I really, really, really distrust people who write pieces like this. As an Hispanic former student, I really don't trust people who merely invoke minority struggles as a cudgel in order to dictate what can and can't be taught in a classroom and how it can or can't be taught.

"Toni Morrison is a writer of both the African Diaspora and the Western world, and her novels—aside from being some of the most intellectually and emotionally compelling writing in the last century—should be valued as founding texts of the Western canon.

The student’s remark regarding Toni Morrison was not merely insensitive, but also revealing of larger ideological divides. This would have been an opportune moment for the professor to intervene."

"Intervene" being code for "shut down the conversation".Merely disagreeing with another student about whether or not Beloved should be in the Core b/c people likely already read it in high school IS NOT an opportunity to 'intervene,' but to argue. THIS is where intellectual (and believe it or not, emotional) growth happens for both students. You don't get to unilaterally decide what texts should be in the Core over FEELINGS of safety. Although it no longer amazes me people fall for this sort of emotional manipulation, I still find it disgusting. I also find it disgusting that half the people reading this will be inclined to pay attention to it (at first) because I labeled myself as Hispanic (as if that lent me any authority on the subject).

As much as I'd like for Beloved and 100 Years of Solitude to be in the Core, I have to recognize that I need to make a case for it. I don't want a Disaffected People's Feelings Committee representing me. They're censors and manipulative busybodies invoking others' struggles in order to make themselves feel important/relevant.

Gullah posted on May 1, 4:15pm

Oh Precious! Precious? My precious little snowflake, speaking as a black man who has been around the block more than a few times, all of you need to grow up and get over it. You re not the center of the universe, none of us has a right to not be offended in a democracy and if you can’t handle it repair to your padded room with your lollipops, Valium and whatever other pacifier makes you happy or better still make an appointment with a shrink. We are all always going to be offended by something. Using ‘feeling safe’, ‘respect’, and ’trigger-warnings’ are just treads in a rope to lynch free speech.

Blixkrogg posted on May 2, 1:08pm

I've been a 1st generation Hispanic immigrant in the U.S. for most of my 36 year old life and have had to endure extremely bigoted treatment after moving to the mid-west in my 20s.

I don't need to be coddled nor protected from bigotry. I get the strength to deal with it from myself, not from other people empathizing with how I feel whenever someone says something disparaging about me because of the color of my skin or birth place.

My black, Mexican, and Jewish friends don't need the pity of anyone or the understanding of anyone to have the strength to go about my business and we don't need everyone, especially "1,000 ignorant (you mistyped what you meant, come out and say it, "white") folk, to know how it feels to be in my shoes.

You whine about subtle racism while people who suffer overt, blatant racism like I have work around it and DEAL with it. Grow some skin and stop being translucent, exposing your weaknesses to the world by blasting it over a megaphone. If you have a problem with your ability to handle the world, that's your personal problem and it doesn't give you the right to demand everyone live their life around you and your egocentric self.

Anonymous posted on May 1, 12:40pm

So many young people are just so pathetically weak these days. You say that sitting in a classroom reading a book makes you feel "unsafe" which makes me wonder if you've ever actually been in an unsafe situation in your life. A large number of students taking core classes have been in a fucking war being shot at and shooting people but cry babies like these can't even read a book without feeling unsafe. It's time to grow up kids.

+1

+37

-1

reply

One other thing posted on May 1, 12:56pm

Why do you think issues of sexual assault only exist in Western literature? There's something quietly racist (to non-Western cultures) about assuming that everything non-Western is perfect just by virtue of not being Western.

