December 9, 2016

And I thought this poor girl was mistreated by the original NYT headline!

By "original," I mean the one I saw when I wrote the post yesterday: "How would you like to be the one person photographed to appear under the headline 'Political Divide on Campuses Hardens After Trump’s Victory'?" I said:
I had to laugh at this grim-faced young woman in her shadowy Ann Arbor bedroom, embodying post-election trauma for the NYT.

Oddly enough, this person was pro-Trump. She started out "ecstatic"....
But her mood of celebration quickly faded when students held an evening vigil on campus — to mourn the results — and her biology teacher suspended class on the assumption, Ms. Delekta said, that students would be too upset to focus.

She was outraged. “Nobody has died,” Ms. Delekta said. “The United States has not died. Democracy is more alive than ever. Simply put, the American people voted and Trump won.”
But click on the link to the article, and you'll see — at least if you're going there this minute — that the headline has become "On Campus, Trump Fans Say They Need ‘Safe Spaces.'" Now, the grim-faced young woman who let the NYT photographer into her bedroom looks like a big whiner who demanded a safe space! And she's the one who chided others for getting coddled:
She circulated an online petition and accused the university president of catering to the liberal majority by suggesting that “their ideology was superior to the ideology of their peers,” as she put it, when he sent out an email publicizing the vigil and listing counseling resources for students upset by the election. Three days later, she was invited to meet with the president in his office.

“I was completely shocked that he even read the letter,” she said. “That was definitely a new thing. It was very exciting.”
Quite aside from the distinct disservice to this particular 20-year-old individual, why is the new headline connecting the demand for "safe spaces" to the pro-Trump side? The first 5 paragraphs are about how Trump opponents were acting out grief and how the university administration was proactively offering psychological support (not "safe spaces," but counseling).

If we keep reading, do we ever encounter support for the proposition that it's the Trump fans who are demanding safe spaces?

There's a video from the woman in the first photo, Amanda Delekta, and she's talking about going to a biology class that began with the teacher saying she couldn't respect anyone who voted for Trump. Delekta only says there should be mutual respect within the shared space of the classroom, not that anything like a "safe space" must be provided.

There's the conclusory sentence:
Conservative students who voted for Mr. Trump say that even though their candidate won, their views are not respected. Some are adopting the language of the left, saying they need a “safe space” to express their opinions — a twist resented by left-leaning protesters.
"Safe space" is in quotes, but who is quoted? Where has this happened? And have "left-leaning protesters" really expressed resentment over this demand that I'm not sure has even been made?

Is this the fake news I've been hearing about?

I keep reading this long article, which is by Anemona Hartocollis, and I'm not finding anything to support the headline. Way down in the text there's this:
Ibtihal Makki, a self-confident senior in a pink hijab who is studying biopsychology and neuroscience and is chairwoman of a student government diversity committee, objected to conservatives on campus saying they needed safe spaces to express their views.
“To turn around and say that they need safe spaces after their candidate won I think is ironic and hypocritical,” Ms. Makki said.

In the past, she added, conservatives did not understand the need for safe spaces, “because they never needed it, because they don’t have any of the identities that made them feel that way.”
So it's hearsay from Makki?
White conservatives like Ms. Delekta...
Delekta is white? More hearsay. Does Delekta self-identify as white?
... Ms. Makki said, are not as vulnerable as someone with dark skin or who is wearing a hijab, because she cannot be identified as a conservative by any outward signs.
Okay, I get that Makki called Deletka a hypocrite, but did she have access to some quote from Deletka that isn't in the article or did the NYT reporter paraphrase Deletka's comments in a way that introduced the term "safe space" and elicited a reaction that got Makki to say what the reporter wanted said? These are very young people, Makki and Deletka, and it's wrong to use them to say something the reporter has decided ought to be said. If that's what happened, this is fake news.

By the way, Makki raised an interesting point that could have been further examined: People can be hated because of things they can't hide (like your race if you have a very dark or very light skin color) and because of things they can hide (like your race if you have a medium skin tone or your beliefs and opinions or your sexual orientation). But I wouldn't assume that it's easier when the attribute can be hidden. It's different to have a choice whether to be out and proud or to hide.

When it comes to political opinions, you can keep them to yourself, and the ballot is nicely secret. That left a lot of people hiding their support for Trump. Trump haters made it socially if not physically dangerous to openly support Trump, and so they laid the groundwork for the shock that came on election night.

Do you want political opinion to be out where you can see it and talk about it? Or do you want people to withhold their opinions? It seems to me that Delekta was saying: Let's have it out in the open. Let's have that marketplace ideas. We can be together. That's the opposite of a demand for a safe space.

And it seems that Makki is saying that she feels vulnerable because of things about her that she can't hide, even though she is choosing to wear religious garb. Is she saying because of her beliefs — which are inside her head — she feels threatened by what she uses her head to imagine is in Delekta's head? Where does all that get you? To a demand that everyone repress whatever they can because a few things — like very dark skin color — cannot be repressed?

I wish the article had explored some of these depths! Why not invite Delekta and Makki to sit down together and talk and see where they go instead of inducing one to talk about the other behind her back?

34 comments:

Amadeus 48 said...

If it's in the NYT, it's fake news.

rehajm said...

Delekta only says there should be mutual respect within the shared space of the classroom...

This is pretty much the 'evolved' definition of safe space, isn't it?

paminwi said...

