The ongoing controversies regarding the Ferguson and Staten Island issues of white-on-black police brutality have reached new heights (or maybe the proper word would be "depths). A current article describes a recent incident at Smith College concerning a campus-wide e-mail circulated by Smith's president, Kathleen McCartney.
Dr. McCartney's e-mail announced her concern, and the concern of the Smith community about not "losing faith in the quest for racial equality, and how you fear for people of color." It went on to speak about how violence of this nature serves as a reminder of the existence of racial injustice. The president ended her note with the following:
"We are united in our insistence that all lives matter."
Apparently some Smithies interpreted this phrase as racist. They argued that it "minimizes the anti-blackness of this current situation." It was felt that McCartney, in using this phrase, was not sensitive to the problems that specifically befall African-Americans.
McCartney apologized for "drawing attention away from the focus on institutional violence against Black people......" and went on to commit herself to "learning from the lived experiences of people of color....."
We really have a problem when a statement proclaiming the equal value of all human life is considered insensitive and biased - and results in an apology.
Dr. McCartney's e-mail announced her concern, and the concern of the Smith community about not "losing faith in the quest for racial equality, and how you fear for people of color." It went on to speak about how violence of this nature serves as a reminder of the existence of racial injustice. The president ended her note with the following:
"We are united in our insistence that all lives matter."
Apparently some Smithies interpreted this phrase as racist. They argued that it "minimizes the anti-blackness of this current situation." It was felt that McCartney, in using this phrase, was not sensitive to the problems that specifically befall African-Americans.
McCartney apologized for "drawing attention away from the focus on institutional violence against Black people......" and went on to commit herself to "learning from the lived experiences of people of color....."
We really have a problem when a statement proclaiming the equal value of all human life is considered insensitive and biased - and results in an apology.
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