Thank you, Joe, for your informative post, which responded to Gregg's plea for an intellectual response. Gregg, my reaction to your email is a plea for emotions to be linked to intellect in responding to racial injustice in this country. I thought the analogy to sharks was particularly disheartening. You wrote: 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. I know that it is not your intent, but the analogy suggests that brutal police killing of innocent black people would have a "normal range." I also immediately thought of the famous quotation: The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. I believe we need messages that appeal to emotions to activate empathy and outrage and move us to a position of "we're not taking this anymore." If using an analogy to the pandemic has a powerful emotional impact, then I see nothing wrong with it. Here are some more emotionally charged messages that do not have empirical scholarship to support them: Nelson Mandela: "To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity" Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Barbara Ingram, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology On Mon, Jun 1, 2020 at 7:43 AM Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > 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://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.apa.org_news_press_releases_2020_05_racism-2Dpandemic&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=R1vcTDslOF5kEMpp_uiMDs6ncY-RrWIMYsLCFbKymHU&s=QsQO_fPPRB8yoX3HxHhZoDpC_foDffGM_Ux0ir2Nk_c&e= >”, > 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://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_Summer-5Fof-5Fthe-5FShark&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=R1vcTDslOF5kEMpp_uiMDs6ncY-RrWIMYsLCFbKymHU&s=b3WgZ4BmYdm1rqfGk0oiZkeDYMs73LzvsPX0N2HKwio&e= >” 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.) > > > ############################ > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the > following link: > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1