Tuesday, November 21, 2006

UC Student Groups March to President Nancy Zimpher

Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Anti-Racist Protest Demands Response to Recent Hate Speech

On November 8th, the University of Cincinnati’s International Socialist Organization (ISO) submitted this press release, detailing the racist slogans and images that appeared one night littering a UC building which houses student organizations.  Yesterday afternoon, a collection of student groups organized a march on campus, culminating with their delivery of a list of demands to UC President Nancy Zimpher.

See for yourself:

This constructive, anti-racist sentiment comes just at Blue Ash has seen a spurt of Klan activity, with racists distributing anti-Semitic literature in response to the arrest of a Nazi over the summer.

It is encouraging, however, to see the political spirit of protest alive and well at the UC campus.  We hope to see more activism from the students, and we hope Nancy Zimpher and the UC administration addresses the students’ concerns.

Socializer!

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says:
21 Nov 2006  at  12:39 pm | #

Its cool how tenacious and focused the campus socialist group has been on this topic after THEIR signs were defaced.  Its like they have taken personal ownership of the issue.  I guess nothing focuses the mind like private property rights.  Come to think of it, wasn’t that the missing piece that brought down all the socialist nations?

Bearcat! says:
21 Nov 2006  at  03:53 pm | #

UC! UC! UC!

Nice response from the student groups. I hope they get what they want.

Che says:
21 Nov 2006  at  04:24 pm | #

Trey, it wasn’t just the socialist, it was many different student groups and there have been other incidents that have happened and just went under the radar. That’s the point of their demonstration.

The point is that racism isn’t acceptable at an institution of higher learning and people should stand up and say that including the leadership of the administration.

Actually we haven’t seen many real examples of socialist nations. Cuba comes to mind, but they’ve been strangled by the US for 50 years because we don’t except that in Latin America. We overthrew Chile, Argentenia, Venezuala Guatamala and a host of other nations for moving towards socialism, in the name of “Democracy”.

South America is moving away from the IMF, WTO and the neoliberal policies that the US has been forcing on them for a long time. Socialism is on the move down there and hopefully it will spread all the way to the US and give 46 million people health care in this powerful nation.

karen says:
21 Nov 2006  at  04:51 pm | #

that’s not the point, trey. the cincinnati ISO has been involved in anti-racist protests/actions for years. the theft and destruction is very unfortunate, but it was more about sending a message to a vocal anti-racist campus organization.

i am a UC student and find it appalling that the university will not publically condemn the racist vandalism, as well as other incidents such as racist flyers handed out on campus last year. why the silence? why the silence about this incident when we receive notices from administration about campus crimes (which always mention the race of suspects) immediately after they occur? is this racist act NOT a threat to the safety and well-being of students? i think it is and i think it makes our university less of a “just community” than it would publically state. racism and hate speech have no place on this campus or in our community and if we don’t stand up and say it’s unwelcome, it will continue.

it is well past time for the university to make a public statement and to condemn this and ANY act of hate speech on campus. the UC community cannot sweep this under the rug and pretend it didn’t happen. UC administration should clarify the definition of the “just community” policy. stating that the policy covers this incident and no further statement is required is not good enough. students should know that the university is a space for learning in a tolerant and diverse environment, not a place where bigots can get away with threatening students who are paying good money to get a college education. it is up to university administration to set the tone on campus. tolerance or willful ignorance? we’ll see which side they choose.

says:
21 Nov 2006  at  07:44 pm | #

Just needling you, socialists.  You know we love you.

says:
21 Nov 2006  at  07:58 pm | #

The KKK in Blue Ash; racism and student protests at UC; Kramer going nuts using the “n-word...”

Whoever said racism was a thing of the past?

Gotta love that Holiday Spirit!

