The sad part is that the press freaks out about a ‘racist note’ and ignores the carnage in places like Chicago. Where is the outrage about 4,000+ shootings and 750 homicides last year? I’ve seen more press about St. Olaf.
@mom2collegekids - A white kid might have claimed it was a hoax, but the administration would likely would not have believe him or her, and they would have been rightfully expelled. In any case, Ms. Wells is graduating soon.
Some more information from the Washington Post:
@Snowball City -
The following article prior to the discovery of the hoax has some quotes from the college president stating his belief that the letters came from the same person.
http://www.southernminn.com/northfield_news/news/article_5227b1e3-0392-5b70-872a-5d473bbd7077.html
Yes I know and it doesn’t look good for her. I am torn. The college hasn’t released the name and I am trying to respect that but for the students’ peace of mind it would be nice to know if it is really over.
@NJSue: I think it’s okay to cancel one day of class when something threatens a community. I really think that not letting the issue fester, showing solidarity, looking for peaceful solutions (note that there were no protests, no marches, none of the behavior you’ve heard of at some other colleges), meeting between students, faculty, and administration, being decisive… is to St Olaf’s credit.
In my opinion, the exact opposite of both moral and effective is what happened at Mizzou two years ago.
A white student could have said “I admit I wrote the note but I didn’t mean the threats”. I can imagine this being done by a student of any color then trying to say they didn’t mean it as a threat, that they thought it was a joke, boys will be boys, the usual. It’s no different than any student trying to deny responsibility when they commit a crime, cheat, etc.
A white supremacist student/adult is something different.
Samantha Wells fabricating the note herself is something different.
I suggest you re-read the letter. It specifically states:
It is unclear when these false flag racial threats were made, but if they began in the Fall, it certainly could be a factor in the harassment and persecution of these students.
What happened to Schall and Hinderacker is appalling.
And yes I’d missed that it’d actually happened (during the 2-3 days before an election and 2-3 days after it, tempers are running high, and people, not just college kids, say things they should regret later. So, during that time, uncivil expressions of opinion are, alas, commonplace, on both sides.)
It may be because it’s very hard to believe such appalling behavior from St Olaf - the college and the students just a year or a few months before that story were polite, civil, engaged in discussion, relatively intellectual, lots of singing… It really is a moderate campus, with nice/wholesome kids.
Apparently the threats against African American students had started before then. I don’t know whether there’s any relation between the threats to Schall and Hinderacker, either as a reaction or as having the same culprit.
It does not take much to incite a lot of fear and/or anger. Political demogogues and terrorists (of all political alignments) have long known that and used it for their goals. Unfortunately, inciting has become more common, such that it is now more the norm when it comes to political expressions, compared to civil discussion.
We cannot seriously consider whether conservatives are discouraged from speaking up, let alone out on college campuses. They have been marginalized on campus since the Stone Age (or at least my day). [One of my profs would not even accept the answer “Hezbollah” to the question: name a terrorist group. Freedom fighters I guess. (Back in my day, Israel was the hot button issue).]
And high emotions are no excuse. People need to grow up and understand that both opinions need to be respected. No one says you have to like it. But you can’t cry persecution when a conservative expresses their opinion. A belief is not an action. It seems in our world now there are opinions you just MAY NOT have or people will Just call you a racist, a bigot, an uneducated xenophobe. No room for debate, go right to the name calling.
These hoax things are mostly dangerous in that they allow folks who would deny that racial incidents happen to point and say, “See, it’s not real”.
It’s real. I’d guess over 99% of reports are real. Period. This is a distraction from it.
Back in the day, Hezbollah’s ideology was a type of religious conservatism.
Why should anyone respect an opinion (as opposed to the freedom to have and express that opinion) that denies respect to someone because of an unchangeable aspect about him/her, rather than because of any voluntary action done?
“where conservatives are physically threatened.”
Really? We have multiple, reliable sources on this? It’s ongoing enough to draw conclusions about St Olaf?
Funny, that’s what the Prof said, but Back in my day, Hez blew things up…so…
Hyperbole is not an argument for the second point. We show respect for the person holding the opinion. As opposed to spitting on them, chasing them, etc.
Living on the west coast I remember the case from a number of years back at Claremont
Someone not respecting (admiring, approving, accepting) an opinion can voice his/her disrespect of such without committing criminal assault or battery (spitting on, etc.) against the speaker of that opinion. Opinions do not automatically deserve respect. Each listener or reader is free to make up his/her own mind about whether to respect (admire, approve, accept) it, and is free to respond in any manner that does not cross into criminal violence or such.
I am “free” to do many disrespectful things. But I do not. Perhaps ppl need to treat others with the respect they would like to receive?
So you would still respect (admire, approve, accept) the opinions of those who (for example) dress up in white sheets and stand around burning crosses, even if their opinions show that they do not respect your or others’ mere existence?
This one at the University of Michigan which was well publicized on CC was a hoax as well.
Some recent hoaxes or false flags by college students.
A Muslim college student at Baruch College made up a story about being attacked in order to avoid a curfew.
A University of Louisiana Lafayette student who said she was physically attacked and robbed of her wallet and hijab made up the story.
http://klfy.com/2016/11/10/lafayette-pd-ul-student-made-up-story-about-attack-stolen-hijab/
Williams College had a false flag vandalism incident.
http://williamsrecord.com/2016/11/16/two-students-admit-to-vandalizing-griffin-hall-on-saturday/
A Bowling Green student lied about being attacked after the election.
Another Bowling Green student made an assault.
http://www.toledoblade.com/Police-Fire/2016/11/19/BGSU-Second-report-of-slur-attack-false-too.html
A UMN student made up a story about being arrested.
http://www.mndaily.com/article/2016/11/umpd-not-involved-in-handcuffed-university-student
A community college student drew hateful graffiti.
At Elon, a Hispanic student wrote “Bye Bye Latinos Hasta La Vista”.
http://www.elonnewsnetwork.com/article/2016/11/note-found-whiteboard-kivette-bye-bye-latinos
@ucbalumnus respect does not equal “admire, approve, accept”. Conflation of two very different things. Respect means civility. When you no longer show civility bc the other person is so evil, I get that, but where is that line drawn? You needent like someone to be respectful.
@MYOS1634 There is a climate of sensitivity on campus that some students who are immature or disturbed are taking advantage of. College administrators need to be a lot less credulous and more committed to supporting the ongoing intellectual and academic mission of the college, which includes holding class, having lectures from invited speakers, etc. Liberal arts colleges are among the most self-examining, sensitive, liberal (in the old and new senses) environments in this country. Shutting down intellectual inquiry is never a good thing.
I have noticed that my students, at a second-tier pre-professional regional school, are afraid of saying anything in class now on any remotely controversial issue lest they be attacked. I used to discuss imperialism and exceptionalism in my lit survey in which I teach the Aeneid, and we had some very interesting discussions. Now, no one wants to risk uttering a peep. I am very disturbed by this. It is new and it is a problem.