Please Sign This Petition, Racism/Sexism Isn't Okay If Its Against Straight White Men

[Rahkshi500]

Also, given the number of people who think "#killallmen" is literally calling for the genocide of half the human race, you'll have to forgive me if I don't take "#killallwhitemen" and "#misandry" at face value.

That's your doing, fine. But I'm someone who was almost murdered once by someone who have expressed and endorse the kind of hateful speech and beliefs within those hashtags just for being a white male, has received death threats from many before, has been talked down condescendingly by jack-offs who try to tell me BS that there was no need to take such threats or danger seriously, or that "wasn't in any real danger", or to stop my "male-tears" or even told me that I should've let that someone murdered me because their minority group has it worse, with no one else to help me. So pardon me that my experiences makes me have every right to be concerned with such threats and behavior, regardless if it's done as a joke or as a bout of anger. Pardon me if I don't wanna be near or socialize with people my Bahar Mustafa.

 

[EternallyBored]

EDIT: To clarify, the follow-up picture was antagonistic and unprofessional as well; I won't argue against that. Pardon me if I don't think it's enough to get worked up into a frenzy that tries to get her fired, though.

Given the position she holds, she should be fired (and likely will be). It's not like she'd be getting fired from her job as Walmart Greeter. She's a diversity representative.

That said, she's also going to be on the receiving end of a social media lynching by the usual pack of idiots, which is lamentable, even if she counts amongst their number.

Culture in general seems to have a massive boner for public shaming, the founding fathers in the U.S. wrote about the dangers of it, we use to tar and feather tax collectors and run them out of town, lynch mobs and witch hunts work on this principle. Social media has made it less lethal, at least we aren't burning social pariahs at the stake anymore, but technology has also made it easier for a much larger number of people from all over the world to gang up on people for social slights.

That said, no, I won't sign a petition for an issue in a country I don't live in, the staff/students at the university should be the ones responsible for ousting her from her position, not a random mob of strangers from around the world on the internet.

If I was a student at that university, then yeah, I wouldn't want her representing my school or student welfare and divirsity department either.

Most of the diversity workers I met while in college were good people genuinely interested in attracting a diverse student population and having events to bring the entire student body together, it was a school diversity worker that originally got me into social work back when I was struggling to find motivation as a pre-med major. That said, the position can attract some real rabble rousers/ weirdos too, the types of people that fall into almost all the stereotypes that conservative pundits fear are controlling the college system. They aren't, as these types rarely make it any higher in the chain that being diversity representatives, which basically amounts to working in PR/HR, but jeeze it sucks when someone responsible for bringing together a diverse student body just creates divisions and excludes people.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

Bahar Mustafa, the University Diversity Officer of Goldsmith's University in the United Kingdom has made very public and hateful comments toward a racial subtype and also sexist comments of misandry. This "statement" was to exclude people from a social gathering according to their racial type and sex; which remarkably was to discuss Goldsmiths Universities diversity policies. Furthermore, the killing of the white race for reasons unknown.

After planning attempts to "diversify" the campus of Goldsmiths, Bahar Mustafa posted the following on Facebook:

?If you?ve been invited and you?re a man and/or white PLEASE DON?T COME just cos I invited a bunch of people and hope you will be responsible enough to respect this is a BME [Black and Minority Ethnic] Women and non-binary event only,?

...

Please sign the petition at the top of this post and prove that anti-hate and anti-discrimination policies protect men and white people and non just non-whites and females.

I'm going to be that guy who comes into a woman's plight thread and go 'Well, what about me as a male who gets sexually ogled? I suffered! What about what happened to me?!"

As in I'm a Straight Black Man. And unless I've misread what she said for the hundred time, she clearly stated if you're a man AND/OR white.

So... why is this just about straight white men? Who even mentioned straight? Should a gay latino not be outraged and put into this petition? As a black man who is straight and also barred from this, I and others who are straight and male or even gay and male seem not to be a matter with just the wording of how you presented this petition. The wording that Mustafa gave clearly states that because of my penis I'm not allowed either.

Hell. Screw it. White women are being ostracized too. Why is the focus only on Straight White guys?

The mind set that only white males need to be outraged right here? That's the type of thing that makes everyone who gets enraged about this seem like tiny people who are so afraid of losing their power/having to think about someone other than their comfort group.

~edit: Yay! 1000th post!

... No cake?

 

[spartan231490]

I have a better plan. Just get a bunch of white, cis guys and go to the event. go early, take all the space. Protest is where it's at, teach her that being a whiny ***** won't help her get her way.

 

[Ryan Minns]

Bloody hell! I told my partner to make sure they shut the gate behind them after visiting tumblr!!! Hopefully more didn't notice and escape!

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Well, I'm white cis and straight, but I'm Eastern European, so technically a minority in England. I'm from a working class family with a single mother and I can bet that she makes way more bucks than we do.

