Tufts’ “No-Sex” Policy creates quite a stir

As most Tufts students already know, Residential Life has established new rules to regulate sexual activity in dorm rooms. As the Tufts Daily reported:

The Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) has added a new stipulation to its guest policy that prohibits any sex act in a dorm room while one’s roommate is present. The stipulation further states that any sexual activity in the room should not interfere with a roommate’s privacy, study habits or sleep.

This has caused a buzz around campus and on lots of news stations. The SAFER blog has a post up containing their thoughts about this. It links to the Tufts University Survivors of Rape and Sexual Assault blog which writes:

Hmmm…you know what else is of a sensitive nature and uncomfortable to talk about? SEXUAL ASSAULT. Why is Tufts so willing to take initiative to create policies about consensual sexual activities, but failed for so long to acknowledge that sexual assault is a problem for the students (not just the school’s reputation) and to “take the lead” in addressing it? I’m obviously very invested in sexual assault at Tufts for very unfortunate reasons, but this rule made me think. What goes on behind closed doors during meetings addressing sexual assault? Do these key players think that the assaults are only rare occurrences? Have they always thought that what they do is okay and that they’ve addressed this crisis properly? It is very possible that the administration has merely been ignorant, but ignorance is not an excuse. This is why a good administration would make sure everyone is well-educated and trained to know how to deal with sexual assault.

Saturday Stupidity

We are back with more Saturday Stupidity.  Here is a compilation of ignorant, offensive comments we’ve heard/received recently.

My friend and I were talking about PETA and he sent me a text message saying:

Nah PETA has naked chicks against fur.  I don’t care if someone supports Hitler, if they look good naked I can excuse it.

We don’t need to go over the many things wrong with PETA again, but this statement evokes a pretty obvious WTF?! response.  It’s also incredibly shallow.  He also later texted me saying:

There are all these girls walking around in tight tanktops and short shorts and dresses, but someone oughta have told them that they’re too fat to go out like that.

What?!!!  If you’re female and it’s hot outside, you’re only allowed to wear summery clothing if you’re skinny and fit our unrealistic and completely absurd standard of beauty?  Fat shaming is all too common in our society especially as summer comes upon us.  I also don’t understand how exactly the sight of a “fat” woman offends, and I don’t get what fat shaming another person does for you.

My friend who switched majors so that she’d be in more male dominated classes also told me:

The office I’m working in is full of women.  I mean, it’s a small office, but everyone is a woman!!!!  I can’t stand it!  Thank god I’m doing Business now so I can be around manly men.

After she told me this, I was just um…lolwut?  First of all, it bothers me that she can’t stand working in her office simply because all of her co-workers are female.  Secondly, not all males studying or working in Business are “manly men”.  And what exactly constitutes a “manly man”?

While trying to figure out how much to tip at a restaurant, I took out my phone to calculate, and my guy friend said:

Of course you have to use a calculator.  Girls can’t do math.

First of all, it wasn’t like he could figure out the tip either.  Secondly, a new study just came out demonstrating that when girls do more poorly in math it’s because of cultural conditioning not because girls are inherently just bad at math.

Then someone else said,

Why do you care about sexual assault?  Were you sexually assaulted?

Like we’ve said before, sexual assault  is an issue that affects the entire community.  One does not need to have been sexually assaulted in order to care about sexual assault.  Furthermore, the statistics show us that we all personally know somebody who is a survivor of some form of sexual assault.

And then:

Oh, there must be a lot of rape up there.  Those Boston people are all crazy and Red Sox.

Huh?  This statement just doesn’t make sense.  Rape and sexual assault are not specific to Boston or Tufts.  Also, being a Red Sox fan does not make you more likely to be a rapist.

Another comment:

Why are you a feminist?  Do you believe in equality for the sexes or do you like want women to take over?

Of course the latter.  Feminism is all about getting women to take over, duh.

Sometimes you just wonder, is it even worth trying to convince people who you know just won’t listen with an open ear and mind anyway?

