View Full Version : Student group demands California university rename bldg after convicted cop killer
UWOA (RIP)
03-19-2015, 13:38
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/03/19/student-group-demands-california-university-rename-building-after-convicted-cop/?intcmp=latestnews
A black student organization at the University of California at Berkeley is demanding the university rename a building on campus after Assata Shakur, a former Black Panther, convicted cop killer and the first woman named to the FBI's Most-Wanted Terrorist List.
A jury convicted Shakur of killing a New Jersey State Trooper in 1979. She escaped prison and fled to Cuba. The FBI calls her a domestic terrorist. In 2013, the agency added her to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist List, alongside several members of Al Qaeda, airline hijackers and bombers.
But to the Black Student Union at Berkeley, Shakur is an "icon of resistance within oppressed communities (who) represents black resilience in the face of state-sanctioned violence." They demanded the university rename Barrows Hall, named after former Chancellor David Barrows, "Shakur Hall." In 2013, Shakur declared her innocence and called her trial in 1979 a legal lynching by an all-white jury. Shakur, formerly known as Joann Chesimard, belonged to the Black Liberation Army at the time of the shooting.
"We want the renaming for someone -- Assata Shakur -- who we feel like represents us as black students," said Black Student Union spokesman Cori McGowens. "Black students on campus have a feeling of isolation, marginalization. We're at a crisis on campus."
The renaming of Barrows Hall is just one of 10 demands the Black Student Union delivered to Berkeley Chancellor Nick Dirks last month.
They're also demanding a meeting place solely for black students, $300,371 for two black admissions staff focused on black recruiting, $113,932 for another staffer to handle black retention, two black psychologists who understand the "racially hostile campus," two black advisers to mentor black athletes and a fully-funded 'Get into Graduate School' mentoring program.
"I came to Berkeley and I thought that it was a progressive liberal environment, but the N-word was written on the dorm wall and my white professors were openly using the N-word," said senior Blake Simons. "So that's part of my experience here is feeling marginalized."
University officials met with the groups last week. While not agreeing to honor Shakur, Chancellor Dirks did apologize, saying, "Too many (black) students have told us about being excluded from study groups, ignored during class discussions, verbally harassed at parties and social events, and feeling, in a general sense, vulnerable, isolated and invisible. This is something we deplore."
African-American students at Berkeley already have 33 campus organizations dedicated to their well-being, from fraternities and sororities, to a African Theme Program, an African American Studies Department, an African Arts Society, a Black Campus Ministries, Finance Guild and Pre-Law Society.
But that isn't the point, say students.
"We definitely need more resources for underrepresented minorities on campus," says senior Amanda Burke. "I know personally people who suffer micro-aggressions on a daily basis at Cal and it's something that's kind of gone ignored by a lot of people."
Some black students cite a mock lynching last year at one fraternity. However, a police investigation later revealed the hanging effigy on Halloween was meant to be a zombie, not an African-American.
Still, McGowens said it was difficult to succeed academically because of the anti-black atmosphere.
"There are a lot of black students that apply --get into Cal -- who don't want to come for that reason," he said. "Because the environment isn't welcoming. It isn't safe for black students. So we feel like as black students we are the most marginalized on campus."
After Chancellor Dirks "defaulted" on the group's March 6 deadline, the Black Student Union said it would "persevere" until they get what they "deserve."
Of UC Berkeley's 36,000 enrolled students, roughly 3 percent are black, 40 percent are Asian, 30 percent are white and 13 percent are Hispanic. By comparison, the statewide population is 7 percent black, 14 percent Asian, 37 percent Hispanic and 42 percent white.
It's probably a good thing that CA is running out of water because there's something in it that has made them crazy.
Pat
I bet they fly the Black Panther flag there. Guess the American flag just shows the oppression they have to be subjected to. :eek:
...how about a compromise
They can name it after Tupac; it can still be Shakur Hall but it wont be named after a terrorist.
You're welcome.
ddoering
03-19-2015, 14:03
They want a meeting room for only black people as well. If a white guy had recommended that he would have been labelled a racist.
The Reaper
03-19-2015, 14:43
Welcome to the United States of the Offended. :rolleyes:
If a professor used the n-word, particularly in front of a black student, he would out of there so fast he would not know what hit him.
I wonder if the complaining students use the word themselves and listen to music containing the word many times each day. Perhaps that is where they heard it at Cal?
TR
I think this article from the SF Chronicle gives a much better perspective of what's occurring with this on-going issue at UC Berkeley than what the Fox News piece offers.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/UC-Berkeley-black-students-demand-fixes-to-6139786.php
Richard
The Reaper
03-19-2015, 15:35
Sounds to me like they want to resegregate the university, and then ban whites as underclass citizens.
