Over the past week, there has been a slew of media coverage of the protest and surrounding events that occurred on Thursday, March 2nd in response to Charles Murray [CM] arriving on campus to give a lecture. There are many narratives circulating within campus networks as well as more broadly in the national media. I would like to add a perspective that so far has gone unaddressed by the majority of the coverage. I hope to allow people to think about protest and these specific events on campus by introducing the idea of rhetorical violence and emphasizing the importance of empathy in responding to (rhetorical) violence.
Developing empathy as a practiced skill can help us move forward toward community healing.
In her most recent email, President Patton said that colleges and universities should uphold the right to free speech, even unpopular speech. This is upsetting given the ongoing reality of systemic oppression, consisting of racist immigration policy targeting people from predominantly Muslim countries, attacks on the Affordable Care Act that has increased access to health care, increasingly militarized police forces and government sponsored destruction of native lands for private profit.
These are facts of many peoples daily lives, both on and off campus and are openly supported in the public arena. In contrast to the idea put forth by President Patton that these ideas do not have platforms, these are spread in our daily news and are widely present in our government, especially under our new president. Creating a platform at Middlebury for similar kinds of racism and oppressive ideologies impedes students abilities to be academically successful and generally whole people within our community because it welcomes in rhetorical violence and emotional distress.
We as a community can act differently and find ways to make Middlebury a place of healing for the traumas that have been inflicted by institutional racism, but instead chose, and continue to choose, to deny these legacies of violence. This happens in many ways, one of which is the administrative recognition that student emotions are broader than anger and frustration. There is confusion, hurt, betrayal and a whole host of other emotions that are triggered by the kind of violent rhetoric that Charles Murray published. If we are going to heal, we need to find spaces where these emotions can be validated and accounted for, not just in a cordoned off protest area while dehumanizing rhetoric is spouted from a stage.
In his recent post about the events that took place last Thursday, CM acknowledges that he has been discredited as a white supremacist, racist, sexist, eugenicist and white nationalist at Middlebury and by many prominent scholars. He does nothing to address the fact that these are not labels that are used arbitrarily. They are used to designate someone who perpetuates the ongoing trauma of racism, sexism and eugenics that shape all of our lives in different ways. None of us are free of the histories of violence that have shaped racism and sexism. Some are forced to bear that trauma in daily life in the small slights and large exclusions that people from marginalized backgrounds experience. Others of us are able to bear that trauma in a different way: the privilege to tell others that their pain is not real.
When we think about community healing and a path forward, it is important that we take into account the ways that some members of our community, namely minority students, are told that their experiences are not real. To do so would look like an affirmative statement by the administration, acknowledging the pain that rhetorical violence such as Murrays can trigger, and providing avenues for healing that do not first require members of our community to be retraumatized by having their existence on campus put into question. Additionally, we need to do some work as students to think about the ways in which we have denied each other empathy, particularly for our peers who experience various forms of marginalization. Instead of denial, we can build tools of empathy by learning about our histories of violence and by practicing connecting with, listening to or simply validating the experiences of our peers when they are different from our own experiences.
For all of the reasons above, I stand in support of the protestors from Thursday night as they expressed the communal pain that bringing a speaker like Charles Murray to campus creates. It is not rhetorically resilient for students of color to be forced to experience another example of white supremacy and racism on campus. I stand with students of color on our campus who participated in the protest and also those who did not. I have seen so many students from marginalized backgrounds exhibiting rhetorical resilience in their daily lives, while at the same time seeing that privileged students so often lack the empathy to honestly and openly engage with those they perceive to be different from them.
Examining how we move forward can be a learning opportunity for those of us who do not experience oppression at Middlebury. Empathy is a skill, not an inherent quality, and I would ask that students with various kinds of privilege take some time to think about what empathy truly looks like, and what they might be able to learn about themselves and about other students on campus when they practice empathy.
Jeremy Stratton-Smith 17 writes about the importance of empathy in the aftermath of last weeks protest.
. Bookmark the
.
