I wasn’t shocked at Daniel Banta’s winning the award for journalism in the moving up day ceremony. In fact, I expected it because this school prides itself on freedom of speech practices and Daniel used it to its utmost potential with his article about the Oppression Olympics. I have personal experience with advocating for freedom of speech and expressing my opinions. Last semester, when a particular club was created with no regard to the Thelmo constitution, I proudly hung up posters to expose the sham that was the previous Thelmo president.
Expressing my opinion right?
Wrong
The posters were immediately taken down citing bullshit reasons that had never been used as pre-requisites for a white person to express their opinions. So let’s revisit a statement that I made earlier with the “school priding itself in freedom of speech practices,” and let’s add the following phrase “only if you are white.” At this point, many privileged white snowflakes will start their online uprising’s claiming hurt and demanding apology letters for speaking the truth.
Thought I was done?
NOT
Let’s use this opportunity to talk about privilege to talk about and what it means in a St. Lawrence society. Instead of using a dictionary definition of privilege, I have created a dynamic definition using the experiences that students of color face on campus on a daily basis.
Privilege is when Grace King is allowed to discriminate against students of color in the association of campus entertainment, yet she wins an award on moving up day for the research she is conducted with women of color and media representation.
Privilege is when Daniel Banta is allowed to publish an article misrepresenting oppression, while Shanice Arlow’s commentary on the Thelmo wasn’t published for reasons that suddenly do not apply to Banta.
Privilege is when Rosie Sacco retained her position as PUB 56 co-chair when she neglected and abandoned one of the ONLY colored band that came to perform at St. Lawrence in the past semester.
Privilege is when the PLEN women’s leadership conference can pass a contingency with utmost ease when requesting monetary funds for consumables, while the international committee had to struggle to convince Thelmo senators for adopting a contingency asking the same amount of money for the same sort of consumables.
Privilege is synonymous to white on this campus and this country. This fact is merely overlooked by Daniel in his crass piece of literature that is protected under freedom of speech.
If you are reading this article on the Hill News, I would be as shocked as you would, knowing the dilatory tactics used by the Hill News to publish content of such nature. However, if you are reading this somewhere around campus, remember that our voices will never be silenced. Like I said, ACE was just the start of the accountability process for discrimination on campus, other organizations are soon to follow.
As a graduating senior, Daniel is soon to leave the SLU bubble, and I am glad at his departure because it will force him and many others to open their minds and engage outside the SLU bubble. Banta’s article was everything short of heroic, but in the real world, such comments would receive a whirlwind of abuse.
The most recent example that comes to mind is the Charlie Hebdo attacks. I 100% condemn the events that took place on that particular day, however, when engaging in the literature of such nature, one must always look at the quality of social locations and consider its impact on populations. The Charlie Hebdo attacks came after a line was crossed by the satirical publication depicting a prophet naked and publicly denouncing Islam.
Banta’s article crossed multiple lines with regards to the representation of not only students on campus but also departments such as Global Studies.
Since Daniel quite enjoys satire by using profoundly marginalized communities to create a piece of literature to further contribute to their marginalization, I would like to welcome you to this year’s Privilege Olympic’s. But there is one catch, Daniel is the only participant because he is privileged enough to be in that position. He does not need to think about the actions of his next step because reaching into his pocket won’t get him shot. His efforts won’t get him deported, nor will he be forgotten by the school when he turns into an alumnus, unlike the handful of colored alumni’s that visited the campus over the weekend because of the schools’ lack of communication with such alumni’s.
#opinonbutreallyfact
#cryaboutit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fON3Kx7dQGI
Oh god. Imagine believing, in 2018, that Ben Shapiro is a legitimate authority on racial commentary in the United States. Like, seriously. “FINALLY, a guy that gives white people a voice!” Can you believe that there are people out there that still don’t realize that he’s a laughing stock in the political community and that not a single thing he says holds up under any amount of scrutiny? Seriously, some people think he’s some kind of genius just because he can talk fast and cherry pick made-up arguments. To make it better, there are even people out there who will share his videos in political discussions thinking that they’ll serve as some sort of “epic mic drop,” when in reality it just proves that you completely ignored the points that were being made because they don’t fit the narrative that you would like to believe, and that you’re not willing to listen when the people around you are telling you that there is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Chilling, I know, but it’s true. These people actually exist
Ah yes, you are far more distinguished of a political commentary than the man with one of the largest political podcasts on earth and a Harvard law degree!
Ah yes, you are clearly far more of a distinguished person political commentator than the man with a Harvard law degree and one of the largest political podcasts on Earth! Thank God you’re here to set us straight on how anyone who disagrees with YOUR point of view must be wrong!!!
I don’t think that’s entirely fair. Yes, the “Oppression Olympics” article was in bad taste, at the very least. I’m not arguing against that AT ALL. That said, we’ve all made mistakes. I don’t think it’s fair to crucify someone who’s voicing an opinion (albeit in a poorly thought out manner). I don’t think one article should detract from four years of hard work, which is what the Journalism award represents. At the end of the day, lets not forget that he was trying to HELP by pointing out issues today. If nothing else, at least his article was polarising enough, and did enough to ignite ACTUAL debate about diversity and inclusion on campus. I’m not saying I agree with the article, but this crucification is petty, ridiculous, and needs to stop. It’s not helping anything.
Justifying the Charlie Hebdo attacks is far more despicable than writing a satirical article, no matter how “offensive” said article may or may not have been to certain people. This is vile and defamatory.