So... does that mean I win the privilege game with her? Is this how it works? I apologise, for I know not how to Tumblr arguments.

/joke

I know some people who say stuff like this but not necessarily stand by when I point out that I don't get a choice in my genes any more than anyone else, nor where I am born, neither that by virtue of having certain chromosomes am I inherently prejudiced or poisonous >_>

To do this at an official capacity is a shameful display. Hope she realises that the real world isn't whatever echo chamber she frequents that lead her to this behaviour.

 

[Muspelheim]

I shouldn't have to sign a petition for something so bloody obvious...

But then again, a lot of things are bloody obvious. One of those things is to not help cement people getting shit for something that isn't wrong or anything they can help just to take the piss out of people like her.

Oh look, a cultural marxist.

Looks like they are getting into some positions of power.

Looks like we were right, yet again.

Well, 'cultural marxist' can evidently mean 'teenagers in a holiday camp and maybe also some government office workers'. It's a very broad term indeed.

 

[Morti]

*Sigh* Damn idiots ruin every good cause. Especially since she's dragging some important things through the mud with her.

?If you?ve been invited and you?re a man and/or white PLEASE DON?T COME just cos I invited a bunch of people and hope you will be responsible enough to respect this is a BME [Black and Minority Ethnic] Women and non-binary event only,?

Justified in some cases as it is important to provide space for those who feel persecuted to work through their problems without fear of drowned out by their oppressors. However, running such a thing so that is productive requires a level of tact and control that she clearly lacks, otherwise they do just decend into... well... what we have here.

"I, an ethnic minority woman, cannot be racist or sexist towards white men because racism and sexism describe structures of privilege based on race and gender and therefore women of colour and minority genders cannot be racist or sexist, since we do not stand to benefit from such a system."

An important concept that needs to be used carefully to avoid it being associated with crap like this. This is, for example, why it's not so bad to call a white person a cracker (one persons feelings get hurt, they grab a coffee to cheer themselves up and forget it happened)(personally wouldn't do something like it, as it is still dickish), but racist to call a black person the N word (reinforces negative stereotypes in all those within earshot, unlikely to be the only incident that day, hard to forget).

 

[Burnswell]

And this is why feminism looks like a hategroup to people who aren't inside feminism who are able to see the well intentioned people. Feminists really have to stand up and say as a feminist this bigotry is not ok, this woman is not a feminist. That's the true scottsman argument right there I guess, who here thinks this woman is a feminist? (She sure as heck thinks she is one)

 

[Lightspeaker]

Question: What does a "Welfare & Diversity Officer" do for this university? I'm guessing its part of some sort of student group or some sort of equivalant to a dorm advisor. The article doesn't really explain. The petition doesn't make it clear at all. I mean, yeah, she said bad stuff, but its not really clear who it is that is saying it. Like, if I just told you "somebody from my school said 'queers should be put on an island and nuked'" you'd think thats a distasteful comment. However, most people would see a world of difference between a student saying that and the school administrator saying that. Student saying that, the reaction is "yeah, fuck that asshole", but a school administrator, people will be out for their job (and rightfully so in my opinion).

Do Americans not have Student Unions?

Okay to elaborate...in the UK student unions are a HUGE thing. Almost every University has a student union, which are all (well I think all) part of the National Union of Students (NUS) which is an absolutely gigantic monolith of a nation-wide organisation. The NUS does a variety of things including politically representing student's interests to central government and championing students' rights.

On a more local level, like Goldsmith's Student Union, they are typically semi-independent of the University itself but are inextricably tied with said University (which means they're basically involved in the University permanently despite "technically" in most cases being independently-run from it). Fundamentally they represent every single student in the University they are affiliated with and act as a central hub for social activities, political activism, student support and all of that stuff.

As far as this woman goes, she's one of the Union Officers. The Unions tend to have a bunch of staff (in Goldsmith's case they have a Chief Executive and Deputy, for example, as well as a pile of other co-ordinators and managers) and handful of democratically elected full-time student officers (taking sabbaticals from their study to do the job). They are full-time paid positions to which they are elected by the student body (or at least those who can be bothered to actually vote in them) and are intended to be representative of the student body, representing it on every level and dealing with issues put to them within their remit. They are also typically responsible for sitting on appropriate University committees as the student representative and for meeting with University staff on behalf of students. Student Officers tend to be fairly responsible roles that, somewhat unfortunately, have issues with getting people to actually vote; which means that bloc-voting is frequently successful which makes the whole process somewhat vulnerable to people with agendas or egos.