The Clothesline Project at Tufts

I’m a bit late on posting this, but the Clothesline Project happened at Tufts earlier this month, from April 14th to April 16th.  A lot of Tufts students decorated t-shirts, and the display was incredibly moving and powerful.   People walking by would either stop and read the t-shirts and talk about it to whoever they were with, or they would just take one glance and realize what the t-shirts said and just walk straight through without another glance.  Although not too many people decorated t-shirts, a lot of people stopped by and asked what we were doing and what this was all about, so it definitely sparked a lot of conversation.  Here are some of the t-shirts Tufts students made:

"Time will Pass, Seasons Will Change, And I have grown, But what you did to me that night will always stay the same."

Does Tufts routinely violate Title IX?

There is a great op-ed in today’s Tufts Daily called “Campus has weak sexual assault policy”.   This is precisely what we will be talking with the administration about tonight at the Sexual Violence Community Forum (7 pm in the Metcalf Lounge).

Their statements were so outrageous that they begged disbelief. The students told me that Tufts routinely sends alleged rape victims and their attackers into mediation instead of investigating the crime. Students said the university’s sexual assault policy is so vague that it doesn’t even define sexual assault. One victim told me how the Judicial Affairs Committee drilled her on what she was wearing the night she was attacked.

Here? At Tufts? How could this be possible? I just completed my master’s thesis on violence against women in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Morocco. I’ve been designing policies to protect destitute and marginalized women from harm in faraway countries. How could I fail to notice that my own university has been placing me in danger all along?

Yes, Tufts is obligated to protect women. It’s called Title IX, and it was promulgated to assure women equal access to education. Rape victims are disproportionately women; college campuses are, by default, more dangerous for women than men. Being afraid of rape or being a victim of sexual violence prevents women from fully benefiting from their education. One student said to me, “After I was raped, I stopped going to classes because I was too afraid to leave my apartment.” She failed out that semester and is still recovering. Title IX requires that schools mitigate the hostile environment by establishing strong sexual assault policies.

Sexual Violence Community Forum TOMORROW

 

 

Caught with drugs?                                                                                                                                                                                       Expelled

Caught cheating?                                                                                                                                                                                                         Expelled

 

 

Sexually Assaulted Your Classmate?

 

Here’s Your Diploma.

 

 

 

Sexual violence is an issue that affects all members of the Tufts community.  Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend this community forum with members of the Tufts administration.  Feel free to come with your own questions or suggestions or come and just listen and learn about what’s going on at Tufts.

 

 

Where?                                         Metcalf Hall Lounge

When?                                          7:00 PM, Thurs., April 23, 2009

I’ve heard way too many assinine comments and am ENRAGED!

As most of you hopefully already know, April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and there’s been much happening on campus (the Clothesline Project was this week, PACT’s Green Light District party was last night, the Sexual Violence Community Forum and Take Back the Night are both next week) to raise awareness about sexual violence and bring it out in the open.  Over this past week especially, I have been confronted with and insulted by the ignorance about sexual violence and the pervasive rape myths that have colonized people’s minds.

I have heard ridiculously ignorant and insensitive comments uttered from the words of Tufts students that once again, remind me that I am very lucky and spoiled to be surrounded by like-minded people who are educated, aware of, and passionate about  issues around sexual violence.  I’m reminded again that there are lots of minds to be changed, even in a liberal school all about “active citizenship”.

Sexual violence continues to be something swept under the rug.  However it is something that touches the lives of many people.  1 out of 6 American women have been the victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.  College women are four times more likely than the rest of the population to be sexually assaulted or raped.  1 in 33 men have been the victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime. (Statistics from RAINN).

Most people who are involved in sexual violence activism tend to be survivors themselves or have had a loved one who is a survivor.  Many other people fail to see it as an important and a necessary topic to engage in because it doesn’t personally affect them, or as one man told us “I’ve never been raped and I’m not a rapist”.  When sexual violence is such a personal issue that affects the lives of so many people, more people than we may think, I am insulted and upset by widespread ignorance about sexual violence and insensitive comments that people drop.

