Comments by "L.W. Paradis" (@l.w.paradis2108) on "Zaid Jilani: INSIDE Battle Of RACE AND CLASS Leaving Workers Smeared And Fired At Smith College" video.

Krystal said that we should not imput insincerity to the student. The student might have believed that what she said was true, but she was wrong to make an accusation of racism based on her feelings, not evidence, and destroy people's lives. Zaid seems to think she engineered this incident to her benefit, because for her, it's prestigious to claim this form of victimhood, and she was in fact rewarded for it. He also said that people who have experienced racism in their lives usually do not react the way she did.
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Krystal did not say that made it all right. She also said there is ZERO discussion about class discrimination. Class discrimination is always swept under the rug. She also said the administration were cowards not to stand behind their employees.
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Um, . . . Doesn't ring a bell?
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@mihailmihaylov988 Well, he said it seemed that she wanted the incident to be a certain way. Listen again. We presume people are innocent (of behaving in a racist manner toward a black student, and of being insincere when they allege they felt they were targetted on account of their race) absent evidence of guilt.
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@badfinger524 I think that's true. But as to her initial feelings, I wouldn't assume she engineered them. She may have felt that way, and believed that her feelings ARE evidence. She did end up benefitting from the whole incident, despite her heartless behavior. Who goes straight to Facebook to accuse people of racism, and post pictures?
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@badfinger524 NYTimes did run a followup the other day, saying all the accused were exonerated, but their lives are still destroyed. It was a good piece, and nearly all of the comments agree with you.
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@johneverett6293 Not symmetric. Assuming the woman was sincere in what she claimed to have felt is not the same as assuming she was an insincere attention-seeker looking to advance herself. The problem is, the woman in question didn't accord the university staff the same presumption of innocence and benign intent, and the administration took her side without looking into what actually happened.
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Ironic that the comments to THIS report accuse both of them of saying something they didn't say.
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Not what was said. As soon as race is in the picture, do minds stop? Krystal said that we should not imput insincerity to the student. The student might have believed that what she said was true, but she was wrong to make an accusation of racism based on her feelings, not evidence. Zaid seems to think she engineered this incident to her benefit, because she thinks it is prestigious to claim this form of victimhood, and she is in fact rewarded for it. He also said that people familiar with racism do not react the way she did. Remember the Central Park bird watcher? He came out and said he did not want to see his accuser's life destroyed, and he was a real victim of racism. He was in the right, and the woman who accused him called the (real) police on him and said he had made her feel unsafe, when all he did was ask her to follow the rules and put her dog on a leash.
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So, a whole thread is going to accuse Krystal of something she did not say? Hey, great response to THIS story.
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@adosjustice3242 Who is talking about racism against whites? There is no such thing. There is classism, however. It usually affects blacks much more than whites. This time, it happened to be whites.
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@jacqueliner5361 Yes, a ridiculous policy.
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@jayxavier6930 The NYTimes story has a link to the official report, where two of the targetted staff said that they are instructed to call campus police if they see anyone in a closed off area or who otherwise appears "out of place," but from the wording of the report, it seems they did have some discretion. Other reports, including The Hill Rising, underlined that because the area was being used for a children's summer camp, security was tighter and usual, and they understood that they had to call security rather than try to handle it themselves. Personally, I consider these types of instructions/actions to be too often an overreaction. Links are sometimes shadowed, so I'll post below.
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Krystal said that we should not imput insincerity in the student. The student might have believed that what she said was true, but she was wrong to make an accusation of racism based on her feelings, not evidence, and destroy other people's lives. Zaid seems to think she engineered the incident for her own benefit, because she thinks it is prestigious to claim this form of victimhood, and she is in fact rewarded for doing it. He also said that people familiar with racism do not react the way she did. I don't see how Krystal was out of line.
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Gallows humor, rings very true.
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@The Propaganda Machine Yeah. It could have started out as a sincere misunderstanding in that moment, where she did feel discriminated against, and then it took on a life of its own based on the overreaction of administrators. We do look to other people's reactions to gauge the validity of our own.
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@Farvadude I don't have an agenda except to stand up for the underdog, and emigrate by 2025. I am not attached to this stuff at all, and NO, English was not my first language, thank you very much. Go accuse someone else of dishonesty, someone susceptible to your SCHTICK. No traction here!
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Yes I will. My entire family is abroad now. I heard people call my parents liars all my life because of their accents, and they never lied at all. That's your specialty. What you have to say means nothing to me. I want to make sure you know how idiotic your insults were. I'm not going to play your one-liner games, pfft. Again, I'm not of your mentality. That's what you would do.
