Saturday, March 07, 2015

Race Hoax at Kalamazoo College

What's going on at Kalamazoo College?  K College is a far left elite private college just west of downtown Kalamazoo.  It was originally founded as a Baptist college, but that influence is long gone, replaces by progressivism, social justice, gay rights, anti-racism, and all the trendy cultural Marxism common on campus.

Kalamazoo College students start #UnsafeAtK social media campaign, say they feel threatened
Meeting about minority student safety at Kalamazoo College draws more than 100 students
Kalamazoo College officials address #UnsafeAtK social media campaign in campus-wide email
Security increased at Kalamazoo College after online threat to 'start systematically executing faculty'
'Don't let them win': Solidarity sought at Kalamazoo College in aftermath of online shooting threat
Kalamazoo College threats: Investigators hope Internet trail will lead them to suspect
Despite threat, Kalamazoo College students who have experienced racism push for intercultural center
Kalamazoo College students rally over concerns about racism and marginalization, push for intercultural center

The current controversy involves a student who is a gun rights activist.  He has advocated for open carry on K's campus, a noble but hopeless cause at an extremely left-wing private college.  In late February, he asked the student government for support for this cause.  They predictably declined, and launched a flurry of insults, as reported by Campus Reform.



What the student said was
If you have a problem with me, please come talk to me.  This is disgraceful.
Or, as student government official Rian Brown recalled it,
When the student government declined to support the group, the student "basically flashed his empty holster at the entire commission and directly threatened all the people of color in the room," Brown said.
As recorded in the audio, Brown then launched a flurry of insults at the gun rights advocate, calling him racist, sexist, and homophobic, despite the fact that he never mentioned any of those issues.  She even accused him of wanting to murder her.

It doesn't seem a stretch to call her insane.

Brown resigned her position in the student government soon after, claiming that "black and brown bodies" didn't feel safe on campus.  She then started the hashtag #unsafeatK on twitter, which attracted the attention of the Kalamazoo Gazette (Mlive).  They reported her allegations without much skepticism.

This resulted in an emotional meeting between students and administration, and a campus-wide email from the administration.

There are certainly real concerns about security around Kalamazoo College, as these articles indicate.  None of the articles indicate the race of the attackers, though several commenters indicate that they are black.

The controversy seemed to be dying down, until an anonymous threat was posted on the student commission Google doc on March 4:
K-College officials learned early Wednesday that a "highly inflammatory entry" had been posted in the Student Commission Google Doc, an online collaboration tool that allows for group sharing and anonymous editing, according to an email to the campus community.

"The entry is racist, anti-Semitic, sexist and homophobic" and included a direct threat to K-College faculty, the email stated. 
 The post, which included "vitriol aimed at a wide range of campus members," included the following line, according to another email, this one from the president's staff to K-College faculty and staff: "At 900AM 3/5/15 I am going to start systematically executing faculty at Kalamazoo U, that will teach them the value of campus carry." Neither email repeated the entire posting.
Police are investigating the threat, but have not yet identified a suspect.

At this point, we should note that virtually every racial 'hate crime' on a college campus has been proven to be a hoax.  As noted by National Review, The College FixMichelle Malkin and Ann Coulter:
Instead, all the hair-on-fire college rape stories have been scams: the Duke lacrosse team’s gang-rape of a stripper; Lena Dunham’s rape by Oberlin College’s “resident Republican,” Barry; and Rolling Stone‘s fraternity gang-rape at UVA. Two of the three were foisted on the publicand disproved in publiconly in the last few weeks.

The only epidemic sweeping the nation seems to be Munchausen rape syndrome. What’s next, college noose hoaxes?
The portions of the message quoted in the Gazette article sound like they were written to implicate gun rights supporters.  Who would be most likely to know about the student commission Google doc?  Also, who benefits from the attention and sympathy the threat provokes?

Leftists on Kalamazoo College's campus are campaigning for an "intercultual center".  It's hard to determine what exactly that means.  Brown describes it as
a safe place for students of color to go to on campus
So would white people be banned from the center?  Or just discouraged?  Will the students be demanding separate bathrooms and drinking fountains next?
The group's list of demands include having an interim intercultural center by the start of the 2015-16 school year, increased transparency from the college regarding intercultural and diversity research and planning, and that the college require all faculty, staff administrators and student leaders to participate in anti-racism training.
One student recounts her horrifying experience with racism:
"I've had professors ask what am I, as opposed to where am I from," Solis said. "Replying to them 'student' or 'a woman' is not sufficient for them. When they ask me, 'Where are you from' and I say 'Chicago,' I receive, 'Where are you really from?'"
So basically, they were racist for caring too much about diversity.

So far, the administration hasn't given in to the students' demands, but I wouldn't bet that they won't.  Do parents know what education their children are getting for over $40,000 per year?