Feministing’s Fuck Yeah for Women’s and Gender Studies

This is last Friday’s Feministing Fuck Yeah for Women’s and Gender Studies:

Amen.  As a Women’s Studies major here at Tufts I am grateful for all of the fantastic Women’s Studies classes I’ve taken, the professors I’ve had, and the awesome community of Women’s Studies majors/minors.

Again, you are blinded by your white privilege

In his column in the Tufts Daily yesterday, Will Ehrenfeld wonders what exactly makes last week’s bias incident involving the KSA and a drunk freshman in Lewis a “bias incident.” He asks:

Was it a bias incident because of what the kid said? He allegedly employed racial slurs to verbally abuse the dancers after the physical altercation had ended, calling them names and telling them to “go back to China.” I suppose this makes what up until then would have been considered merely a fight or, depending on which side you fall, assault, into an incident of racial bias. I know what you’re thinking: Well, duh. But think — what do the kid’s words after a fight have to do with the apparent motivations for the fight?

Well, Will, a bias incident is of harassment (abusive conduct that is persistent, severe, or pervasive and threatens or limits an individual’s ability to go participate in his/her activities) that is motivated by prejudice against people based on their race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. Tufts defines a bias incident as:

any act directed against a person or property that includes the use of slurs or epithets expressing bias on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression.

In this case it was clearly motivated by racism (remember, racism = power/privilege + prejudice).  I find it insulting that Will belittles the bias incident and writes it off as “merely a fight or, depending on which side you fall, assault, into an incident of racial bias.”  It is a very ignorant comment that demonstrates that because he has never had any experiences with neither covert nor overt racism that he cannot even fathom what it’s like for those who experience racism on a daily basis.

Tufts Annual Day of Silence TODAY

This is just a reminder that today is the annual observance of the GLSEN National Day of Silence!  The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Each year the event has grown, now with hundreds of thousands of students coming together to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior.  Even if you are silent for a portion of the day, we would appreciate you joining us.  You can pick up “speaking cards” explaining your choice to remain silent all over campus.  Also, QSA suggests that you wear red to show your support for the event.

At the end of the day, we will be Breaking of the Silence at 7:30pm in front of Tisch.

At 8 PM in Cabot 205, the QSA “Night of Noise” performer Elizabeth Whitney will be featured in “Pop Culture Princess.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Also, the Clothesline Project is going on today and tomorrow outside the Campus Center.  Come out and decorate a t-shirt in honor of the courage of sexual assault and violence survivors.

Why we don’t say X is the new Y

Another 101 refresher: Some people are declaring that Fatism is the New Racism.  Huh?  Really?   Comparisons like these (X is the new Y: gay is the new black, fatism is the new racism) are incorrect and useless because:

- They falsely assume that X and Y are completely separate and mutually exclusive.

- They falsely assume that there is an objective benchmark or factor that determines what is relevant and significant and what isn’t.

- They falsely rank issues into a hierarchy in which the “most important” ones are supposed to be talked about first.

When people assert that “X is the new Y” they are implying that Y is outdated and no longer important.  So saying things like “gay is the new black” assumes that gay people cannot be black, and black people cannot be gay, that they are two mutually exclusive categories with none overlap whatsoever.  Saying “fatism is the new racism” assumes and suggests that racism is over (certainly not, even/especially right here at Tufts!), irrelevant, and no longer “important” enough to talk about.  It assumes that fatism is the most important form of oppression.  It ignores the fact that all forms of oppression are intersectional and they function in conjunction to maintain the status quo. You cannot give a thorough analysis of a certain type of oppression without considering and mentioning other forms of oppression.  Fatism and racism are indeed two kinds of oppression that manifest differently , but saying that fatism is the new racism eclipses the existence of people of color who experience both fatism and racism.

