<p>there has been SO MUCH buzz about "the carol" on campus. Everyone is disgusted. I mean, usually most people think the Primary Source is full of crap and offensive (no offense to people on the Source; I know some really cool kids on it) but most people I've heard say they really went way too far with this.</p>
<p>I think that instead, people should focus on the fact that besides the 10 people on the Primary Source staff (who ARE KNOWN to be small-minded, junior neo-cons... most of my self-proclaimed conservative friends at Tufts are disgusted with them, too), people should be focusing on the fact taht the MAJORITY of the Tufts campus has come together and reacted constructively to this by decrying this kind of behavior, opening discussion on where satire ends and racism begins, and I am SURE that when school resumes in the spring, the Primary Source will either be cut from funding or be at the receiving end of some disciplinary action. That being said, i do think the Primary Source's satire went too far and they have admitted their mistake; which makes me believe that they, too, though it was too late, admit they went too far.</p>
<p>It sounds like they did go too far, but I hope they don't cut the funding. I think its important that voices from all sides be allowed. It gets kind of boring and is like preaching to the quoir otherwise.</p>
<p>The administration has condemned the carol but has also made it sound as though they will not cut the funding for the same reasons you noted above, Dsiw. That being said, dialogue on this issue will continue next semester.</p>
<p>Thought I'd post this here, too. The first part is what was published. The second part is mine.</p>
<p>O Come All Ye Black Folk</p>
<p>O Come All Ye Black Folk
Boisterous yet desirable
O come ye, O come ye to our university</p>
<p>Come and we will admit you
Born into oppression
O come let us accept them
O come let us accept them
O come let us accept them
Fifty-two black freshmen</p>
<p>O sing gospel choirs
We will accept your children
No matter what your grades are F's, D's, or G's
Give them privileged status
We will welcome all</p>
<p>O come let us accept them
O come let us accept them
O come let us accept them
Fifty-two black freshmen</p>
<p>All come! Blacks we need you
Born into the ghetto
O Jesus we need you now to fill our racial quotas
Descendants of Africa with brown skin arriving</p>
<p>O come let us accept them
O come let us accept them
O come let us accept them
Fifty-two black freshmen</p>
<p>In the same spirit as those madcap zanies at the Primary Source, I thought it might be useful to publish what the staff would actually like for Tufts’ admissions staff to sing for the holidays.</p>
<p>O Come All Ye Prepsters </p>
<p>O come all ye prepsters
J. Crewed and Versace’d
O come ye, O come ye
To Pa-- ar – radise!</p>
<p>Come and behold it
For the best of families
No color in the classrooms
No color in the dorm rooms
The color’s got the push brooms
Pa – ar – radise!</p>
<p>Sing for field hockey
Sing for polo ponies
Sing for your ancestors
Mayflower’s the thing
Sing for your birthrights
Sing for racial purity</p>
<p>O come you will adore it
The Afros all deplore it
Which makes it perfect for us
Pa – ar – radise!</p>
<p>All Hail, Tufts the beacon
Home for Ivy rejects
We know you really wanted
To go to Yale
But just consider
Yale has some minorities</p>
<p>You wouldn’t like it much there
There’s pepper in the salt there
You’re better off with us here
Pa – ar – adise!</p>
<p>I read the carol in question on line and it's not even clever or witty. Neither are the other ones. What's the point of printing satire if it's not even funny? Satire is a tricky thing and shouldn't be attempted by people who aren't extremely witty.</p>
<p>That's why 97% of the TUfts campus thinks the Primary Source sucks. We could at least somewhat respect it if it were intelligent, even if we didn't agree with its views -- but it just plain sucks.</p>
<p>However, calling the carol racist is incorrect. It is a jab at Affirmative Action, not black people, though I can certainly see how it can be interpreted that way. I think the misinterpretation came as a result of it not being effective satire.</p>
<p>Here is The Primary Source's press release re: this situation:</p>
<p>
[quote]
The Primary Source
Tufts University
Mayer Campus Center
Medford, MA 02155</p>
<p>CONTACT:
Douglas Kingman
Tel: (609)439-8482
E-mail: <a href="mailto:Douglas.Kingman@Tufts.edu">Douglas.Kingman@Tufts.edu</a></p>
<p>TUFTS’ PRIMARY SOURCE ADDRESSES DECEMBER 6TH PUBLICATION</p>
<p>Medford, MA, December 11, 2006: On Wednesday December 6, 2006, The Primary Source, “Tufts’ Journal of Conservative Thought,” a student publication and a member of the Collegiate Network, published a controversial Christmas carol. “O Come All Ye Black Folk,” was published as a critique of affirmative action from the viewpoint of a college admissions officer. The carol, meant to satirically illustrate the offensive nature of the racial stereotypes underlying affirmative action, was seen by many as racially insensitive.</p>
<p>The Primary Source recognizes now that the satire displayed in the carol holds significant potential to be misconstrued. The motto of the Source is Veritas Sine Dolo: Truth Without Sorrow. As a response to concerns, Editor-in-Chief Alison Hoover, speaking for the editorial board, made clear that, “Part of Veritas Sine Dolo is pointing out errors we see at this university; part of it is admitting when we make mistakes.” Knowing what we know now about the misinterpretation of the carol, we would not have published it in its present form.</p>
<p>The Primary Source regrets that the purpose of the carol was not clearly communicated. The carol was intended as a satirical criticism of affirmative action and was, in fact, intended as an anti-racist statement. The Primary Source believes that it is important to make clear that policies of racial preferences are a harmful perpetuation of degrading stereotypes.</p>