Che says:
21 Nov 2006  at  09:16 pm | #

Trey, once again this wasn’t just the socialist and you shouldn’t assume that we are socialist just because we speak out against racism. We just aren’t moral cowards and mindless spectators. Although I am for universal health care, I don’t consider myself a socialist, nor would they.

says:
22 Nov 2006  at  11:47 am | #

Che, first off this country has the BEST health system in the world. Don’t compare it to Europe because on paper their’s looks better. It is actually worse you can wait up 6 months for a procedure that you need now. In this country if you need something to save life you can get it. Im not saying its cheaper or whatever I’m sure its not but you can still get it with no wait. University hospital for example is a place where they cannot turn anyone away including people who are illegal to this country. It might be expensive but you can get it and do a payment plan. So your socialist idea of government wont work here just like it didnt work for Russia. The US is to big maybe on a much smaller scale then the US.

Che says:
22 Nov 2006  at  02:38 pm | #

"first off this country has the BEST health system in the world. Don’t compare it to Europe because on paper their’s looks better.”

Wanito05, Europes health care system looks better on paper because it is better in real life also. They cover every citizen craddle to grave for far less money because they don’t have greedy corporations pocketing every penny they can every chance they get. 25-30 cents of every dollar goes to paper pushers that count every aspirin so they can charge a few bucks for it. In Canada and every other industrialized nation they just buy them cheap and in bulk and give them out as needed. Less red tape is more efficient.

Some of their systems may be under funded, but our system says pay or die. It has to be an emergency or your turned away. Sometimes when it’s an emergency, it’s too late.

That’s why 18,000 people die every year in this country because the don’t have health care. That’s six 9/11s every year. It’s a national security issue you won’t hear about in the media that makes a lot of the money on commercials and the politicians get their big donations.

Don’t give me the Russia is the only model for Socialism. Every single democracy in the western world has health care for all of it’s people. That’s why we are the worst on things like infant mortality rate etc.

Our corporations aren’t able to compete with companies located in places where the government provides health care. US companies have to help pay for workers health care and that’s bad for bussiness.

There’s no longer line than no than no care at all. This is the case for 46 million Americans, millions of them are children. Tonight many poor and elderly people have to choose between medicine or heat. Or medicine or food in the most powerful nation in the history of the world.

We’re spending 500 billion dollars to bomb people that weren’t a threat to us. If we had any morals, we’d give all Americans health care and it would cost us less than we pay now. The only difference is that these HMOs, big insurance and big pharma wouldn’t be making a KILLING.

Howard Lipschitz says:
22 Nov 2006  at  06:44 pm | #

Completely pointless. What do they expect Nancy Zimpher to do? Let’s all speechify against racism. What’s so proactive about that?

In the end this is about the self-importance of the “demonstrators” who disrupted innocents just to get attention. It’s been the same old infantile dynamic since the 60’s. Instead of doing something constructive, these children act out, appealing to an authority figure (Mommy Zimpher) to make everything better.

And isn’t that ultimately what tsocialism is all about? Silencing voices indeed. Hate crime indeed. The Socialists are completely irrelevant. Are there any black members of the campus Socialists? If this was really about race hate the vandals would have targeted the A Phi A’s or or any number of Black student groups.

Sound and fury. Hey Hey. Ho Hum.

Hey How, you're dumb! says:
22 Nov 2006  at  08:16 pm | #

"In the end this is about the self-importance of the “demonstrators” who disrupted innocents just to get attention. It’s been the same old infantile dynamic since the 60’s.”

Another ignorant rant form Howard Dipshit. That’s the same thing racist used to say about Dr. King and the freedom fighters. J. Edgar Hoover thought King was public enemy #1 and was a socialist.

Socialism is on the rise in Latin America and as the Empire declines and Americans fall further behind because of the greed of the corporatocracy, more people will fight for human rights and needs.

Socialism isn’t about silencing voices, it’s about giving a voice to the poor and those that care about social justice. Yes, there are black people in the ISO. The banners that were vandalized were anti-racist posters etc. The racist vandals wrote “yes we klan”, “white power”, and other ignorant things. Howard has no anger towards these acts, just the unified response to them.

Once again Howard has no idea what he’s saying. If you watched the video, you’d know what they want Nacy Zimpher to do. These students are being proactive and Howard would rather they be silent. His post are completely pointless as usual and a sign of his true feelings about racism.

