the institution should learn to love and accept these people too.

One other thing that strikes me about this article (I haven't finished yet as I write this) is it seems to be a sort of survival guide for black students....all just so they can make it through college without quitting due to racial insensitivity. Whites need to do more too.

Need to look into what "son of baldwin" is

Overall I am noticing a part of white supremacy culture coming out in my own mind. I like to think I believe this person's experience, but I still find a tiny part of myself expecting concrete examples of oppression to "prove" to me that its a problem. this isnt good. it means i want to find specific outlying problems to address rather than look at it systemically.

Admittance vs acceptance

Admittance: you must be this tall to ride. you have to meet requirements and conform.

Acceptance: we want you here as you are. just come and we will adjust.

A better response would be something with this sentiment: "You know...that's an area with a lack of black representation. I admire you wanting to enter that field. I'll support you and help you without forcing you to confine to what people expect to be accepted at things like this"

The idea that non whites have to "prove themselves" has not gone away, it has stuck around for centuries, sadly.

Forming a committee to establish an exploratory body to begin preliminary preparations for the discussion of...blah blah blah

When "leadership" acts hurt or pretends they have been "attacked" because they held an open forum and got negative feedback.

This is a tricky one because I have seen instances where a non-white person was placed in a leadership role and did just as badly as a white person would do, because they don't get it or are more interested in upholding power structures.

"I don't like the way you're doing this and I think I can do better because I'm an important person."

This ties in with my desire to want to know "what happened" to the black student who says live at a PWI is hard. It's an unfair expectation.

This isn't something that is just fundamental to white people. White people may have been the ones who initiated these types of things, but they have become a larger culture now that predominates, and so naturally it affects everyone regardless of race.

When people say things like "Why did you have to make this an issue?"

In a capitalist society, this one will never go away. Capitalism tells us the lie that growth is always possible and must always be material or monetary. A University could tout it's increase in non-white students as a plus, but if the overall number of students coming in isn't higher, leadership will still feel like it is overall a failure.

I believe this one is a huge societal problem. People feel they need to have a bunch of individual accomplishments because, sadly, that's basically what people expect to see on a resume, and if you want to have any kind of career going forward, you have to have a good resume.

But only on being "polite" on the surface. The thing being discussed might be awful but no, the person bringing it up is the problem because they are pointing out the cracks in the veneer. (said with sarcasm of course)

This may be true enough but why assume power is even a good thing? Why does something have to be governed using "power"? Why does a workplace have to even be about "power"? Y'all know the central message of Lord of the Rings, right? You can't wield power to get rid of power.

A lot of people have trouble talking about race/racism because of this. People seem to feel that if they have ever done a racist thing or contain any amount of racist tendencies in them that they are "bad" because they believe racists are "bad people". the good/bad binary has no place in discussions of race, etc.

new DEI person referring to people disparagingly as "social justice warriors", etc.

Framed in the pandemic this is interesting. Everyone eager to go back to "normal" rather than truly see if maybe there is a new way to do some things or even entertain the possibility that traditional in-person teaching might not work for every one.

I can see how the agenda/sticking to the meeting could be an overemphasis on process. "The meeting must go as planned". It's tricky to delineate these things cleanly. For example, I would say that I personally believe a problem the Democratic party has i a worship of process at the cost of getting results/helping people.

For how long?

Worth noting Buffalo did not handle the protests this year very well. This is the city where the elderly man was pushed down to the ground and nearly killed.

VIOLENCE:

Not just physical

Most dictionary definitions stick to physical violence

But violence can also be psychological. Think of it in terms of abuse. Not all abuse is physical and something doesn't have to be physical to be abusive. Domestic abuse is often psychological.

Gaslighting, verbal abuse, blaming

https://everydayfeminism.com/2015/11/5-ways-black-people-experience-non-physical-violence-on-college-campuses/

This is odd what is this about the cell phone?

scratched off VIN on Mosso's car

They keep mentioning seeing a black man. Were they ever asked if they saw his face or could identify him in the court room?

They didn't get his shoes when interviewing him, but probably should have?

Ruiz had injury on hand 2 days after body found.

Why are they focused on finding an alternate perpetrator? It is not their job to find who did it, but to show the reasonable doubt as to whether their client did it.

not pregnant

shoe prints didnt match any shoes the cops had gathered

evidence bag opened and stapled back shut

Getting their "story" straight on the car ride back to lawrence to talk to cops? Or just innocently discussing the matter preparing for questions?

witness to car ride from lawrence to manhattan claiming husband looks guilty

Did not collect comforter for testing

Not even as good as partials?

It is possible for them to eliminate people using the hair but not get a "match"

possible to have same mitochondrial DNA as someone not related to you

The hairs again. Not her hairs, but not Washington's either? If they were Washington's wouldn't they be able to EASILY prove that?

I believe I saw it claimed elsewhere that there were bloody sandal footprints in the apartment.

whose hairs will these turn out to be?

Look at the sheer amount of bystanders in this video completely ignoring this situation.

Toxic impact of racism on ALL communities. Really? I mean I get that racism doesn't do white people any favors but...the impact of racism on white people is NOT the same as it has been on black people. For white people it has meant that they have internalized negative racist ideas that will be hard to shed. For black people it has meant that they have been FUCKING DYING.

Why only places with 15+ employees?

Not good enough to just form DEI committee and think "we covered that".

to get meta: "dont talk about white culture/white supremacy culture" is an implicit item on this list too

"diversity" = numbers "we need to increase our percentage of POC students", etc diversity is transactional what can our institution get out of "doing diversity" diversity "makes this a more interesting place to be" co-opting of diversity in corporate world see chocolate milk video: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-rauner-chocolate-milk-0223-chicago-inc-20180222-story.html inclusion is right because its right, not because it'll increase your profits, whatever

transaction = gain. profit. what do i get from this

ex: if releasing statement, who is the statement for? The people directed at or affected? Or for the entity making the statement? Should be the former!

longer-term, still obviously recognizes that money is needed, but keeps longer term goals and sustainability of whatever is at stake in mind.

short-term often money-driven thinking

This is a big one. one of the biggest axioms in our culture is "if you dont have something nice to say, dont say anything". but if we have to say some "not nice" things to address an even worse and VERY "not nice" system them it is worth it IMO. Also, when people get offended by something said are they really offended or are they allowing themselves to be offended on behalf of someone else?

fucking YIKES

I admit I'm not well informed on how problematic fire departments are, but I'm not opposed to them getting a discount. Seems they actually put themselves in more danger and actually do some good. I wonder why historically these two things are so tied together. What does putting out a fire so a building doesn't burn down have to do with police? Beyond the fact that both agencies respond to "emergencies" and have sirens on their vehicles....

This rubs me wrong on a number of levels. The first is that it sounds like they very much want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to respond to things in a way that will please both people of color and the cops. This is basically impossible. I would also argue that in the situation unfolding in the country, the police are not the ones who need support.

Special treatment.