So when talking about various forms of oppression, it is ignorant to say that X is the new Y.  X and Y are powerful and institutionalized because they feed into and feed off of each other.  They reinforce and perpetuate each other.  Therefore, X cannot disappear unless Y disappears, so there can be no “new Y” unless all forms of oppression have been eradicated.

How is this supposed to make me want to buy a condom?

Hansaplast condoms has a new marketing campaign in France:

Apart from having absolutely nothing to do with condoms, these advertisements reinforce the objectification of female bodies and further normalize sexual violence. The women in the advertisements are looking at the hand prints on them in a confused and annoyed way because they did not consent to being groped. You can also tell that they are clearly not too thrilled about this.

What exactly is the story line here? The women were sleeping out in the sun and then groped, and possibly even raped? The tan lines on these women’s bodies seem to suggest that they were more than just groped. They make it look like there was someone who was on top of or behind the women. The tan lines and the facial expressions on the women’s faces all imply that whatever occurred, whether it was consensual or non-consensual (and therefore sexual assault or rape), women are the passive receivers, the inferior ones, in which something is done to them instead of being equal participants in sexual activity.

Whatever the heck these images are supposed to mean, they reflect the patriarchal sense of entitlement to female bodies and female sexuality. In a patriarchal society, women cannot fully occupy public spaces. Public spaces can be hostile spaces where women cannot navigate as safely or freely. They are kept in line by sexual harassment (ranging from catcalling to groping), sexual assault and rape.

This reminds me of a conversation I was having with a friend lately about how at frat parties, sometimes men (strangers too) feel entitled to just come up to women and put their arms around them, or to just start grinding up behind them. Not only do we find this uncomfortable but we find it intrusive as well. Male privilege and the constant objectification of women make it seem like female bodies do not belong to females but rather are public property and up for grabs.

Another 101 Fact: There is no such thing as reverse sexism

Something that I often get asked is “aren’t feminists just being reversely sexist?” or “isn’t feminism just reverse sexism?”  No, and no.  There is no such thing as reverse sexism.  First of all, let’s establish a working definition of sexism: Just like how racism = power + prejudice based on skin color, sexism = power + prejudice based on gender.  When talking about the various forms of oppression, many people often confuse prejudice with the ism.  From Failure to Communicate:

That “+ power” portion of the equation is one of the most important parts.  This is not to say that the disenfranchised cannot be prejudiced, because many of them are, but without power, they are not actually working within the systematic framework of advantage created by the majority to privilege themselves.

Therefore, a person who does not exist with the necessary institutionalized power and privilege of belonging to a dominant in-group, cannot be racist, sexist, ableist, etc.  Women can certainly be prejudiced or discriminatory against men (which is not acceptable either) but they cannot be sexist or “reverse sexist” simply because they lack the institutional power to systematize their prejudice against men.

Men exist with male privilege, which is unearned privilege and institutional power granted to them just for being men.  Since maleness is only one aspect of a man’s identity and other factors such as race, class, sexual orientation, etc. also shape one’s identity, every man experiences his male privilege in a different way.  Despite these differences, male privilege is something that all men benefit from.  Male privilege is so normalized and embedded in society that it operates stealthily so that many men, and women, may not even be aware of it.  Alas has a male privilege checklist that includes things like:

- If I fail in my job or career, I can feel sure this won’t be seen as a black mark against my entire sex’s capabilities.

- The odds of my encountering sexual harassment on the job are so low as to be negligible.

- If I’m a teen or adult, and if I can stay out of prison, my odds of being raped are so low as to be negligible.

- I am not taught to fear walking alone after dark in average public spaces.

- If I choose not to have children, my masculinity will not be called into question.

- I can be somewhat sure that if I ask to see “the person in charge,” I will face a person of my own sex. The higher-up in the organization the person is, the surer I can be.

- I can be confident that the ordinary language of day-to-day existence will always include my sex. “All men are created equal,” mailman, chairman, freshman, he.

