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June 2020

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From:
"Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
tree of knowledge system discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 1 Jun 2020 14:41:16 +0000
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Hi Corinne,

Thanks for sharing this. I thought the President's message was appropriately framed.

I have been wondering about this. Here is a question I have been struggling with and I would love to get your take:

How do we honor the particular incidents that have become flashpoints over the last month and recognize the injustice and pain, and at the same time, how do we keep things in proper perspective?

What I mean is, from a policy perspective, I would argue that we should be making decisions based on aggregate analyses of structural injustices. Now, because of the way humans work, specific incidents become symbols of the aggregate. However, as intellectuals, we should know this is a dangerous process. As an example of what I mean, consider what I thought was an ill-framed message that came from American Psychological Association's President. She announced there was a "Racism Pandemic<https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2020/05/racism-pandemic>", writing:

"The deaths of innocent black people targeted specifically because of their race - often by police officers - are both deeply shocking and shockingly routine.

"If you're black in America - and especially if you are a black male - it's not safe to go birding in Central Park, to meet friends at a Philadelphia Starbucks, to pick up trash in front of your own home in Colorado or to go shopping almost anywhere.

"We are living in a racism pandemic, which is taking a heavy psychological toll on our African American citizens. The health consequences are dire.

IMO, this is exactly the wrong message that intellectuals should be sharing as it blatantly conflates individual episodes with aggregate levels of analysis and then does so by associating it with our current stressors and fears (i.e., the pandemic). As painful as these examples are, they offer no genuine evidence of spreading of racist attitudes, behaviors, etc in the US over the past year (or whenever the pandemic of racism supposedly was sparked). For a conceptual parallel, consider "the summer of the shark<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_of_the_Shark>" phenomena, whereby an early sensational and tragic shark attack primed the media so that every story with shark was covered. The availability of the story created more and more media drive and the experience was that the year was marked by a massive increase in shark attacks. However, that was just because of the way it was covered and the actual aggregate instances were exactly in the normal range.

Now, as a white man from a upper middle class background, I fully acknowledge this might be experienced by some as me trying to minimize and brush off the deep and heartfelt concerns that emerge in the wake of these tragic incidents. That is not my intent. My intent is to simply offer the more intellectual point that our reactions and movements for a just society need to be anchored to the appropriate level of analysis. This is something the APA President failed at and the consequence is a dramatic and alarming rhetoric that feels to me to be more damaging than either empathetic or realistic.

I welcome your reactions to this reaction. I am very interested in how communities of individuals can come together and create common ground regarding these painful and polarizing issues.

Best,
Gregg


-----Original Message-----
From: tree of knowledge system discussion <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Diop, Corinne Joan Martin - diopcj
Sent: Monday, June 1, 2020 9:01 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: ppt on the Mission of Universities

On this topic, I found the JMU college president's statement to students titled "Building a better tomorrow together " (with similar versions sent to faculty and staff) to be an appropriate university response to the current upheaval in the US. https://www.jmu.edu/news/2020/05/31-buiding-a-better-tomorrow.shtml

He makes the statement that "...as an educational institution, it is our responsibility to call out these issues, critically examine the underlying causes, and identify ways to use our knowledge and skills to make positive change." Additionally, JMU leaders are planning a series of virtual town hall and other events as "an opportunity for our community to learn from experts and discuss the role each of us has to play in creating a more inclusive society."

He assumed universities are responsible for connecting to and improving current issues and also reaffirmed the importance of "experts", which has been in question. I also thought he did a good job of avoiding the "culture wars" while claiming inclusion and diversity as a normal part of education.

Was I too easily impressed? (I have a black husband and son, so was grateful for the hopeful tone.)


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