Thursday, March 27, 2014

Dedication

This one goes out to proponents of the diversity overlay who voted against an electronic ballot on 25 March 2014.
    
    
When she was 13-14 years old, Janis Ian wrote "Society's Child (Baby, I've Been Thinking)," a lyric about interracial dating.  I'd like those who packed the faculty meeting last Tuesday afternoon [25 March 2014] to listen to the version of that lyric released in 1967.
   


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QPF-duKQro
  
   
Maybe that lyric would suit a diversity-themed course.  Let's look over the lyrics.

 
 
Come to my door, baby
Face is clean and shining black as night
My mother went to answer
You know that you looked so fine
Now, I could understand your tears and your shame
She called you 'Boy' instead of your name
When she wouldn't let you inside
When she turned and said, "But honey, he's not our kind"
She says I can't see you any more, baby
Can't see you anymore
Walk me down to school, baby
Everybody's acting deaf and blind
Until they turn and say
Why don't you stick to your own kind
My teachers all laugh, they smirk and stare
Cuttin' deep down in our affair
Preachers of equality, think they believe it
Then why won't they just let us be?
They say I can't see you anymore, baby
Can't see you anymore
One of these days I'm gonna stop my listenin'
Gonna raise my head up high
One of these days I'm gonna raise my glistenin'
Wings and fly
But that day will have to wait for awhile
Baby, I'm only a society's child
When we're older things may change
But for now this is the way they must remain
I say, I can't see you any more, baby
Can't see you anymore
No, I don't wanna see you any more, baby


I commend two lines of that lyric to ringleaders of the diversity overlay who voted against sending the motion to the entire faculty:  


"Preachers of equality, think they believe it /

Then why won't they just let us be?"



You who would pack a meeting with allies then disenfranchise those who could not or did not make the meeting, are you preachers of equality who think you believe in equality but elect not to practice it?

You oppose discrimination and long for inclusion but would discriminate against those not present at the meeting and would exclude them from an expression of an alleged "will of the faculty?"

You want to promote dialogue but want to cut off debate because you have the votes in the room to get your way?

Hmmmm.  


To slightly restate a sentiment from Vonnegut, we become what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be lest we pretend to be so interested in inequality that we exploit inequalities to get what we want.