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No Demands

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Clarissa

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The reason why the student protests keep coming up with such outlandish demands – more administration! more bureaucracy! safe spaces! emotional comfort! a group to discuss a possibility of segregation! – is that they know a movement needs to make demands but there is nothing for them to demand.

Of course, there is racism on campuses. There’s racism everywhere,  just like sexism. But the time of demanding administrative solutions is over. Everything that needed to be legislated already has been. Of course, the idea of presenting a list of demands, getting them granted, and feeling content is attractive but it’s just not on. No authority has anything to give us any longer.

In the areas of racism, sexism and gay rights, the really hard work has to begin now. It’s slow, it’s patient, it’s boring, it sucks ass. The carnavalesque, exciting aspects of sit-ins, marches, occupations, protests have no place in this work. But it’s time to start doing it, even though it might be no great fun.

3 responses to “No Demands”

  1. cliff arroyo Avatar
    cliff arroyo

    I agree that there’s not much that institutions (especially universities) can do in mitigating remaining sexism and racism. And there’s about zero human tradition of doing the kind of work you’re describing at the societal level.

    On the other hand, a bunch of people have been predicting a swing towards more…. traditional values and I think this just might be it.

    Feminism (mainstream NAMerican version) is retreating at light speed from actually confronting sexism and is retreating to the traditional patriarchal views (again NAmerican version) of women as fragile and needing protection and guidance and casting womens’ role as mediating social interactions and processing emotions so that others don’t have to.

    Racially, people are withdrawing back to segregation (fuss about “appropriation” is a prime example). Once institutional barriers are formally dismantled people want to set up different walls. In very diverse societies most people’s lives aren’t very diverse.

    Young people are …. young and demand that paternal authority protect them from themselves. This is what the administrators are missing. Part of youthful rebellion is seeking reassurance in defeat (taking comfort in realizing that once you’re in charge you will have real power – adminstrators folding in to every demand is not reassuring as it makes them think there’s nothing to look forward to which increases the demands).

    I’ve been expecting a swing back in values (as I always say no pendulum swings one way forever) I just wasn’t expecting to happen under the cover of the ‘progressive’ left. That has taken me by surprise.

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  2. Crystallizing Chaos Avatar
    Crystallizing Chaos

    What work needs to be done now?

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      We all have a lot of work to do individually to get rid of racism and xenophobia. For instance, think of a group you view with suspicion and dislike. And let’s agree we all have such a group, we all find some people harder to tolerate than others. Familiarity destroys fear, so why not do something like read a book, watch a film, see a performance created by the people who belong to this group.

      And it’s the same with sexism. Identify one sexist thing you keep doing and just stop. Example: I interrupt men. When I see a man talking, I feel an uncontrollable compunction to interrupt, even if the man in question is a doctor preparing to operate on me. So I can undertake a radical (for me) measure and start hearing men out.

      And if we all do just this single small thing, it would make a far greater difference than a million of diversity and inclusion offices on a college campus.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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