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@Farvadude Whatever anyone says to me in English can't land, so don't waste your time. Don't you get it? My mother didn't speak to me in that language. So I can see through it in a way you can't.
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@Farvadude My parents were systematically discriminated against as immigrants, and we're all supposed to believe an African woman hasn't experienced racism? That's a good one. The bitterness of your comment, and the ridiculous story you spin about my "lying" to further some "agenda" tells me exactly how YOU treat people. Of course I don't care. About YOU.
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@mihailmihaylov988 All I can say is listen again. It's just like any text -- it's the second reading that deepens your understanding. I think what he said is closer to my characterization of it, and I'm fine with this journalist. I just don't agree with him this time.
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@amyjoyce2301 Of course.
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@amyjoyce2301 In this case, the staff especially, and the student as well, are being accused of terrible things they didn't do (staff), and some pretty horrible attitudes and motivations they probably do not have (student and staff).
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@JUDALATION Local police, or campus security? If the janitor was instructed to call local police, whoever told him that should be fired.
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When you look at all the things the student did, I think a person could make a defamation case. She took to Facebook immediately, and posted pictures.
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@shade38211 More.
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Krystal said that we should not imput insincerity in the student. The student might have believed that what she said was true, but she was wrong to make an accusation of racism based on her feelings, not evidence. Zaid seems to believe she engineered this incident to her benefit, because she thinks it is prestigious to claim this form of victimhood, and she was in fact rewarded for it. He also said that people familiar with racism do not react the way she did.
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@adosjustice3242 I agree it isn't. But it's not trivial, either. People lost their livelihoods. That's nothing to you? FYI, a good third, if not more, of the people we encountered in ordinary life did not perceive my father as white-- and this included black people. He looked like a cross between Puerto Rican and Lebanese. I see you LOVE love this game of accusing people cooler than you of racism. What a joke.
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@adosjustice3242 Two hundred years of "whites only" is part of a genocide agenda. (It was longer than that, BTW).
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@adosjustice3242 I see that point. Most such stories are presented ahistorically, as if the world were born the day the people in the story were born.
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@adosjustice3242 I don't disagree. What is not said is often more revealing than what is.
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@johnschmalbach8243 Exactly. The more I think about it, the more I fault the administration. The people various "sides" are pointing fingers at are far less responsible. Listening to a Cornel West interview right now, really on target. He does not dehumanize actual white supremacists, much less . . .
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Eventually? I've seen nothing else for 25 years.
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@peepeevs I suggest you listen to what retired Navy SEAL David Goggins has to say on the issue. (But you won't. None of you will.)
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@leonhart7306 I don't think that's persuasive either way. It's very possible that the reaction came from a life-long entitled little princess, or that THIS interaction -- with campus police, no less -- on a nice day when she was just relaxing, reading, and eating her lunch, was the straw that broke the camel's back. This time, she was not going to let it pass. What reference do you have for the proposition that the kind of adversity a person suffers due to racial profiling will build resiliency? Abuse wears most people down. What Chris Hedges has written about war heroes is more persuasive. IOW, the aftermath is complex. Those who have performed valiantly are often unsure whether they could repeat the feat. But strong they are, compared to most of us. Both traumatized and strong.
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@leonhart7306 But yeah, she was horrible to the staff. She destroyed their lives, and got rewarded for it. I put that at the doorstep of those who enabled her as well. They had a duty to be evenhanded.
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@jayxavier6930 Yes, and that is the real disgrace. Who tells staff to summon campus police -- and then pretends staff is to blame when they do? Why can't these clowns be reprimanded or fired?
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@jayxavier6930 Amen. Horrible. Apparently the administration did not even attempt to hear from staff about what happened before reacting.
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I read a bunch of stories from several sources about this incident, and skimmed the official report of no racism. This is what I really think: First, to be wrongly accused of racism, much less fired as a result, is horrendous. Unbelievable. This was the most severe harm suffered, and I hope the employees will have redress. Second, why are people pushed to be so officious? Was there some compelling reason to get campus police to question the student in the first place? The employees were told to do this. Why? Whatever happened to approaching someone, without a show of force, and saying, "I'm so sorry, you can't sit here. It's officially closed for _____. I could help you move over there." Or just leave people alone. Was it THAT big of a deal where somebody sits to have lunch, on a summer day? If the area is closed, spring for a posted sign. Cordon it off. This joint can afford it.
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@RufoGman Oh I'm sure she's that way, given that her husband isn't white. /S
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