seems.
Reed college stuff is still blowing up -
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/11/the-surprising-revolt-at-reed/544682/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.08255ca58643
People have questioned before the notion of people being afraid to voice their opinions due to overly PC culture on some of these US colleges. Well the professor above pretty much testifies -
Students too ..
Only good news is that new students have finally revolted against this it seems.
The most popular public forum at Reed is Facebook, where social tribes coalesce and where the most emotive and partisan views get the most attention. “Facebook conversations at Reed bring out the extreme aspects of political discourse on campus,”
Good on them. What i don't understand though is the motives of these protesters, what do they truly want? If they want to put police violence on the agenda, occupying and disrupting some freshman course does not seem like the best avenue and.
And why on earth are they going after these professors? The one in the article, Martinez who is a gay mixed-race woman would be as far removed from a white supremacist as possible could be.
And third: Where do these students get these ideas and attitudes from? It can't be the Unis, since they're apparently white supremacist
institutions, but they have to come from somewhere.
At this point, it seems they are protesting for the sake of it in lieu of some childish pursuit of one-upmanship. The protests started with BLM movement and had support of majority, shifted focus to Humanities curriculum and now want university to sever ties to big banks.