"Why didn't anyone protest?"

[kpete]

https://soberscientistlife.tumblr.com/post/716611426041659392/excellent-post

[2naSalit]

1. K&R

[tanyev]

2. Did anyone go catch Sandra and tell her she could come back in the lecture hall?

[Xavier Breath]

4. Nah, bringing them back was the day 2 lecture.

[marble falls]

6. They saved her for sociology class. She signed up for Women in Society 101.

[tanyev]

13. And at the end of the semester she burst into the Legal Studies class,

announcing "I have become more powerful than you can possibly imagine!"

[JHB]

8. I suspect Sandra was in on it, an assistant planted among the new students...

...for the very purpose of this demonstration. First lecture, so no one would know all the "regular faces" yet.

[Rebl2]

19. Yep

[soldierant]

66. Of course.

Anyone who cares enough to have gone to that lemgth to make a point cares enough not to victimize someone to make it.

[IronLionZion]

10. Sandra has to learn that life isn't fair and nobody owes her anything

[SouthernDem4ever]

11. The lesson was incomplete

No one knew why Sandra was asked to leave. People can't defend unknown reasons.

[IronLionZion]

12. If screwing someone, make sure you don't give a reason

that's a good idea. Normally people just make up some BS to justify being an ass to someone they don't like.

[SouthernDem4ever]

27. You have no clue as to who was screwing who

by that example. He asked her to leave. So you surmise he's just an asshole and randomly picked on someone.

[IronLionZion]

31. I made a general comment, not about the OP specifically

but it does feel like you're trying to screw me right now.

[SouthernDem4ever]

32. You made a general comment to me, not the OP

which was critical of the fact that I thought everyone in the class needed more information before expecting them to just jump up and run out in protest.

[IronLionZion]

33. That enables oppressors who choose to not provide that information

if nobody asks why.

[SouthernDem4ever]

36. This was a classroom setting

the teacher is the authoritarian in that setting. The "why" may have been no one's business.

[IronLionZion]

43. I love how well you are proving the professor's point

[SouthernDem4ever]

45. I wasn't trying to prove or disprove, all I said was the lesson wasn't complete

Which it isn't. You can't expect a protest for no known reasons.

[IronLionZion]

46. Good luck with that

[SouthernDem4ever]

47. good luck with what, an incomplete hypothetical?

[IronLionZion]

48. There will always be excuses to do nothing

that are actually on the side of the oppressor. The Professor told the students this quite clearly.

[SouthernDem4ever]

49. Let me know how it works out when you are protesting something

that is completely your own assumption and not necessarily the situation. If all the professor did was what was stated in the OP, he/she didn't do a very good job.

[IronLionZion]

50. If you're the one being screwed

Should the rest of us just patiently wait a long time until we get all the facts and contemplate carefully until it's too late for you?

Ask why, is a normal human response to find out the situation. Don't ask why, is the authoritarian way.

[SouthernDem4ever]

52. This is a classroom

What if Sandra quickly flashed a folder with the words F*** Y** on them and no one but the professor saw it. Are you going to protest this? As stupid as this sounds, I was only saying the professor could have set the situation up a little better.

[halfulglas]

68. How about your own sense of fairness. That's a reason to at least ask why.

[SouthernDem4ever]

73. What does that have to do with it?

You can ask the student that left why after class if you like. Why would you make it topic of discussion in front of everyone. The person leaving gave no hint as to needing help - so what are you assuming was wrong?

[Magoo48]

24. That's why one jumps up and asks, "Why."

[SouthernDem4ever]

34. Well in high school, you'll end up in the principal's office.

I assume the same might happen in college, except it would be the Dean.

[IronLionZion]

44. Since the OP clearly states university lecture, legal studies, and professor

there is no high school or principal involved here.

Evil prevails when good people do nothing about it or make excuses for it.

[SouthernDem4ever]

60. Ok, well you jump to your conclusions whenever it suits you

I'll try to find out what is really happening. It's not like the prof was chasing her around and hitting her with a stick.

[wnylib]

51. I agree. If I had been in the class,

I would likely think that there was some history behind removing her that I didn't know. There could have been many justified reasons for ordering a student out of a classroom. The student might be barred for some past behaviors. She might have a serious communicable disease. She might not be properly registered for the class.

I would not know that she was being treated unjustly just from the professor ordering her out of the classroom. If I asked him, he could be justified in saying that it was a confidential matter and not something for me to be concerned with.

Not enough info in the example.

[True Dough]

69. I'd be in the same boat

If I found out afterwards that the professor had no justification for removing the student, I would gladly sign a petition or join a protest calling for justice, but to stand up in the moment and shout down the professor for being mean or unfair, well, I couldn't do it because there may well be a legitimate reason for his/her behavior.

[betsuni]

71. +1

[True Dough]

70. See post 69

I feel the same way you do.

[Omnipresent]

72. I probably wouldn't have said anything to the professor..

To start an argument, but i would alert Administration to what he just did.
So there are different paths, to seeking justice.

[SouthernDem4ever]

74. I agree with that.

I would definitely find out what happened after class let out.

[Ray Bruns]

14. Sandra has to learn to pull herself up by her bootstraps

[NullTuples]

35. The *real* life lesson was for the professor.

Sandra was a Legacy student & had the prof fired for embarrassing her, at the threat of her family no longer funding endowments.

