What’s grasping at straws is searching for something offensive about an additional, not required, open-admission event celebrating a certain group and lighting on “It wouldn’t be all about me, and I couldn’t deal with that.”
Birthday parties, baptisms, confirmations, bat/bar mitzvahs are invitation-only events, but others can come. Plenty of classmates are excluded, some based upon age and some based upon popularity, and I’m sure there are some other disqualifications too.
I’m not even sure why we’re discussing the matter. A party for black Harvard students, open to all, to celebrate their the achievement and someone feels that it doesn’t further societal goals for a color/race blind treatment for all. Oy vey. 8->
Gosh, maybe because there’s a difference between the KKK and black students??
It’s just pathetic at this point.
I was unaware the black student population of Harvard was considered a hate group.
^ Didn’t you know it’s apparently hateful for minority groups to host events that are not entirely about white people? 8-|
You are proving my point. Cherry picking ceremonies based on which ones are socially acceptable is applying a double-standard.
Sooo, why even have these separate ceremonies in the first place? How is hosting a separate ceremony helpful in promoting racial equality and unity when the ceremony itself is purposefully differentiating graduates on the basis of race? It’s entirely counter-intuitive… I get the emotional aspect of the ceremony, but logically, it makes zero sense.
There is really no double standard between not permitting a racially-based hate group to have a ceremony and allowing a minority group to have a ceremony.
The fact that you think there is says more about your racial prejudices than anything else.
Black students don’t need to justify their celebrations to white people. They don’t need to “promote racial equality” if that’s not the point of the ceremony. The point of the ceremony is to celebrate black students who are graduating. It has nothing to do with white people.
And that’s what you don’t like about it.
Do you think the KKK event would be inclusive, would black students be welcome? If not, there’s your answer @fractalmstr .
Choosing to “cherry pick” black students rather than he KKK??? The only difference is that the KKK is not “as” socially acceptable? That’s…astonishing, really.
The KKK expounds hate and violence. That’s a tad more than just not “socially acceptable.” At least among civilized people.
Why does it matter that they are black though? Are they not humans like the rest of us? Did they not achieve the same end-result as the other graduates in their class?
The fact that you support the idea of dividing up graduates by race, and having separate ceremonies for them all shows your own racial prejudices… I am the one here promoting the idea that it doesn’t matter what their race is. You are saying it does matter.
Actually, it has everything to do with white people, otherwise they would not be having a “blacks-only” ceremony.
Far, far fewer black kids than white kids go to college, or finish it. Thus their achievement is something greater for them than it is for white kids. The challenges they faced on the path to college was almost certainly very different as well. So yes, there is something unique to celebrate there, though everyone is welcome.
(FYI the ceremony in question is for grad students, not undergrads - this year. )
@fractalmstr, yes, it does “matter that they [the graduates] are black”. If you look at the rates of degree attainment among black (and Hispanic, and Native American/Alaskan, and for certain fields other groups) students in this country, plus the continuing effects of the historical exclusion of such students from certain educational opportunities—well, then, any evidence that we’re making progress as individuals and society should most certainly be celebrated!
And I would hope that you’d see the value in that even if you somehow feel excluded from a party you would have been welcome to.
“Why does it matter that they are black though?”
You mean besides 300+/- years of slavery, murder, wrongful imprisonment, discrimination, segregation, institutional racism, racial profiling, voter suppression and redlining that continues to this day? Other than those minor “inconveniences”, you’re right, it doesn’t matter. :))
You can’t ignore history, otherwise we’re doomed to repeat it.
In the United States of America, given the historical and current issues with race we have, “promoting the ‘it doesn’t matter what their race is’ school of thought” is, actually, foregrounding race.
It’s in the air. One can’t get around it. Closing one’s eyes and pretending it doesn’t exist, no matter whether it ought or ought not exist, is actually making it into a bigger problem.
I would love to have a specific ceremony for disabled people. Do you know how many other grad students I know in a wheelchair? 1. Why? Because disabled students are very rare in college let alone grad school. Too many accommodations that no one wants to do. I had to get a whole other office because the one I was in swings close and it’s impossible for me to get in and out.
The first week of school, I couldn’t get in or out of my building after hours because the handicapped door didn’t work after hours.
Black students (on the whole) have hurdles that white students (on the whole) will never have.
Disabled students have hurdles that non-disabled students will never have.
Students who face additional hurdles want to celebrate with others who have the same hurdle.
That someone takes issue with it says way more about the person taking issue than anything else.
I’ll say this once again- this does not affect anyone’s life in any way that doesn’t attend the ceremony. Period. End of story. Oy
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When users who have been around here long enough start calling other users racist, it’s time to close.