Maybe they should rename it "George C. Wallace Hall."
TR
UWOA (RIP)
03-19-2015, 15:52
I think this article from the SF Chronicle gives a much better perspective of what's occurring with this on-going issue at UC Berkeley than what the Fox News piece offers.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/UC-Berkeley-black-students-demand-fixes-to-6139786.php
Richard
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): It's a bunch of crap!
I disagree. It may attempt a different perspective, but that does not make it better. While I do not support the despicable activities of a few who have contributed to an atmosphere that in at least some respects may be viewed as challenging, and at worst a blatant attempt to harass a particular segment of our society -- it does not, in any sense of the word, support the elevation of a murderess and terrorist to an icon deserving of support and/or admiration -- which is what naming an educational edifice after her would do.
.
SouthernDZ
03-19-2015, 16:44
I have a good friend, ex-MACV-SOG, the baddest Mo Fo I've ever known. He got his engineering doctorate from UC Berkley in the late 70s and I never let him forget it.
I can't wait to show him this, oh goodie goodie...:D
mojaveman
03-19-2015, 17:55
Don't like it either but nothing coming from UC Berkley suprises me - nothing.
Heard that Huey Newton is going to have a library in Oakland named after him. :p
Lionshare
03-19-2015, 17:58
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Team Sergeant
03-19-2015, 18:00
Berkeley, where stupid flourishes...........
I'm sure they are some at Berkeley that would loves to name other buildings after Stalin, Hitler, Mao etc....
Blacks don't feel respected. Women don't feel respected. Gays don't feel respected. Conservative whites don't feel respected. Liberal whites don't feel respected. Latinos don't feel respected.
This culture of "least common denominator of butt-hurt" is starting to tire me out.
blacksmoke
03-21-2015, 17:14
Are there no historically or predominantly black universities in California to feel safe at?
Are there no historically or predominantly black universities in California to feel safe at?
Why should any group of students in the University of California system have to consider such an option?
ddoering
03-22-2015, 07:11
Well, they are trying to create a mini black-o-sphere aren't they? maybe they just feel entitled.
I'd have field day 'legally-of-course' subjecting those students with all types of aggressive pressure....:o:p:D:lifter
Well, they are trying to create a mini black-o-sphere aren't they? maybe they just feel entitled.
As a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, I think I understand their grievances somewhat. One can go to a school like Cal, assuming that very intelligent people are also going to be culturally enlightened. The ensuing challenge is dealing with the reality that people's existing notions of race, class, gender, and sexuality don't get left at Sather Gate. (If one were to sit in the student section of a football game, one will hear some surprisingly paternalistic comments.)
IMO, what is being lost in this thread is the opportunity to consider the possibility that at least one black student at Cal today might reconsider her/his political views and take a look at the Republican party. Maybe such an exercise would lead to some Googling. What would such a student find on right of center BBs ?
I disagree. It may attempt a different perspective, but that does not make it better.
And I disagree - starting with the choice of wording the two news organizations used in their headlines to give readers a 'preview' of both the tone and the focus of their reports:
"UC Berkeley black students demand fixes to 'hostile’ climate"
vs
"Student group demands California university rename building after convicted cop killer"
IMO Wm R. Hearst would be proud of the FNC's efforts in continuing his renowned journalistic traditions.
And so it goes...
Richard
UWOA (RIP)
03-22-2015, 15:53
And I disagree - starting with the choice of wording the two news organizations used in their headlines to give readers a 'preview' of both the tone and the focus of their reports:
"UC Berkeley black students demand fixes to 'hostile’ climate"
vs
"Student group demands California university rename building after convicted cop killer"
IMO Wm R. Hearst would be proud of the FNC's efforts in continuing his renowned journalistic traditions.
And so it goes...
Richard
I think we're going to have to agree to disagree. Whether you cloak the desired action as a 'fix' or bluntly annunciate the proposal, the BLUF is that a group of students has fixated on an abhorrent solution that will not further their aims and will, instead, sow further discord (perhaps their true purpose) ....
.
Team Sergeant
03-22-2015, 16:40
As a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, I think I understand their grievances somewhat. One can go to a school like Cal, assuming that very intelligent people are also going to be culturally enlightened. The ensuing challenge is dealing with the reality that people's existing notions of race, class, gender, and sexuality don't get left at Sather Gate. (If one were to sit in the student section of a football game, one will hear some surprisingly paternalistic comments.)