In response to this some people ask, “well, don’t women have female privilege?”  Again, no.  One woman anecdotally told me her story about how once she got pulled over for speeding, but when the police officer came over to talk to her, he chatted with her for a bit and then told her that he wouldn’t give her a ticket and wished her a nice day.   She said, “see at least I can get away with things like that.  I bet a guy wouldn’t be able to get off the hook for that.”

While this may on the surface appear like “female privilege” it is not.  Upon further examination, it just reinforces institutionalized sexism that prevents women and men from truly achieving equality.  This woman may well be right in saying that a man who was caught speeding by a male police officer would probably get a ticket.  However these practices still otherize women as a separate and unequal class, and it feeds into objectification of women where women are valued more for their appearance and their bodies instead of their brains or their achievements.

Also, people sometimes assume that just because there is “male privilege” there must be “female privilege” as well.  There is no such thing as “female privilege” because despite the advances made by the women’s movement, the playing field is still not level, and women still lack the institutional and systemic power that men benefit from.  Just open your eyes: Who writes most mainstream newspaper bylines?  Who are most of our elected officials?  Who are the top CEO’s or CFO’s of major corporations?  Men continue to occupy the upper echelons of power that still grant them institutional power and privilege as a group.  What is called “female privilege” is actually better known as benevolent sexism because sexist attitudes, behaviors and actions disguise themselves in ways that make women, and men, think that they are independent of institutionalized sexism when they really just maintain hegemonic patriarchal power structures.

While feminists do agree that the practices that are commonly ascribed to “female privilege” (such as women being the recipients of chivalric practices) are expressions of inequality, they disagree that such practices should be considered a form of institutionalized privilege. This is because being rewarded for not going against the status quo and being the recipient of institutional privilege are not the same thing. The system of privilege uses that kind of reward system in order to perpetuate itself, but the existence of a reward isn’t proof in of itself of privilege.

Calling “female privilege” “benevolent sexism” is more appropriate and accurate because it makes visible the aspect of sexism that drives it.  Saying “female privilege” obscures and makes invisible the fact that it is just another manifestation of sexism.

…When it’s called benevolent sexism it’s recognized to be tied to the system of sexism, and can therefore be fought (successfully) with tools like feminism, whereas when it’s called “female privilege” the solutions called for tend to call for strengthening the status quo, which ends up making it harder to end the offending practices.

People also ask me, “isn’t Women’s Studies sexist towards men?”  (Here we go again with the “But what about the men?!!”)  Women have been and still are a disenfranchised group in society.  Like other marginalized groups (people of color, the queer community, differently-abled people, etc.) we’ve had to fight for inclusion within society’s heterosexual, white, upper class, male-centric, oppressive institutions.  And in fighting for inclusion we are vilified as troublemakers and rabble-rousers.  How dare we even try to subvert the norm?!

And now that we’ve managed to effectively carve out some safe spaces where we can discuss issues relevant to us, challenge the dominant modes of knowledge production and transmission, share our stories and experiences with each other, organize and build community, we are falsely accused of being reversely sexist?  As if such a thing was even possible.  Simply by demanding to at least try and level the playing field, and demanding to move towards equality, we were cast as the oppressive bad guys.

Therefore, claiming that feminists, feminism and Women’s Studies are all practicing or embodying “reverse sexism” is a mere silencing technique to further legitimize the status quo and to further normalize patriarchal oppression in society.  It is a way to deny marginalized groups access to and membership in hegemonic institutions.  It is a way to deny them any contributions to the construction and perpetuation of dominant discourses and ideology in society.

Sunday Stupidity

It doesn’t end…the stupidity keeps coming, sadly enough.

“So, isn’t Sarah Palin a feminist because she’s a woman and she’s a powerful politician? If feminism is about ending all oppression then shouldn’t people stop oppressing her?”

For the last time, Sarah Palin is NOT a feminist! She may have claimed to be a feminist, but she isn’t. Woman does not equal feminist (I’ll never understand why though). There are many anti-feminists posing as feminists out there. Don’t let them fool you! And, how exactly is Sarah Palin oppressed? How exactly are people oppressing her?

