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AScribe83's avatar

I watched the video. I don't think there was anything racist about what Sellers or her colleague Baston said. In fact, I find their conversation to be the logical consequence of our currently obsessively racialized society. I grew up in the South Bronx in the 90's and am now in my late 30's and I have never had to deal with racism, being black, what my blackness means to me and to society at large, and issues like systemic racism and unconscious bias in my entire life combined as I have in the past year or two. My husband (who is also black) works in the corporate HQ of a large company and in the past 5 months, he has had to do multiple diversity, inclusion, and equity seminars, complete surveys, have team meetings to discuss "race," and unconscious bias trainings. I would wager that Sellers has had to do much the same and now finds herself in the unenviable position of having to confront the very real problem at Georgetown and colleges and universities all across the country, of the disproportionately poor performance of black students. Her use of the word angst to describe her feelings on the matter has been completely ignored, as well as the truth of what she is saying. Sellers and Baston seemed genuinely concerned and uncertain as to the cause of this phenomenon. If we don't want to actually identify and address problems and try to find solutions, then all this focus on race and racism is just kabuki theater. The demand for racism and racists to blame for all societies ills massively exceeds the supply, and now almost anyone can be accused of being racist for almost any reason and have their lives and careers destroyed. And it accomplishes nothing except to make some people feel morally righteous, but does not alter reality or change facts.

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Notes from the Under Dog L.'s avatar

Having seen the video, it seems fairly obvious that Sellers is lamenting -- she says it causes her "angst" to see these results year after year. She appears to be saying that she feels helpless -- and that her sincere efforts do not seem to make a difference. Here we are, obligated to have a national conversation about outcomes, and the causes of these outcomes, and this poor woman is beheaded for stating her frustration with those outcomes. Most egregious, the assumption is that those outcomes are due to bias. Anyone who sanctimoniously believes that those grades are due to her bias is not going to change these outcomes. And one thing you can be sure of -- she's probably more inclined to inflate those low grades due to sanctimonious racism. What was done to this professor is extremely unjust. And why was the video disseminated among students? What good was that going to do? The lunatics are running the asylum. The prof who was listening to her is under investigation for NODDING.

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