IMO, what is being lost in this thread is the opportunity to consider the possibility that at least one black student at Cal today might reconsider her/his political views and take a look at the Republican party. Maybe such an exercise would lead to some Googling. What would such a student find on right of center BBs ?
That sure explains a lot........ :rolleyes: I've just gained a whole new understanding of your posts........
Lionshare
03-22-2015, 16:56
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As a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, I think I understand their grievances somewhat. One can go to a school like Cal, assuming that very intelligent people are also going to be culturally enlightened. The ensuing challenge is dealing with the reality that people's existing notions of race, class, gender, and sexuality don't get left at Sather Gate. (If one were to sit in the student section of a football game, one will hear some surprisingly paternalistic comments.)After your grad from Berkeley then what did you do?:munchin
UWOA (RIP)
03-22-2015, 19:13
What is Journalism without integrity? :munchin
While the content is more or less the same in both articles, I found the SFGate article to be much more informative of the entire situation as a whole than the Fox article - which seemed to put the spotlight on one specific demand.
7 of the 10 demands are addressing affirmative action concerns and I think that is more alarming than the demand to rename the building.
"Why Headlines Matter" - interesting read.
http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/headlines-change-way-think
Jake
Very thoughtful ... and an illustration that whatever the situation, the news media will, in some way, transmit their bias concerning the material -- which is why most Sunday news talk shows try to strike a balance by manning their tables with personalities from each side of the political spectrum. In the present instance the Fox news article illustrates the right-leaning appreciation of the events in a manner that caters to a large portion of their audience. But make no mistake, we do differ on the purpose of the affirmative action proposals. It is disingenuous for the students to imply that all of their demands are equal in character ... it is more logical to believe they are fully aware of the incendiary nature of the naming issue and lodge that 'complaint' to confuse and confound about their true intent ... their approach, to me, is reminiscent of the anarchists of the early twentieth century.
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After your grad from Berkeley then what did you do?:munchinThe thumbnail is as follows. Graduate school. More graduate school. Got a job. Got laid off. Got another job. Recession. Got laid off. Got another job. More recession. Got laid off. Got my old job back.
IRT the OP, I generally agree that mass protests and unrealistic demands (e.g. naming/renaming a building that you didn't pay to have built) often do more harm than good. IME, the best route in an academic environment is face to face conversations behind closed doors with those whose trust you have earned. You will lose some, you will win some, but no one goes home looking stupid. Otherwise, STFU, go to the damn library and learn.
YMMV.
Lionshare
03-23-2015, 02:05
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x SF med
03-23-2015, 04:03
I'd have field day 'legally-of-course' subjecting those students with all types of aggressive pressure....
But will they accept a rifle green person into their midst? Probably not.:rolleyes:
blacksmoke
03-23-2015, 21:28
Why should any group of students in the University of California system have to consider such an option?
Because I think they're mostly rabble rousing, and they themselves are not comfortable around other races and not feeling equal is based on their preconcieved conception of how people should respond to them. The following quote reminds me of me: "Too many students have told us about being excluded from study groups, ignored during class discussions, verbally harassed at parties and social events, and feeling, in a general sense, vulnerable, isolated, and invisible,” Dirks wrote the students. “This is something we deplore.”
As an older student trying to learn next to younger kids who's life experience and expectations are vastly different than mine, I came to understand a few years ago: my dumb army guy humor doesn't always
translate, not all the hot young girls I want to talk to want to be my friend, and my 90s era study methods aren't compatible with the kids nowadays.
Get in where you fit in, not everybody wants to be your friend, just as you don't personally accept everybody you meet. And quit trying to stick it to whitey by trying to rename a building after your cop killer "hero".:rolleyes:
The Reaper
03-23-2015, 21:57
There are many reasons for people not to associate with one another other than racial discrimination.
I, for example, might disagree with your crazy-assed views of what constitutes a hero, and your efforts to use race as a means of entitlement and make demands. This could cause me to choose other friends and not associate with you and your Marxist, Saul Alinsky loving community organizers.
I do not care what color my neighbors are, but if they are playing David Allen Coe or Snoop Dogg at volume level eleven while I am trying to sleep, we are going to have issues.
You may choose to shun me because of my beliefs. I do not believe that is necessarily discriminatory and believe it is your right to do so.
I would no more advocate naming a building after Ms. Shakur than I would after Charles Manson.
Bottom line - there are dozens of reasons to dislike or not include someone other than the color of your skin or place of origin. Some of them might even be good reasons. Take a good hard look in the mirror. Maybe you are just an asshole.
TR
But will they accept a rifle green person into their midst?Nope!:confused: