Racism at Texas A&M

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: altonb1
I disagree with many here.... If the video was anti-Christian, would there be such a backlash? What about anti-muslim? Anti-Jew?

Anti-Christian- uproar, but the students would be allowed to stay due to "free speech"

Anti-Muslim- there'd be slight uproad, and they'd be slapped on the wrist since most people in the US have anti-Muslim sentiment.

Anti-Jew- the students would be promptly expelled. Anything relating to hate for Jews is so touchy in this country that you can't even take an opposing viewpoint without being labeled an Anti-Semite or Nazi.

 

[Beev]

I didn't see it said anywhere, but was the video meant to be vicious? or was it just a "joke" (albeit a bad one)? If it wasn't serious then they should all lighten up. Racism is only a problem if people let it be one. I'm a skinny white guy, from what I can tell I should be outraged at the Revenge of the Nerds movies. Prejudice bastards

 

[EvilYoda]

I'm confused, where did you guys get the anti-Jew stuff? The link says that the video was of a racist nature...? And I'm sure that it's in their code of conduct, so they'll have plenty of room to expel the students.

 

[Yossarian451]

The unfortunate thing about this is that the campus has been trying to go through a whole "Diversity" period. In a way they have perpetuated the problem by making the lack of general diversity a problem that they want to "fix". First they hire a guy at 350,000 to be a diversity head, whose sole job it is to look at the university and say "there are too many white people here". But the problem is not that the university as a majority is racist or does not accept people of other races, it is simply that there are so damn many white people nobody else wants to come here because they will feel like a token member of that community. I am in the engineering department so we have a little different makeup than the general population because of the overwhelming populations of international students.

But also people have the image that the campus is full of ultra-conservative bigots. And that is not the majority of the people, most people are pretty moderate and don't really care what religion, race, or ethnicity you are. There are a small portion of the people who are ultra conservatives, and there are some racist hick occasionally but that is not the bulk of out campus. As an example we had some assaults on international students in our "Northgate Area" (bars right next to campus) last year, 3 or 4 incidents of attacks. The entire time it was happening everybody went on the witch hunt accusing us of being bigoted and stupid, but when they caught the guys they were high-school students from the surrounding area.

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: Garet Jax

Originally posted by: txrandom
So if the students who were involved with get expelled, do you think a huge legal battle will happen since everyone is guaranteed freedom of speech and Texas A&M is a public school?

I haven't seen the video and must of skipped over the section of the newspaper were it talked about it.

What do you think?

Edit- Found a link to the school newspaper that describes the video.

Text

Freedom of speech guarantees you the right to say anything you want.

It does not protect you from the consequences.

How does that work. Freedom of Speech MEANS you can say what you want as long as it isn't slanderous and doesn't create a clear and present danger WITHOUT the risk of prosecution.

 

[Syringer]

I found the video, here it is.

 

[Chiller2]

I did not see the video but going by the description in the editorial it did not seem racist. Extremely tasteless and stupid yes defiantly. Should they be expelled probably.
But what they described seemed to be a comment about the Internet and maybe their access to it.Again I did not see the video so I could be totally wrong about it not being racist, but just because you have someone white in black face portraying a slave doesn't make it racist the context counts too. IMHO

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: txrandom

Originally posted by: spidey07
What legal battle? They can expell you for any reason they want to. They don't want this kind of behavior or students at the school. Don't see anything wrong at all.

I didn't think a public school could expell you for any reason.

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Do you actually believe that?

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: JS80
It's only freedom of speech until you disagree with a liberal. Then it's hate speech.

Anyone have a better/fuller description of the video?

It's only "freedom of speech" as long as you agree with a NeoCon. Otherwise you're a traitor and should leave your home country.
P&N is thataway ------>.

 

[BAMAVOO]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: JS80
It's only freedom of speech until you disagree with a liberal. Then it's hate speech.

Anyone have a better/fuller description of the video?

so wait...you're implying that people who disagree with racism and oppose this action are liberals

so are conservatives the opposite of that :Q

Yiou missed the point, but I put it in my sig. Great post!

 

[erub]

Originally posted by: Yossarian451
The unfortunate thing about this is that the campus has been trying to go through a whole "Diversity" period. In a way they have perpetuated the problem by making the lack of general diversity a problem that they want to "fix". First they hire a guy at 350,000 to be a diversity head, whose sole job it is to look at the university and say "there are too many white people here". But the problem is not that the university as a majority is racist or does not accept people of other races, it is simply that there are so damn many white people nobody else wants to come here because they will feel like a token member of that community. I am in the engineering department so we have a little different makeup than the general population because of the overwhelming populations of international students.

But also people have the image that the campus is full of ultra-conservative bigots. And that is not the majority of the people, most people are pretty moderate and don't really care what religion, race, or ethnicity you are. There are a small portion of the people who are ultra conservatives, and there are some racist hick occasionally but that is not the bulk of out campus. As an example we had some assaults on international students in our "Northgate Area" (bars right next to campus) last year, 3 or 4 incidents of attacks. The entire time it was happening everybody went on the witch hunt accusing us of being bigoted and stupid, but when they caught the guys they were high-school students from the surrounding area.

Yep, I just graduated from A&M in May, and this is definitely the situation there. It's really difficult for A&M to attract minority students--if they are a strong student, in the top 10% of their class, they are guaranteed admission into any public university in the state. Especially the blacks (A&M has a decent amount of Hispanics, but not up to the statewide statistics of course) either flock to UT-Austin, or they stay at home and go to a local college; nobody wants to come to the essentially all-white school at A&M, they just don't feel comfortable because they don't see lots of people like themselves. Due to discrimination reasons, A&M has even set aside lots of extra scholarship money based on INCOME (fairest way to distribute anyway) and it hasn't really helped.

Also, the Corps at A&M, while only 5% of the student body, definitely has a hugely disproportionate impact on policies at the university. Since a lot of the Corps guys tend to be good ol' boys, its not that hard for a racist comment/stupid action to be made by 1 or the cadets, in some leadership role (which half of them are)..doesn't help the news when this story gets out.

 

[brandonbull]

Originally posted by: Wreckem

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: txrandom
I know freedom of speech doesn't guarantee you to say anything, but that doesn't mean a court case will ensue.

And promptly and immediately thrown out. There is no case. I sincerely doubt any attorney would even take it.

To put it another way let's say I make some crazy, insanely stupid video that brings very bad attention and publicity to my employer. I will be shown the door. That's all that is happening here - the Univiersity is just saying "not at my school you don't".

Of course they wouldnt take it. You can't sue the Texas Government. Texas A&M = State of Texas. Just look at the Bonfire accident. The victims families have tried and unsuccessfully sued Texas A&M, going all the way to the Texas Supreme Court. Under the state constitution the state has sovereign immunity, which means you cannot sue the State of Texas, with the exception you can ask the state to grant you permission to sue the state, but thats never going to happen.

But sure you could go through the state courts all the way up to the Texas Supreme Court, and then try to get into the federal system, but thats a whole hell of a lot of money, and a long stretch of time with no guarantee the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will take the case.

I'm pretty sure they get some monies from the Federal Gov so that could make it a little different.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: txrandom

Originally posted by: spidey07
What legal battle? They can expell you for any reason they want to. They don't want this kind of behavior or students at the school. Don't see anything wrong at all.

I didn't think a public school could expell you for any reason.

They make the rules, they can do anything they want.

 

[brandonbull]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: Sqube

Originally posted by: JS80

Originally posted by: altonb1
I disagree with many here.... If the video was anti-Christian, would there be such a backlash? What about anti-muslim? Anti-Jew?

While we may not necessarily like the content, I don't know if expulsion is warranted or legal. However, if it can be proven that school equipment/property was used in the making of the video, they might be able to expel them using that as a loophole.

what if it were black students doing an anti-white skit?

Anti-Christian - Nothing
Anti-White - Nothing
Anti-Jew - Expulsion
Anti-Muslim - Expulsion + Jihad (I keed, I keed... don't kill me.)

Don't you love double standards, white Christian males of America?

yeah, i feel really really bad for the white christian american males...poor guys never catch a break.

I know. I find my overly privilege life too boring so I work a full-time job and pay my own way for everthing. Damn me!

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

if they are Cadets, they would be in violation of the Honor Code and subject to discipline

 

[Tobolo]

Originally posted by: txrandom

Originally posted by: spidey07
What legal battle? They can expell you for any reason they want to. They don't want this kind of behavior or students at the school. Don't see anything wrong at all.

I didn't think a public school could expell you for any reason.

They cant.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: BAMAVOO

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad

Originally posted by: JS80
It's only freedom of speech until you disagree with a liberal. Then it's hate speech.

Anyone have a better/fuller description of the video?

so wait...you're implying that people who disagree with racism and oppose this action are liberals

so are conservatives the opposite of that :Q

Yiou missed the point, but I put it in my sig. Great post!

you're a tool...what about people protesting the war who were called traitors and told to leave the country.

Go back to watching the o'reilly report and reading ann coulters book, you flamejob.

 

[BullyCanadian]

Originally posted by: grrl

Originally posted by: eits
stunned... i'm STUNNED that there's racism at a southern school... absolutely shocked and appauled!

You could probably say that about any school - north, south, east or west.

Exactly there is racism in Canadian schools as well

 

[Epic Fail]

another open letter coming soon from Robert Gates.

 

[nycxandy]

Originally posted by: yamadakun
another open letter coming soon from Robert Gates.

Yeah... new Secretary of Defense.

 

[Genx87]

I guess it depends if the student code of conduct covers things like this.
Freedom of scpeech doesnt always mean freedom to be heard.

 

[IEC]

Freedom of speech is all well and good until it incites violence/hatred towards others. You can't make racist remarks and expect to not face the consequences.

 

[Miramonti]

vid?

 

[OutHouse]

LOL, the next Secretary of Defense is really pissed. those kids who are going to get kicked out better hope a draft doenst start anytime soon. :laugh:

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: Garet Jax

Originally posted by: txrandom
So if the students who were involved with get expelled, do you think a huge legal battle will happen since everyone is guaranteed freedom of speech and Texas A&M is a public school?

I haven't seen the video and must of skipped over the section of the newspaper were it talked about it.

What do you think?

Edit- Found a link to the school newspaper that describes the video.

Text

Freedom of speech guarantees you the right to say anything you want.

It does not protect you from the consequences.

Exactly.
Freedom = Responsibility