Howard Lipschitz says:
22 Nov 2006  at  11:20 pm | #

But see, making “demands” on the model of a parent/child relationship is precisely not proactive. I did watch the video and I’m not exactly sure what the demands are. An “active definition” of “just community”? Some kind of new beaurocratic office of race affairs where students can complain about “hate crimes” like goofy vandalism and Klan leaflets? Absurdity. What is that going to change? I’d like to see the Socialists actually do something besides crying “pay attention to me, Mom!”

The real cancer on UC’s campus is sexism. Just look at the hate speech scrawled in every men’s room. Maybe we should hold a demonstration and demand Nancy Zimpher take action.

Howard Blah Blah Blah says:
23 Nov 2006  at  10:47 am | #

They’ve made most everybody on campus aware of the racist acts and now people beyond. They sent a message that this isn’t acceptable and that these incidents should not go under the radar again and again. They as students are going to continue to speak out and they expect the administration to do what they can to address these things and send a similar message.

Howard will never be satisfied with what these student groups do. They could have a demonstration about sexism and he would just say “In the end this is about the self-importance of the “demonstrators” who disrupted innocents just to get attention.”

Howard’s so concerned about the “innocents” that had to hear people say racism is wrong. He doesn’t care about the innocents that were offended by the racist vandalism. As I said before, these are the type of things that were said about Dr. King and others who fought to bring awareness and social justice.

Luke says:
23 Nov 2006  at  11:40 pm | #

Wow.  This seriously has Miami 7 written all over it.

Howard, you’re a fucking ignoramus.  If somebody broke into your house and left you notes saying you’d be murdered, would you want the police to investigate it?

How has the university NOT investigated this?  Was Zimpher not in Ohio in 1999?

I find it noteworthy that a group of African Americans breaking the Livingstone Megaphone Ordinance didn’t get rubber bulleted.

Howard Lipschitz says:
24 Nov 2006  at  12:46 am | #

Surprise! Everybody on campus already knew about racism. They actually have classes at UC where people sit down and talk about it in a rational and adult way.

I don’t think anybody finds it acceptable and certainly nobody publicly espouses racism on campus. In case you just stepped out of Plato’s cave, we’ve been living under a regime called political correctness for just about two decades now.

There was no need to interrupt people studying and going on about their business the way the protesters did, except, of course, to say: “Look at me, Mom! I’m anti-racist on a college campus. How courageous am I!” That’s not speaking out. That’s acting out. And it’s not “proactive” either. When the dust settled nothing had changed.

One more thing: You’ll never be Martin Luther King. You don’t get laid that much.

Howard Racist says:
24 Nov 2006  at  01:02 pm | #

Howard, you still don’t know what you’re talking about. Most students weren’t aware of this incident and several others that didn’t get much attention. Apperantley you find these acts acceptable and are only upset that students made a big deal about it.

Where was anybody who was studying disturbed? Were you there? Do you feel the same way about all protesters from the past. Were those marching against racism in the 60s just saying “look at me mom”? I’m not comparing myself to Dr. King, I’m comparing you to the people that said those things about him back then.

It’s not over, it’s just begun and there will be more. So get with your cowardly idiot friend White Power and keep crying about it. You’re the one that’s acting like a little baby.

Luke says:
24 Nov 2006  at  03:03 pm | #

Why are you so soft on crime, Howard?  You’re a bleeding-heart bigot.

Howard Lipschitz says:
24 Nov 2006  at  05:37 pm | #

MLK was an authentic activist engaged in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, voter registration in Selma, etc. He didn’t just throw tantrums to get attention. Nancy Zimpher is not a segregationist. She is not suppressing Black enrollment. Comparing MLK to the behavior we all can see on the video is insulting to the legacy of Dr. King.