[MLAA]

37. She took off for Starbucks.

[Mr.Bill]

64. To work there?

[MLAA]

67. Nah, just to chill until the professor came to his senses

[msfiddlestix]

61. She was in on it... so it wasn't necessary. in this instance.

[KarenS]

3. What a wonderful example,,,,

This professor is brilliant.!!!

[Alexander Of Assyria]

29. Yes. Slight quibble is who will protest if one of 400 million Guns shows up to counter protest?

The Gun is terrorizing America into silence, and injustice.

[Timeflyer]

5. Great post. Applies to voting.

[GreenWave]

7. The Good Professor once again

giving a sterling lecture.

[Girard442]

9. Anti-wokers would say the prof was undermining legit authority.

I hope "Sandra" was in on the bit.

[judesedit]

15. Great and important lesson

[Stinky The Clown]

16. Great lesson

K&R

[Farmer-Rick]

17. I'm sorry but if I had been Sandra

I would have told him "no" and demanded an explanation before I stepped outside the classroom. I would not have gone gently out of that class. I would have been very visibly angry.

And then, if he had managed to force me out, I would have filed grievances, complaints and for compensation.

So, Sandra had to be a plant. I think anyone would have stood their ground and at least asked why.

[jaxexpat]

20. A "stand your ground" position?

Kidding, but it does go to show how Orwell's "truthspeak" works to cover up and convert lies into laws.

[Farmer-Rick]

21. Yeah, they turned a common phrase

Into a deadly law.

We live in chaotic times.

[twodogsbarking]

18. Thanks for posting. I think the point has been well made.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

22. lol what on earth

[keithbvadu2]

22. ...and there was no one left to speak for me.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

—Martin Niemöller

[electric_blue68]

62. I had that as a button back in "The '60s".

[Traildogbob]

25. I like

How he got everyone’s attention right out of the gate. Hope it was an 8:00 AM class. Most students are asleep with eyes open during that lecture. How well would that go over in DeSatan World? He would be fired.

[EYESORE 9001]

26. Society needs more examples like this

to counter the RW ideology promoting the notion that ‘the nail that stands out gets hammered down’. In MAGAtWorld, lawful protest shall be met with deadly force if they disagree, while armed insurrection against the US government is lauded.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

28. This is why rights are shared, not owned

Thanks for posting a wonderful demonstration.

It is why rights are shared, not owned. You have no rights, practically speaking, if you don't share them.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217683057

[Warpy]

30. I did protest, it didn't do a damn bit of good

The class was in engineering school, one I needed that year, no alternatives. The instructor was Pakistani and demanded that all men sit in the front rows of an enormous lecture hall, all women in the back row, many rows of empty seats between us. His accent was thick and the blackboard too far away to see.

So I lodged a protest. I was told, "It's just his culture." I told them he was in MY country and he needed to learn to respect MY culture, that I'd paid for that class, I needed it, and I was being cheated out of it. Cue massive struggle to reboot by a bunch of men who'd never considered that women might have some rights. It was 1967.

So I said fuck it and quit.

I hope things have gotten better since then.

One takeaway that professor missed is that picking on someone who is perceived to have few rights, a POC or especially a woman, would cause absolutely no protest to occur. Had he picked on a white male, it would have been very different.

[electric_blue68]

63. Woah, that was terrible! If he's teaching in a USA school he shouldn't have been able to pull that

...bs!
Although it being1967 (sigh)...
.

Very interesting point if he's picked a white male.

[Paladin]

38. "Subject: Legal Studies."

So, was this an undergrad course, or a law school course?

If it was undergrad, I might have summoned up the courage to protest in that classroom. If it was law school, I would have kept my mouth shut---along with the rest of class. Law school is the last place you want to attract negative attention.

[orleans]

39. thom hartmann just mentioned this thread from democratic underground & will be talking about it

in the first hour

[Duppers]

54. Great.

[MiHale]

40. KnR

[tblue37]

41. The students in the class would be silent for the same reason most people are silent in real life.

When you fear that speaking up will probably cost you more than you are willing to risk, the tendency is to just not rock the boat.

Getting into law school is difficult and paying for it is expensive, so students in this presumably hypothetical class would not want to risk what they had worked so hard to attain.

[Orrex]

55. That's the point that I was going to make

And the scenario is by its nature skewed in favor of deferential silence.

The professor in that setting wields a great deal of power, both immediate & over the run of the semester. Further, the other students have no access to information on which the professor might be acting, so they would risk a great deal to address a perceived injustice where none might have occurred.


I detest parables. About 90% of them are garbage, and the rest aren't much better.

[LisaM]

42. I'm sorry, but...

This sounds more like a scene from "Legally Blonde" or a Facebook meme than a real life thing. No context, no school name,.etc.

I refuse to take these fables at face value.

[cbabe]

53. It's still a good fable despite the nitpicking.

[twodogsbarking]

56. Imagine the professor continuing to remove participants. How long until someone speaks up.

[Hieronymus Phact]

57. Sandra was too nice.

Hieronymus to Professor:
F. U. I paid to be here!

[Upthevibe]

58. Kick. n/t

[H2O Man]

59. Recommended.

[Blue Owl]

65. K&R