<p>Tufts’ Primary Source is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary and is the second oldest conservative college paper in the United States. More information can be found at <a href="http://www.TuftsPrimarySource.org%5B/url%5D">www.TuftsPrimarySource.org</a>.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
However, calling the carol racist is incorrect. It is a jab at Affirmative Action, not black people, though I can certainly see how it can be interpreted that way.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Agreed....</p>
<p>As much as I shudder when seeing the carol on campus, I do think that the presence of the Primary Source is necessary for dialogue. Surprisingly though, I would say that there are quite a few more moderates out there, more than people would see just by reading what's on Princeton Review. People are still fairly open to ideas, which is nice.</p>
<p>True, Snuffles. It really bothers me when college students shut down a visiting conservative speaker. Where's the diversity in that?</p>
<p>Also, I noticed on the Tufsdaily web site that at one point at least, 55% of the respondents to a poll said that the Primary Source shouldn't be de-funded, because of free speech (I forget the exact wording, sorry).</p>
<p>Question for you Tufts people: Why 52 students? By my rough calculation, that would be about 2/3 of the African Americans in the entering class. Why 2/3? Is that some number floating around campus?</p>
<p>I believe there were only 52 African American students in the Class of 2010; which was much lower than it is usually. More African Americans were accepted to the class of '10 but the yield was lower than usual. African Americans make up 7% of the Tufts student body, but not of the freshman class. To make up for the surprisingly low yield, Tufts has been actively pursuing a higher yield for the incoming freshman class next year, class of 2011.</p>
<p>OK, thanks. SOoooo, the words of this poem are aimed at EVERY SINGLE ENTERING AFRICAN AMERICAN. Right?</p>
<p>And that's not racism?</p>
<p>Right.</p>
<p>No, it's aimed at Affirmative Action.</p>
<p>I am not an African American, but I can see how some of my African American friends believe it may be a direct jab at them (note: some of my African-Am friends don't think it is racist at all). I can also imagine that if it had named 52 International students, or 52 Hispanic students, categories which I /do/ fit into, I would still feel it was not racist/ethnicist.</p>
<p>Like I said earlier, this was not effective satire, so it came out sounding racist, when in fact it is Affirmative Action-ist.</p>
<p>I disagree. It's racist. Here's why.</p>
<p>First, it's aimed at every, single African American in the entering class. This means that every single verse applies to every single AA. That's what the words say. It's exactly what they say.</p>
<p>Now, let's take a look at the words, shall we?</p>
<p>
[quote]
O Come All Ye Black Folk</p>
<p>O Come All Ye Black Folk
Boisterous yet desirable
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Boisterous YET desirable? So, all black folks are boisterous? And boisterous is not a good thing, right, because it's not "boisterous AND desirable" but "boisterous YET desirable." So, all that boisterousness must be a negative quality, right? Boy, those boisterous black folks. Man, they sure can shuck and jive, can't they?</p>
<p>I'm going to give them a pass on the desirable thing, which could be interpreted as that old oversexed crap African Americans have lived with since the days of slavery. I'm going to assume they didn't mean that. But I'm not at all sure.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Come and we will admit you
Born into oppression
O come let us accept them
O come let us accept them
O come let us accept them
Fifty-two black freshmen
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So, all the African American freshmen are born into oppression, and all they have to do to be admitted is just to come. Right?</p>
<p>
[quote]
O sing gospel choirs
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Oh, yes. Those gospel choirs. Yep. All African Americans just Loooooovvvee to sing that gospel music! Man, I can feel my toe tapping right now.</p>
<p>
[quote]
We will accept your children
No matter what your grades are F's, D's, or G's
Give them privileged status
We will welcome all
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So, all those gospel-singing and shuckin' and jivin' African American parents can get ALL their children into Tufts just by applying, right? Even with Fs, Ds, and Gs? In fact, because we're talking about all 52 (ALL 52) students, the all got Fs, Ds, and Gs, right? That's the logic. There isn't a single African American who would have been admitted had he/she been white. Right? All 52, remember?</p>
<p>
[quote]
All come! Blacks we need you
Born into the ghetto
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yep, all African Americans, or at least these 52, are from the ghetto. That's where all African Americans are from, right?</p>
<p>You are wrong lolabelle. This doesn't sound racist. It IS racist. Virulently and disgustingly racist. I've seen Nazi propaganda against the Jews that wasn't this offensive.</p>
<p>Tarhunt,</p>
<p>When I read it the first time "boisterous yet desirable" and the "born into the ghetto" lines stood out to me greatly. I think I forgot about this initial reaction as I read more into the Affirmative Action reading.</p>
<p>However, because this is /supposed/ to be satire: this is supposed to be a satirical reading of derogatory stereotypes, not a perpetuation of them.</p>
<p>Where racism and satire meet, or don't meet, is another story.</p>
<p>lolabelle</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>lolabelle:</p>
<p>Well, so much for the "thank you" above. I gave you the thank you when you admitted that the thing is racist, before you edited that admission away.</p>