What are these other incidents that didn’t get any attention? Apparently, they’re still not getting any. Everybody’s talking about them (karen, Che) but nobody want’s to say what they are. And where were the Socialists when sexist vandalism of each and every men’s room on campus was discovered. Where were the Socialists last year when black fraternities were stepping in front of TUC to the refrain of “we ain’t no faggot”? I’ll refer you to trey’s comments above. This is not about racism on campus. This is about the Socialists’ self-aggrandizement. The idea that this was “about sending a message to a vocal anti-racist campus organization” is really inflated. We won’t know the motive until the perpetrator is caught. And the University has been working on that. But Shane Johnson want’s Nancy Zimpher to take personal responsible. That’s just ridiculous. The vandalism is as offensive as it is juvenile, but you can’t blame it on Nan.

Why does Shane Johnson demand that Nancy take personal responsibility? Because it’s the only thing left that the University hasn’t already done. All the “demands” were fulfilled even before they were put to the administration. Frank Bowen, Dean of Students and Black Man All His Life met with students a half dozen times. The Just Community principles are clear and so is the Student Code of Conduct. There is no effort to “ignore” or “sweep the incident under the rug”.
click here
click here

Che says:
24 Nov 2006  at  07:21 pm | #

Who is Howard to judge who’s an authentic activist and who’s not? Once again, I compared your response to their protest against racism to the response Dr. King got from people who said he was just trying to get attention etc. You’re the one that insulted Dr. King while trying to insult me for not getting “laid” as much as he did.

Nobody said Nancy was a segregationist, suppressing black enrollment or personally responsible for the vandalism, so don’t pretend that they are. There were MANY student groups there that all seemed to agree that Nancy should’ve spoke out against the racist vandalism and they came up with what they would like the administration to do.

You can continue to say it’s not about racism and that it’s just about Shane and the ISO, but if you weren’t there and didn’t help organize it, how the hell would you know? It doesn’t really take any effort to ignore these things. It’s about the easiest thing there is to do. Dealing with it takes some effort.

There were at least 7 student organizations involved in this protest, but I’m sure you’ll “ignore” them and continue to talk about one person and one group. You will say that they are supposed to be there anytime there is an unjust action and then when they take action you’ll say it’s just because they want attention. They can’t win with Howard. He’ll continue his self-aggrandizement and outrage not for racist vandals, but for those he disagrees with politically.

cincysue says:
24 Nov 2006  at  08:39 pm | #

"first off this country has the BEST health system in the world. Don’t compare it to Europe because on paper their’s looks better.”

The U.S. has the highest rate of death by infection contacted during hospitalization, than any industrialized nation. In fact, 250 people a day die from such infections.

Luke says:
25 Nov 2006  at  01:58 pm | #

Thanks for the links, Howie.  Now, here’s the thing:  why can’t Nancy just denounce the hate crime--which is a felony, right?

The question here is one of official atmosphere.  Nancy can set the official atmosphere by a) speaking or b) not speaking.  If she speaks out against the crime, she’ll no doubt offend the tender sentiments of closet racists like Howard, who will feel less welcome at UC.  If she doesn’t speak out, she’ll tacitly accept the commission of hate crimes on campus--which should offend every soul with any meaningful grasp of American history.

I graduated from Miami in 2001; during my time there, hate crimes were the mode.  No university official ever meaningfully condemned these hate crimes, which had a chilling effect on diversity at the university.  Truthfully, this was former President Garland’s goal, as he wanted a wealthier student body--I’d suppose that Zimpher feels the same.

I’d also guess that Zimpher will be ignominously canned like the fuckwad from Oxford.

As a lemma, this whole affair is still alarmingly similar to the Miami 7.  Don’t get your hopes too high, left.

Howard Lipschitz says:
25 Nov 2006  at  07:01 pm | #

Thanks, Luke. Having read the news reports and become better informed about the incident, will you now retract your assertion that the University has “NOT investigated this”?

Your question highlights the point I am trying to make. There is really nothing important at stake in the protest, just the President’s recognition. This is about getting Mommy’s attention. Ultimately, the incident falls within Frank Bowen’s responsibility and he’s spoken out about the incident. The University’s policy is clear. There is no attempt to cover up or “tacitly accept” any crime.