And a straight white male said, in regard to a party at the Rainbow House last night:

“Hmm… I could have some fun with those lesbians or bis. They’re just confused. And they haven’t met me yet. Once they do, that’ll all change.”

Saying that queer people are “just confused” and “haven’t met me yet” reinforces compulsory heterosexuality. It assumes that everyone obviously is heterosexual and those who aren’t are just sadly misguided, but can be “corrected” if only they met the right person. It reflects misguided beliefs that pathologize homosexuality and/or bisexuality, essentially any “deviant” sexuality that is not heterosexual.

Furthermore, the eroticization of queer women by heterosexual men is unacceptable. It goes back to patriarchal policing of female sexuality – that women have to do femininity right, which includes being heterosexual. Anything other than that is dismissed as “impossible” (gee, there are women who aren’t into men? Shocker!) or wrong.

“Those people…you know…who have boy and girl parts…hermaphrodites…do they actually exist?”

This one’s just sad. And I think that there are a lot (no, a TON) of college students who really have no idea about intersexuality and the many different forms it can take. A lot of people seem to think that intersexuality is a myth, and even use it as an insult or a joke.  I just wish that these people would at least Wikipedia it and try to educate themselves so I don’t have to hear questions like this one.

“Men are naturally going to try to dominate women. All you have to do is learn to stand up for yourself and then nobody can abuse you.”

This came from the same woman who then asked me to blog for us because she “hates men” and “feminists hate men…right?” The statement is pretty rude to women, men, and victims of violence. Saying that men naturally try to dominate women implies that they have no control over their actions, and that all men are somehow naturally abusive. It ignores the fact that many men as well as women are abused, and women and men can both be the abuser. The statement also ignores the systematic socialization of violence in our society. Violence is not really a “natural” trait, but is something that is condoned and perpetuated by the media, culture, and other societal influences. And, unfortunately, standing up for ourselves does not prevent abuse. People who abuse others are often extremely manipulative and violent, and standing up for oneself really does little good in defense against an abuser. And, of course, feminists do not hate men! Needless to say, I did not let her blog for us.

Can’t you at least TRY to see past your white privilege?

I’ve been reading the comments on the Tufts Daily article covering the recent bias incident at Tufts and some of the comments are incredibly ignorant and infuriating. For example:

Nobody is blameless here. If the KSA had simply defended themselves, and not injured the freshmen, they would have a real case. 5 KSA members beat some drunk freshmen up, he calls them any name he can think of (if they were fat, he would have been calling them fat; if they were ugly, he would have been calling them ugly), and now they’re calling it a “bias” incident. Wow. Tufts is incredibly sheltered. What if they had accidentally killed him? Both the freshmen and the KSA members (who BOTH exhibited extreme immaturity) are lucky this ended where it did.

“If the KSA had simply defended themselves, and not injured the freshmen, they would have a real case”?! So the freshmen’s racist remarks are irrelevant then? Besides, the KSA students repeatedly asked the freshman to stop and he ignored their requests. Furthermore, the freshman physically assaulted and injured the KSA members – from the email that circulated:

At this point, he began to physically harass the dancers, spitting at one member and shoving another one of the guys. An altercation ensued during which the freshman ripped two shirts and inflicted minor cuts to a member’s forehead.

The KSA only pinned him to the floor and put him in a headlock to restrain him – they had been responding nonviolently but because the freshman escalated his verbal and physical attacks, they resorted to force. During this whole time, the freshman’s girlfriend and friend were just watching. Talk about passive bystanding and simply bearing witness to but failing to proactively try to end racism and violence.

Another commenter wrote:

Not to stir up shit, but this would all play out differently if the kid was dropping the N word instead of chinks. The entire campus would be in an uproar not because black students have shorter tempers, but because everyone, black and non-black students alike, is conditioned to react with uproar at anyone using the word. Racism against asians is almost more acceptable because there aren’t as many history lessons taught about it. I dare anyone to deny this.