View post:
Toward Community Healing - Middlebury Campus (subscription)
- Jackboot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2016]
- The US Government's Oppression of the Poor, Homeless [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2016]
- The US Government's Oppression of the Poor, Homeless [Last Updated On: June 17th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 17th, 2016]
- Protection, Oppression, and Liberty: How Much Government? [Last Updated On: June 19th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 19th, 2016]
- Oppression How Is it Defined in Women s History? [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2016]
- Liberalism and Conservatism - Regis University [Last Updated On: June 21st, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 21st, 2016]
- American Patriot Friends Network APFN [Last Updated On: June 27th, 2016] [Originally Added On: June 27th, 2016]
- Government news, articles and information: [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2016] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2016]
- Opinion: While true oppression exists, hypocrisy of some women is clear - Shelby Township Source Newspapers [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- A Modern Choice on Life - Harvard Political Review [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- FG yet to address our forefathers' fear of oppression NAIG ... - Vanguard [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Understanding Information Oppression in the Era of Trump - MediaFile [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Angolans Bravery Broke Down Chains of Colonial Oppression - Minister - AllAfrica.com [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2017]
- Centrelink bogus debts: How far can the vulnerable be pushed before they break? - Independent Australia [Last Updated On: February 7th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 7th, 2017]
- Joe's View: Privacy, where next? - Digital Health [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- Bill passage would rename Columbus Day, honor Native Americans in Nevada - Las Vegas Review-Journal [Last Updated On: February 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 9th, 2017]
- EFCC is an instrument for political oppression Ozekhome - Naija247news [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Collin Nji: The first African to win Google's CodeIn Challenge - Pulse ... - Pulse Nigeria [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Open Letter to NFL Players Traveling to Israel on a Trip Organized by Netanyahu's Government - The Nation. [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Turkey's HDP Women's Assembly issues feminist call-to-arms against 'one man rule' - Left Foot Forward [Last Updated On: February 10th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 10th, 2017]
- Education Expert: Betsy DeVos Should Address Local Control Before School Choice - Breitbart News [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- Student leader says 'black-on-black crime is not a thing,' wants to censor those who say it is - The College Fix [Last Updated On: February 11th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 11th, 2017]
- LETTER: Evangelical Lutheran Church respond to political cartoon - The Dickinson Press [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- Israeli Knesset 'legalizes' robbery of Palestinian land - Liberation [Last Updated On: February 12th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 12th, 2017]
- Organize to defeat Trump's Muslim ban - Fight Back! Newspaper [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Do we have a legitimate government? - Altoona Mirror [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Anti-Trump Swedish Government Accused of Hypocrisy for Kowtowing to Iran - Heat Street [Last Updated On: February 13th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 13th, 2017]
- Israeli government awards the Israel Prize to 96-year-old retired Olympic gymnast and Holocaust survivor gnes Keleti. - Jewish Chronicle [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Russ Boehm: This year, it's tough being a Boulder County Democrat - Longmont Times-Call [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Anti-Castro Cuban-American lawmakers see a champion in Trump - The Ledger [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Sweden's 'Feminist' Government Defends Veiling in Iran After Attacking Trump - Breitbart News [Last Updated On: February 14th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 14th, 2017]
- Do we have a legitimate government? - Williamsport Sun-Gazette [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- U. Mass Students Plot Strike Against 'Oppression' of Migrants - Breitbart News [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- As I See It: The perils facing the Constitution - Corvallis Gazette Times [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- Us & Them: Love, the Ayatollah & Revolution - West Virginia Public Broadcasting [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- Ethiopian Athlete Who Made Anti-government Gesture in Rio Reunites With Family - Voice of America [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- Mottley: Tax clearance certificate an 'instrument of oppression' - Loop Barbados [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- Sweden's 'feminist' government criticized for wearing headscarves in Iran - Washington Post [Last Updated On: February 15th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 15th, 2017]
- Christophobia: A Global Perspective - FrontPage Magazine [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2017]
- Fox News' Todd Starnes Redefines 'The Deplorables' - Forward [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2017]
- Turkey purge: dark cloud of oppression hangs over country's universities - Times Higher Education (THE) (blog) [Last Updated On: February 17th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 17th, 2017]