Otherwise why stop at Nancy? Why not “demand” the trustees denounce vandalism, or the Governor who appoints them? Let’s demand Nancy denounce the sexist vandalism of men’s rooms. Ridiculous?

Che says:
26 Nov 2006  at  11:22 am | #

"There is really nothing important at stake in the protest, just the President’s recognition.”

Howard fails to see that the protest was also for the other students. It was to send a message to whoever did this and to raise awareness that these things continue to happen and that people usually don’t even hear about these incidents.

People in this country like Howard think racism is a thing of the past, it’s not. Racism still goes on, it’s just often under the radar. Institutional racism often goes witout notice but it still hurts people. I’m glad that the students are coming together to do what they can to make the community more aware and responsive. It’s better than just bitching, right Howard?

Howard Lipschitz says:
26 Nov 2006  at  06:14 pm | #

Well, if by “raise awareness” you mean “get attention”, I guess you’re right. Otherwise, it is just bitching. It’s a scene and it’s high drama. But it doesn’t address racism or it’s causes. If Shane Johnson wanted to address racism proactively he could take his freedom down to a working-class neighborhood, knock on doors and say “Hi. I’m a socialist and I’m here to tell you racism is wrong.” He wouldn’t last a minute.

Thing is, it feels good to shout into a bullhorn, especially when you are safe on a politically correct college campus. Safe adrenalin. But it doesn’t do a goddamn thing. Aweful lot of messages getting sent around here. I keep asking what these “other incidents” were that went “under the radar”. Where’s the awareness? Shane already had his “press release” and his opinion pieces in the News Record. Everybody heard about it. But you still have to find some way to pretend Nancy Zimpher is culpable out of her deep-seated institutional racism.

Luke is right. It’s a bit too early to protest. We still don’t know who really did it. I think Shane is too smart for it, but, if you were at all informed, you’d have to pause at the uncanny similarities with the Miami 7.

Luke says:
26 Nov 2006  at  07:01 pm | #

As a Miami grad, I AM impressed at UC investigating this at all (MU under Garland would’ve done no such thing).

The point of protest in our society is twofold:  to inform the media of the protesters’ intentions; and to inform the powerful of the same.  This protest, which didn’t even disrupt anything (unlike blocking Rt. 27 or barricading McMillan), filled both of those purposes pretty well.  Howard, I don’t know what you expect from a protest.

Secondly, Howard, you’re listening too much to Rush Limbaugh.  “Political Correctness” is not some byproduct of the Clinton-era, it’s a necessity of civilisation.  Pleasing the body politic is essential to maintaining power; ask Marie Antoinette if she’d’ve been better off being PC.

Pop media’s concept of “the will of he body politic” is currently that it’s worse to back down than to remain in the wrong.  Thus Zimpher’s being PC by not making a statement against it.  Being Just would be for her to say “it’s unacceptable to be a racist.  If you’re a UC student and you’re racist, we’ll find you and expel you.  Racism is NOT a matter of opinion; it is a destructive irrationality that must be expunged from society.” But that’d piss off the right-wing moral relativists in the HC, so I don’t imagine she’d do it.

Howard Lipschitz says:
26 Nov 2006  at  10:04 pm | #

In other words, the two-fold role of protest is: get attention and blackmail a paternalistic authority figure into fixing the problem for you (well in this case a Mommy-figure, since these are really still just children we are talking about). Infantilism. 

The University already has a stance on diversity and racism:
http://www.uc.edu/justcommunity/Just_Community_prinicples.html
http://www.uc.edu/conduct/Code_of_Conduct.html
In fact, the student code of conduct is so comprehensive, I can see at least three violations committed by the protesters. Maybe I’ll lodge a complaint.

I don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh and I never said anything about Clinton. I’ve been called a bigot, a friend of White Power, anti-MLK, and silent about racism, which I apparently think is a thing of the past. I’ve never said anything of these things. And that’s to say nothing of the personal attacks. All because I represent a minority viewpoint.

