Week 9: Diversity & Inclusion IV

My anticipation for class on Monday was high.  What were my peers going to think of Crucet’s speech and the students’ burning copies of her book?  Would my teacher have a riveting opinion? Would there be any brawls among peers? The events on October 9th, as discussed in last week’s blog, were the topic of discussion in class Monday.  To begin with, the entire class filled out a questionnaire that asks students to anonymously report how they felt about Jennine Crucet’s speech. I am not shy to say that her talk made me uncomfortable.  Off the bat, her public speaking was not ideal which drew my attention further from her. What drew me back in was her condescending tone and unflattering jokes which included one about a school shooting.  Her authoritative presence made me feel even more threatened because of her status as a professor and successful author.

Left image credit: https://abcnews.go.com/US/author-jennine-cap-crucet-responds-white-college-students/story?id=66214623

Right image credit: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7563827/Authors-speech-cancelled-Georgia-students-burn-book.html 

The class discussion began with the notion that her tone was condescending.  Doctora made the point that her being Latina was one of the reasons she came off as aggresive.  Crucet even has addressed in the past that her temper often gets misunderstood, and during her speech at GSU she had to grasp the podium to keep from using hand signals that could be mistaken as aggressive.  She did not succeed overall, as her tone was blown out of proportion and controversial among GSU students. 

The infamous gun joke was also a hot topic.  During her speech, Crucet heard whispering in the audience and jokingly projected her thoughts that there may be a shooter in the crowd ready to open fire.  This was beyond uncomfortable and unnecessary.

In Wednesday’s FYE class, the discussion of last week's events continued but included a lesson on white privilege and defining it.  The most memorable and mind blowing part of class was when Doctora defined white privilege as going out and not having to ponder your skin tone. She used an example of gender to parallel the comparison.  She asked the males if they ever had to worry about walking to their car at night. None of them were phased. She then asked the females, and most girls looked around and nodded. White privilege is not having to think about the fact that you're white. It is an unfortunate reality that there is even a privilege level of race, as each individual should be equal no matter their skin tone and only judged on the basis of their actions.