Racism is racism. It doesn’t matter which racial group is the target of the racist comment or act. It’s not fair, purposeful, or relevant to try to trump one racial group’s oppression over another racial group’s oppression. Oppression cannot be compared, so it is incorrect, impossible and useless to declare that Asians experience more racism, or that black people experience more racism, etc. People of color are socially positioned in a way that otherizes us from white people and stigmatizes us as less than. Racism thrives by not only making oppressed racial groups internalize racism but by pitting different racial groups against each other. Doing so means that you are making a concession to the status quo and reinforces white privilege. Ranking which racial groups experience more racism detracts away from the fact that the smallest amount of racism or oppression of any kind is problematic and unacceptable.

In light of last week’s “Stuff Tufts People Like” column that angryblkfeminist covered well and this blatantly racist bias incident, I have overheard people casually talking about how the cultural centers at Tufts are being “reversely racist”, how everyone’s making a big deal out of nothing about the KSA’s experience, and it seems like some Tufts people haven’t done their homework. So here is the basic 101.

Racism is still alive and well in society, even at Tufts. Racism is about power. To be racist, you have to be powerful or privileged in some way and be prejudiced. A person of color can be prejudiced to another person of color, or another person who is different than them in some way (this is not acceptable either, but it’s called being prejudiced or discriminatory, not being racist). Prejudice based on skin color + having cultural, social, political, economic power or being enfranchised in ways that others aren’t = Racist.

This brings us to our next point – there is no such thing as reverse racism. As WomanistMusings writes:

The term reverse racism necessarily implies that racism is something that should only be geared towards people of color. Another 101 fact, racism equals privilege and power therefore, it is not possible for a person of color to be racist. We may have individual prejudices but racism is an impossibility. I would furthermore point out to you that calling someone a “reverse racist” is nothing more than a silencing technique.

People of color are unjustly disenfranchised based on their skin color, and therefore lack certain power and privileges. Since racism entails existing with privilege and power, and being prejudice based on skin color, people of color are simply not in a position where they can be racist. This does not mean that we can’t be prejudiced or discriminatory (we shouldn’t – no one should because this just further institutionalizes and legitimizes racism), but it’s false to call a person of color who says a prejudiced or discriminatory remark racist. By nature of being a person of color, it’s just impossible to be racist, and therefore reverse racism does not exist.

Furthermore:

The history with white men is obvious. They continue to be the most over privileged group of people of all time. Though they complain about reverse racism citing a perceived loss of privilege, it is clear that they still run the world. Like marionettes we dance to their tune, while they sell the lie that they have the moral right and superiority to lead.

Look at our professors at Tufts – most of them are heterosexual white men.  Who are the authors of the textbooks and scholarly journals/articles that we have to read?  Mostly heterosexual white men as well.  The means of knowledge production and transmission tends to be dominated by white men.  They are the ones who largely manufacture and maintain our social realities.

To all the heterosexual white men out there who claim that the KSA bias incident is “no big deal”, that “angry Asians” are just unnecessarily involving the whole school for no reason, that the 6 centers at Tufts are exclusionist and segregationist, etc., will it hurt you to see past your white privilege just for one second and recognize that people of color have been and still are second class citizens and that white people have unfairly earned privileges that grant them power where others lack it?  For all the people who ask “well, what about us white people?”, well, what about you?! Not everything has to always be about you, even though it usually is.

Speechless

I just received this email forward from Tufts students about a bias incident at Tufts, immediately followed by two safety alerts from the Tufts police about unrelated incidents.  

Interesting that the police email detailed two incidents that did not seem to involve Tufts students as perpetrators.  These attacks were reported within hours from the time of the attack (both happened last night).  However, the bias attack involving members of our student body occurred early Thursday morning, and was not included in the email.

Another thing that was not in the police email:  a friend of mine also witnessed an attack by Hillside Apartments yesterday.  An older man was seen beating up a younger man, but when the police found the perpetrator, he claimed that they had just been “rough-housing.”  Since the victim had not come forward to report the crime, the perpetrator was let go.

Here’s the text of the email about the bias attack.