To put this as simply as possible though: she was democratically elected by the student body to this role for a one year term and is getting paid £22,000 per year (source: http://www.goldsmithssu.org/representation/elections/positions/fulltime/ ) to be the Welfare and Diversity Officer; caring for student welfare and acting as one of the "faces" of the student body. She isn't getting paid by the University directly, she's getting paid by the Union, but the Union is inextricably tied to the University. And at a very high level (as in she will be liaising with senior faculty, probably not the Vice-Chancellor because the Union President will typically deal with them if at all, but definitely high-level staff). As well as publicly representing the student body of that University and, indirectly, the University itself.

Officially I think the right people to write to would probably be the Union President and Chief Executive. But ultimately Universities effectively have some responsibility for their Unions. And, more to the point, Universities could make things extremely difficult for someone who they do not want in a position by just refusing to deal with them and barring them from meetings.

 

[Westaway]

Accidental post, please remove. My bad.

 

[lacktheknack]

In the great, wise words of Icona Pop:

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"F**k the system" is a mantra we've been feeding young people for a looooong damn time (see: How People Feel About The Police), this is one of the ways it manifests, and as far as I'm concerned, society's made its bed and can now go take a dive in it.

 

[Michel Henzel]

No lady, you are definitely a racist and sexist, and no lady you are not a woman of colour, you are caucasian aka a white woman.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

You know, I've one of her speeches in video form and I have to say it's laughable in its absurdity to think she is not white. Last time I checked Turks where Caucasian. If you have to tell someone you're not white for them to know you're not white, then you're white.

She does look pretty white, doesn't she?

I would most definitely assume she was of European descent if I saw her on the street.

Also, what is non-binary? Was she... discriminating against people with non-match ethnicity parents?

That's what I was thinking. I was watching a video related to that article, thinking "why did they pick the whitest woman at their gathering to be their spokesperson?" Wouldn't it be more credible to have someone of darker skin, who is probably more likely to have come across discrimination and gender inequality?

 

[Johnny Impact]

"Because no one will ever have it as hard as I do, any complaint I make is automatically legitimate and irrefutable."

I'm going to rebut that with all the composure, reason and courtesy I feel it deserves. (clears throat):

It's called victim privilege.

It is a fallacy.

You cannot claim special exception in matters of equality. Attempting to do so invalidates the core concept.

You cannot demonstrate moral superiority by using the same tactics your enemies do. You cannot kill hate with hate, it's been tried.

You are increasing the sum total of hypocrisy, evil, and plain ol'-fashioned home-cooked nonsense in the world.

Please feel free to die of a horrible wasting disease at your earliest convenience, you ignorant, spiteful, self-righteous little twat.

Thank you, drive through.

#killallthestupids

 

[PsychicTaco115]

My reaction to this situation can be summarized as follows:


I'm just going to use my male/white/cis privilege and ignore this thing because it doesn't affect me personally that much

Why get mad when I know there will be people who'll do it for me for free?

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Eh...I dunno how upset I'd get over this. Probably not much, since my capacity for anger has never been all that big and I'm just tired of saying much of anything about this sort of thing. I mean, yeah. They should probably question why their apparent Welfare and Diversity Officer is conducting themselves like this. I think she could have communicated her point immensely better and without being an inflammatory jerk about it. Really, all you have to do is say that it's an event catered towards women and minorities, but everyone is welcome as long as they aren't unnecessarily disruptive. How is that so difficult? But I don't think it really affects a whole lot of anything outside of the environment of that university.

 

[thewatergamer]

And people wonder why feminism is a dirty word these days...

*sigh* What is their to say, it's another stuck-up, self-righteous waste of life preaching about how X group is responsible for all the worlds problems, If the group she is "representing" wants to hold any respect from sane individuals, they could start by canning this nutjob

 

[StatusNil]

Also, given the number of people who think "#killallmen" is literally calling for the genocide of half the human race, you'll have to forgive me if I don't take "#killallwhitemen" and "#misandry" at face value.

Maybe you should look up the definition of "literally" in a dictionary? Even the pathologically bibliophobic can do it these days through the Internet. You will discover that "kill all men" does in fact call for the genocide of half the human race when you interpret it literally. There is no ambiguity whatsoever that I can detect there. So I'm thinking you must have "literal" confused with the related concept "NON-literal". This appears to be a common problem.

It is curious how many people covered by these murder fantasies themselves have taken such a tolerant attitude towards those propagating them. But it may be that not all of them are actually suicidal, they just regard these people as so unworthy of being taken seriously that it doesn't matter what kind of twisted poison oozes from them. "Racist, sexist murder apologists? That sounds seri- wait, it's just a GIRL! Hahahahaa, you almost got me going there! Now, let the poor dear have her life-long tantrum. It's not like she can be expected to behave like a mature, responsible individual."

I for one find such patronizing attitudes abhorrently sexist. We should have the common courtesy of taking the stated beliefs of individuals seriously, regardless of their gender, "race" or Queerness quotient. This is a grown woman. Does she not deserve to be taken at her word, as a man in her position would be?