+1

+12

-1

reply

Anonymous posted on May 1, 2:24pm

This op-ed is riddled with hypocrisies that I don't understand how the authors could not see when they wrote this. All you people are saying is that if someone disagrees with my opinion the teacher should shut them down, but my opinion should be heard. I read Morrison in LitHum, sure it was a decent read, but it came at the cost of Crime and Punishment because my teacher wanted to add in more diverse readings. While Morrison's works are decent, just because she is black does not make her books more worth reading than the books of someone of any other race. The fact that you are even implying this should be the case is incredibly racist and all the authors should look at themselves and ask if they are part of the problem because I think they are just as guilty as the people who say only whites should be read in the core. NO! The answer is that the best BOOKS should be read in the core regardless of author and if the case is that all authors are white then we should accept this as the case. No one here can make a real argument that "A Mercy" is a better text for LitHum than Crime and Punishment based off the book itself without bringing race into it

Anonymous posted on May 1, 5:28pm

Just want to point out that it's quite disingenuous to categorize this as "Dialogue". For an individual to use his/her status as a survivor to justify the removal of "triggering" texts is just throwing one's weight around and putting an end to discussion. This is not making a good point, this is making it impossible for anyone with a hint of manners to respond (who wants to talk back to a survivor? ).

It's entirely possible to come up with good arguments against certain aspects of the Core, but if you want us to take you guys seriously, stop appealing to your own identity. If you make an argument as X/survivor/chicano/african-american, people will respond to your arguments as if they were made by an X/survivor/etc, instead of taking them seriously.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812906)

Kelvin Rojas CC'15 posted on May 1, 2:00am

1.

2. Nobody is trying to dictate what should and should not belong in the core. A dialogue is being had in which both parties are figuring out the best way to make Core Classrooms more inclusive of marginalized groups. Once again, a DIALOGUE, is being had. Much different than dictating. This dialogue is being had because at the present moment, students of marginalized groups generally have bad experiences with the core. The 4 women of color writing this op-ed are advocating for marginalized students.

3. Whether you want to admit it or not, one of the reasons that Toni Morrison is not included in the core is because the writings of women of color are not valued in this Eurocentric western world. However, the truth is that to understand the western world, you need to analyze it from the perspective of the ones being oppressed by the Western world. At the moment, we are only getting the perspective and narrative of White Europeans.

4. "Intervene" does not mean, shut the conversation down. If anybody is trying to shut the conversation down, it is people like you who do not want to hear and consider the grievances of marginalized students. On the contrary, WE want conversations like this to be had until the problem is solved. Once again, this is why the four women of color wrote this op-ed; not to shut down the conversation, but to spark it.

5. The people who are unilaterally deciding what texts are in the core, is Columbia. These four women are not unilaterally doing anything. They are simply advocating for more balance and inclusion of the narrative of marginalized peoples in the experience of Columbia's Core.

6. Your entire post is riddled with hyprocrisy. You are claiming that we are dictating and shutting down conversations, yet you are the one who is using backhanded arguments to defend your bigotry. Stop hiding behind the veil of impartiality and actually make a comprehensive rebuttal instead of painting people as "Disaffected" simply because they are bringing to light the complaints of the marginalized student body. Just as you don't want the "Disaffected People's Feelings Committee" representing you, I'm sure that these women are not out to represent snarky bigots like you.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812908)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812911)

Beloved was some of the shittiest most grossly pornographic writing I have ever read and it is criminal shitlibs expose HS kids to it

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812344)

*man makes eye contact*

*joins survivor support group*

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812373)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812406)

And didn't everyone read Toni Morrison in high school?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812416)

really a shame how the vast resources of top universities have been hijacked by retard mud enabling shitlibs

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812537)

*therefore

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812675)

seems to be that the author assumes a base level of knowledge about stuff like opera and etiquette that go over the heads of proles

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812694)

So I think that leaves us with Japanese haikus about water and nature, but then again that might be triggering to environmentalists who have had to suffer watching the Earth be raped by pollution.

I guess the fact is that literature is just too triggering to have around. Fortunately these SJW types seem to prefer the cold hard facts of math anyway, so we'll just focus on math classes.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812807)

SJW from Columbia: "I was not safe in the classroom because they wanted me to read those books!"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812850)

However, the student said her professor focused on the beauty of the language and the splendor of the imagery when lecturing on the text. As a result, the student completely disengaged from the class discussion as a means of self-preservation. She did not feel safe in the class. When she approached her professor after class, the student said she was essentially dismissed, and her concerns were ignored.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2870394&forum_id=2#27812866)