Columbia Students Demand Segregation
I have always been moved by the photo of little Ruby Bridges, the first black child to go to an a previously all-white elementary school in the South, after the schools were first desegregated.
Think of the courage that had to take -- as a 6-year-old girl -- to do that.
Segregation is an ugly thing, and it makes for a society made up of islands of cultural apartheid. As Americans -- as residents of the most racially and culturally mixed nation in the world -- we have an opportunity to be citizens of the world, right in our own country.
But there's this sort of thing that now goes on -- privileged, cavalier twits at Columbia voting segregation in.
Larson Holt writes at ColumbiaSpectator.com that there's been a nix put on segregating a newly available space on campus:
A Campus Services committee tasked with determining what will fill a newly available space in Lerner Hall will prioritize keeping the space open to all students, making the creation of an LGBTQ resource center or a center for students of color unlikely.Space on campus is currently in high demand, with conflicting calls for space to be dedicated to LGBTQ students, students of color, a University-wide food bank, and general lounge space.
Campus Services is considering using the rooms--vacated by the Lerner Hall Package Center--as a possible performance space, a meditation and prayer space, storage space for the Columbia University Food Bank, or additional space for Counseling and Psychological Services.
Yes, a food bank -- for poor students. (I think they just care about the color of your money, if any.) Or space for counseling and psych services. (Students with problems -- straight, gay, whatever color.)
But Class of 2017 Vice President Brennon Mendez, CC '17, who authored a resolution--unanimously passed by Columbia College Student Council and Engineering Student Council--for the space to be designated for LGBTQ students and students of color, said he thinks the recommendation from the councils should carry some weight in the decision-making process.
He claims that segregation isn't segregation:
Mendez said he believes LGBTQ students would not be the only ones to benefit from the establishment of an LGBTQ center in Lerner.
Right.
However, hungry LGBTQ people definitely wouldn't be the only ones to benefit from a food bank or a counseling center.
And maybe what benefits us all is having campus dedicated to bringing people together and exposing them to people who aren't exactly like them.
via @Toni_Airaksinen
Columbia kid upset an empty room in student center may become a student food pantry instead of a POC-only center-->https://t.co/AvhG52HdIV
— Toni Airaksinen (@Toni_Airaksinen) March 3, 2017
More of this at my alma mater, the University of Michigan.
Ironically, this might have been more appropriate 30 years ago, when gays were actually stigmatized. But with the majority of Americans approving of gay marriage (sufficient to shame the remaining homophobes we have left), a "safe space" isn't really needed.
Patrick at March 3, 2017 6:05 AM
Why are institutions of higher education such cesspools of racism?
I R A Darth Aggie at March 3, 2017 6:34 AM
Member of privileged group: "You should support us being granted a public space that will be exclusively for our group. You will benefit."
Outgroup member: "How will I benefit from that?"
Member of privileged group: "We will browbeat you a little less."
Cousin Dave at March 3, 2017 7:10 AM
Cousin Dave,
Your comment is on point except the part about getting browbeat less.
Shtetl G at March 3, 2017 7:51 AM
Cousin Dave, your ability to sum things up so beautifully, accurately, and yet concisely, is unrivalled.
Patrick at March 3, 2017 8:05 AM
Space is tight, and you'll have to share with the Muslim prayer room. No, we cannot all get along.
MarkD at March 3, 2017 12:33 PM
Space is tight, and you'll have to share with the Muslim prayer room.
That's like many of the recipes in the Anarchist's Cookbook: as long as they're freshly mixed, they're reasonably stable.
After that? a harsh word or a wrong look will set them off. But...will there be an express elevator to the roof?
I R A Darth Aggie at March 3, 2017 1:07 PM
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