I am interested to see what comes out of the wave of odious incidents that hit University of California campuses last month.
African-American students at UC San Diego were offended when they learned about an off-campus “Compton Cookout” party” and later that a noose and KKK-style hood were placed on campus. UC Davis students had to deal with swastikas, the gay and lesbian center was vandalized and a portrait of a noose was scribbled at UC Santa Cruz.
The concepts concerning this “problem” that have circulated in California and around the nation regarding this story are the notions of “hate” and “intolerance” and “ignorance.” Even a group of primarily African-American UC Berkeley student protesters wrote on one of their flyers, “We are brothers and sisters in a nonviolent, silent demonstration, standing in solidarity with the UCSD students who have been affected by blatant acts of ignorance and hatred.”
In others words, the perpetrators of these acts “hate” African-Americans. They are neither “tolerant” of African-American culture, nor are they knowledgeable about acts that “offend” African-Americans. And in mainstream thought, racial hate is caused by racial ignorance. Therefore, the solution to the “problem” that led to these acts would be educating these perpetrators about how to be more tolerant of difference, what African-Americans find offensive and the myths of stereotypes. In fact, UC San Diego has “diversity” course requirements in the works.