- The New Gambia: What's on and off the aid agenda - Devex [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- Christophobia: a Global Perspective - AINA (press release) [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- AzaadiFreedom from Indian Oppression - Economic and Political Weekly [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- Iraqi forces advance on Islamic State-held western Mosul - McClatchy Washington Bureau [Last Updated On: February 19th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 19th, 2017]
- UC San Diego Students Protest Visit by 'Oppressive and Offensive' Dalai Lama - Heat Street [Last Updated On: February 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 20th, 2017]
- We must all stand with Tibet The McGill Daily - The McGill Daily (blog) [Last Updated On: February 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 20th, 2017]
- Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere - Royal Gazette [Last Updated On: February 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 20th, 2017]
- Elders share experiences with oppression from their youth - B.C. Catholic Newspaper [Last Updated On: February 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 20th, 2017]
- In Trump's America, Christian proselytizing is another form of oppression - LGBTQ Nation [Last Updated On: February 20th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 20th, 2017]
- Amnesty report reveals excessive oppression in Kashmir - Daily Times [Last Updated On: February 22nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 22nd, 2017]
- Grass-roots leaders join call for 'disrupting' oppression that hurts many - Catholic News Service [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- Governor Treen brought sunshine to Louisiana governmental conservatism - Bayoubuzz [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- I want an international probe into failed Turkey coup Fethullah Glen - Citifmonline [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- On finding freedom from oppression, fear - Davisclipper [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- Lateral Oppression Hurts Us All - The Lakota Country Times [Last Updated On: February 23rd, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 23rd, 2017]
- Disobedience Checks Unjust Laws - The Oberlin Review [Last Updated On: February 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 25th, 2017]
- Cycles and Oppression - Patheos (blog) [Last Updated On: February 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 25th, 2017]
- Opinion: The Relevance of Orwell's 1984 - Emertainment Monthly (registration) (blog) [Last Updated On: February 25th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 25th, 2017]
- McAuliffe vetoes bill to disclose refugee records - WRIC [Last Updated On: February 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 26th, 2017]
- Another Jewish cemetery desecrated; what will the President say? Isn't the government supposed to help? - San Diego Jewish World [Last Updated On: February 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 26th, 2017]
- Transport groups hold nationwide transport strike to protest government's PUV modernization program - CNN Philippines [Last Updated On: February 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 26th, 2017]
- Monitoring group documents Turkey-backed profiling in Netherlands - Turkey Purge [Last Updated On: February 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 26th, 2017]
- The Sin of 'Just Doing Our Job' - Sojourners [Last Updated On: February 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 28th, 2017]
- What should we see in the ashes of the Standing Rock protest camp? - Liberation [Last Updated On: February 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 28th, 2017]
- Opinion: Focusing on religious oppression in China misses the big ... - CNN [Last Updated On: February 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 28th, 2017]
- Nepalese Student Suskihanna Gurung Portrays Chinese Oppression Through Photography - Study Breaks [Last Updated On: February 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 28th, 2017]
- ISIS Threatens China In New Video Showing Chinese Jihadists - Vocativ [Last Updated On: February 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 28th, 2017]
- Focusing on religious oppression in China misses the big picture - Gant Daily [Last Updated On: February 28th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 28th, 2017]
- Donegal Travellers Project welcomes government recognition of Traveller ethnicity - Donegal Now [Last Updated On: March 1st, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 1st, 2017]
- This Is Why The Youth Is Picking Up Arms In Kashmir - Youth Ki Awaaz [Last Updated On: March 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 2nd, 2017]
- Saudi Arabia: Music video and government initiatives split society - Freemuse [Last Updated On: March 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 4th, 2017]
- From Latin America to South Africa: it's time for effective solidarity towards Palestine - The Daily Vox (blog) [Last Updated On: March 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 4th, 2017]
- Articles: Islam, the Veil, and Oppression - American Thinker - American Thinker [Last Updated On: March 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 4th, 2017]
- Focusing on religious oppression in China misses the big picture - CNN [Last Updated On: March 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 4th, 2017]
- Public needs to help get government back on track - Fairfield Daily Republic [Last Updated On: March 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 4th, 2017]
- The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal Hearings On Myanmar Crimes Against Rohingya & Kachin - The Chicago Monitor [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2017]
- Oppression in the Land of the Free: A Muslim Leader Speaks Out ... - teleSUR English [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2017]
- The Readers' Forum: Monday letters - Winston-Salem Journal [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2017]
- How America Became a Colonial Ruler in Its Own Cities - Vanity Fair [Last Updated On: March 6th, 2017] [Originally Added On: March 6th, 2017]