Dear Tufts Community,

Please forward this to everyone. Please also post this blurb to every article published on the online Daily, under the name of something like “News that Hasn’t Been Reported Yet” or “What about this News?” in all of the comments sections.

Thank you

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There was a bias incident involving members of the Korean Students Association (KSA) that took place in the early morning hours on Thursday, April 9, in Lewis Hall Lounge, while the club members were practicing for their culture show.

Thirteen members of the KSA were preparing for their culture show at approximately 1:45AM. A white freshman male living in Lewis Hall approached five male members who were practicing their dance. He had been drinking at a bar prior to arriving at Lewis Hall. He insisted several times that the KSA members teach him the moves to their dance and was repeatedly asked to stop. Despite this request, he continued to molest the dancers, imitating the dance moves and declaring, “This is the gayest shit I’ve ever done.” The KSA members then asked him to leave, to which he responded, “Fuck you. Fuck you, I could take all of you. I’ll kill you all.” He then threatened to get his fraternity brothers to help him retaliate. At this point, he began to physically harass the dancers, spitting at one member and shoving another one of the guys. An altercation ensued during which the freshman ripped two shirts and inflicted minor cuts to a member’s forehead. In order to restrain him, the KSA members pinned him to the floor and put him into a headlock, at which point the freshman mentioned that he could not breathe and the person holding him down immediately let go.

At this moment, the freshman’s friend and his girlfriend, who watched from the side, stepped in to take him away. When he got up, he started cursing “Fuck you, fuck you” and spitting at the dancers again. As he was being dragged away, he shouted, “Fuck you all, you fucking chinks, go back to China! Go back to your fucking country, you don’t belong in this country.” His friends took him to the bathroom, where he could be heard repeatedly shouting, “If I see them again, I will fuck them all.”

The fight was reported to an RA, who wrote and sent in a bias incident report.  According to the RA, submitted within the report was testimony from his girlfriend supporting the fact that her boyfriend initiated the altercation. Thirteen people, members and friends of KSA, were present during the fight. In the aftermath of the dispute, members were shocked and saddened that such racism and hostility could be found at our school. It is the collective wish of KSA and affiliated students, both of Asian and non-Asian heritage, that this event come to the attention of our community in order to shed light on discrimination among our peers and our ongoing fight for cultural understanding.

The Korean Students Association greatly appreciates the support that the community has shown. This particular incident affected members of KSA, but anyone could have been a victim of this bigotry. Please take the time to show your support by joining this Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=70037281395 . To share your thoughts on the matter, please contact administrators and keep an ongoing discussion about how we can move forward from here.

As always, we are extremely passionate about issues regarding race and culture in our community. If you want to join our cause in promoting cultural understanding and feel that you have a great idea for the future direction of our community, we strongly encourage you to raise this issue with your dean. For those who feel the need to talk to a professional regarding this racial attack, Tufts offers free counseling sessions. Please spread the word! Social injustice is a fundamental yet taboo issue. It is imperative that we confront these problems.

I really don’t even know what to say about this.  Completely unacceptable.  I am outraged.

**Update**  Here’s the email from the dean that I’m sure everyone just received.

To Members of the AS&E Community:

The Office of the Dean of Students is currently investigating reports of an incident that took place early yesterday morning, Thursday, April 9, 2009, in one of the residence halls, apparently involving a physical altercation and racial epithets among students. Many differing accounts of this incident are circulating within the university community. While we cannot comment on an incident that is currently under active investigation, we want the community to know that we take seriously our responsibility to pursue this incident and to ensure a safe and supportive environment on campus for all our students. We will report on the investigation when we are able to do so. While the investigative process goes forward, we and our colleagues in the administration are also reaching out to community members who have been affected by what they have experienced or heard about.

Bruce Reitman
Dean of Students

Finally, the administration acknowledges that the incident was reported with a short, vague, non-accusatory email.  Please, this was a racist attack, not an “incident” “apparently involving a physical altercation and racial epithets among students.”