Your use of the term “body politic” with referential rather than metaphorical affect belies your English degree escapism. I am more progressive than any of you and it’s because I am a realist.

Che says:
27 Nov 2006  at  11:19 am | #

Poor Howard is so misunderstood, but you did take a dig at Dr. King though your intended target was somebody else. I really do feel sorry for you. The time and energy you’re spending to denounce these students is quite silly.

If you had any balls you’d file your complaints against these students since you’re so outraged at their “infantilism”.

So tell us Mr. Progressive Realist, what are you doing to fight racism?

Howard Lipschitz says:
27 Nov 2006  at  03:08 pm | #

Well, I call out Jason My Main Man’s racism a lot.

Racism isn’t something you fight. You ameliorate it, overcome it, work to heal. The real problem is when it reaches the level of “expelling from the body politic” and “destructive irrationality that must be expunged from society”. That’s totalitarian talk straight out of Mein Kampf.

I’m not denouncing the students. I’m critiquing their actions. Everybody agrees their hearts are in the right place. Ten years ago I was one of them. But when you see a friend screwing up, you call them out, hold them up to the mirror. And the mirror here is that Nancy Zimpher is not the enemy and shouldn’t be scapegoated. They’re wrong about that and so are you.

Luke says:
30 Nov 2006  at  04:06 pm | #

The Principles of a Just Community are pretty damn fuzzy, and make no mention of racism.

The SCOC describes the punishment meted to students caught breaking the rules of the University.  If the person who committed the hate crimes is caught, these rules will apply--as will as the municipal laws regarding hate crimes.

The protesters want Zimpher to understand how important it is to punish the perpetrator.  They NEED the University to do this because, yes, they can’t fix the problem themselves.  How would you suggest they fix the problem?  Your argument doesn’t make sense.

Furthermore, the mere act of protesting clearly upsets people with racist tendencies, or racist sympathies.  If the protest drives out this water, the fish of hate crimes will die.

We’re saying the same thing as regards racism in the body politic (which is a political philosophy term, not a lit-theory term).  I’m not saying “kill the racists”, I’m saying “remove racism from society"--and I feel like that’s pretty clear, even in Latinate roots--

You know what?  Never mind.  You win, I’m done fucking talking to you.  You’re probably a moderately intelligent dude, you just think you’re the smartest guy around.  Thus, you never question your prejudices, and you assume that everything that will ever happen has already happened--and to you, no less.  So fuck you, you disconsolate prick.

Way to hijack a conversation.  I hope you’re proud.

nati red says:
01 Dec 2006  at  10:44 am | #

Waaay to many dumb things to comment on...but I’ll stab at a few.

The protest was NOT just the “socialists”. There were more than 10 different student groups being represented during the march.

This is NOT just about the ISO signs being defaced. This IS about a climate of racism on campus. There was also white power fliers left on several cars that surrounded the campus a week and a half following the ISO vandalism. The Dean of Students has told me personally that another incident has happened but said “I’m not going to tell you though” WHY!!! What else is happening that students aren’t aware of?

The only “crime” reports that students see are the backhanded racist “Public Safety” emails that typically have “black male suspect...” in them. Do we hear about attempted rapes or sexual assaults in Langsam Library? Gay bashings on campus? Anti-semitic harassment of jewish student orgs? NO.

This is the history of “no comment” at UC. If you don’t acknowledge it, it doesn’t exist. Where was the “just Community” statement when the Clifton Mosque was bombed less than a year ago? At a vigil that was held at the mosque following the attack, nearly every university, denomination, and corporation(cause they care about diversity!) was either there to express solidarity or made a statement condemning the attack. Guess who wasn’t there? The 1-billion dollar per year neighbor that is less than a mile up the street:UC

The fact of the matter is, if students don’t force UC to actively define was a “just community” is, then they will continue the status quo. After all, saying that hate crimes are happening on your campus isn’t exactly the best recruiting tool.

Thanks for the positive feedback!