"Why not invite Delekta and Makki to sit down together and talk and see where they go instead of inducing one to talk about the other behind her back?
Silly woman-it's the NYT! They'd rather smear one girl & boost the other.
Nothing more-nothing less.

chuck said...

> instead of inducing one to talk about the other behind her back.

The mean girls of the NY Times are at it again. It is one of the downsides of trying to be both a newspaper and a women's magazine.

rehajm said...

Why not invite Delekta and Makki to sit down together and talk and see where they go instead of inducing one to talk about the other behind her back?

Their safe spaces do not overlap.

Comanche Voter said...

Ah the New York Times and anonymous qoutes by "some people"--the lazy reporters way to just make codswallop up.

Well some people say that the New York Times is useful for any purpose beyond fish wrapping.

But I don't agree that it is useful even for that.

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campy said...

And have "left-leaning protesters" really expressed resentment over this demand that I'm not sure has even been made?

The "demand" is clearly Fake News, but the leftie response certainly has the ring of truth.

D.D. Driver said...

The evolution of the term "fake news" is fascinating. It is now just a stand in for an old fashioned "conspiracy theory." But the left can't call them conspiracy theories, because everyone knows only the fringe element believe in conspiracy theories. But people rely on news to make decisions. So the conspiracy theories (which ten years ago would have been passed along as an email forward, but now are posted on Facebook) are really news. Fake news. And people don't know the difference between fake news and real news. And it cost the dems an election.

If you don't forward this to ten people, Hillary will kill a kitten in a pizza parlor.

damikesc said...

The professor holds a chunk of her future in his/her hands. If the professor expresses disdain for somebody who disagrees with them politically, it isn't a demand for safe spaces to expect and require basic equality in education.

All these professors have shown is that conservatives are completely on their own on campuses. Which makes one wonder what is the point of diversity officers if the case on campus is that a significant minority on campus is able to be discriminated against by professors and the school, overall, sides with the professor.

damikesc said...

If a school cancels classes because their students cannot handle an election result, then higher education has failed SPECTACULARLY in preparing students for the real world.

We need to cancel all funding, post haste, for this school. Their students are being robbed blind.

MaxedOutMama said...

Ann - this article, somewhat murky, about a post-election celebration by two students and the resulting police investigation and university investigation may be relevant:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2016/12/lawyer_students_were_caught_up_in_babson_college_witch_hunt_following

There's a lot of support on forums such as Democratic Underground for the idea that voting for Trump is an act of hate. There's a lot of pushback on such forums to this - the main argument being that if you alienate the crossover voters forever, the Democratic party may face a long time in the wilderness.

But colleges may not have the same incentive - they may not realize how deeply they are alienating potential students.

Mike Sylwester said...

This is what happens when a Scientific Progressive is allowed to write headlines for The New York Times.

MaxedOutMama said...

The NYT seems to be in thrall to the narrative. The problem is that at times the narrative is so loosely based on the facts that it becomes the Big Lie.

I really don't know what lies ahead for them after this. A news organization has to be rooted in the news, right? Are they going to mutate into a Pravda-type organ for the Dems? And is that a good idea, given the problems the Democratic party is experiencing at the national level?

The Democratic party needs to get out of the bubble rather than having it reinforced!

Fen said...

"Why not invite Delekta and Makki to sit down together"

That assumes these people actually exist.

I was interviewed by a Boston Globe reporter. He spliced my quotes up and made me into 3 different people. One with a Texas drawl to make me sound ignorant, and my 3rd clone was wearing a gray baclava he likened to a KKK hoodie.

Once you know how they make the sausage, you go somewhere else for lunch.

Mike Sylwester said...

My local newspaper, The Record (Bergen County, NJ) published a long article today in its Sports section, reporting that Donald Trump motivated the burglary and graffiti-vandalization of a home in Moonachie, NJ. The article is 15 paragraphs long and is illustrated by one video and three photographs.

http://www.northjersey.com/story/sports/columnists/tara-sullivan/2016/12/08/sullivan-giants-victor-cruz-links-whitlock-break--trump/95147492/

The home belongs to Nikita Whitlock, a fullback in the NY Giants football team. One of Whitlock's teammates, wide receiver Victor Cruz, lives in Paterson, NJ, which is about 11 miles Moonachie.

The theme of this 15-paragraph article is that Cruz suspects that the burglary was motivated by Trump. Here are excerpts:

[quote]

.... the vandalism, including racist graffiti, and burglary of Whitlock’s Moonachie home sent shock waves through the Giants’ locker room Thursday, with teammates expressing concern, support and anger over what happened.

No one was more vehement than veteran wide receiver Victor Cruz, the Paterson native who did not hold back about why he believes the perpetrator or perpetrators felt emboldened to do what they did, tying the mind-set directly to the election of Donald Trump as our next president.

“If you listen to anything that [Trump] says, if you listen to the comments that’s he’s made about women, or the comments he’s made about minorities or the comments he’s made about people that he feels are somewhat of lesser value, they haven’t been positive,” Cruz said after the Giants practiced Thursday.

“They haven’t been for us, haven’t been for minorities. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think I’ve heard anything he’s said that benefits us or that helps us. When you have someone that embodies those mind-sets and those opinions and someone else supports those opinions you can’t think of anything positive about that. You can’t think of anything that person that follows Donald Trump that they’re going to do something positive. And for someone to vandalize someone’s house and write Trump’s name or whatever they wrote on the walls is just proving that exact fact, that people that may follow him aren’t necessarily the most positive people in our communities.”

[unquote]

Fen said...

All these professors have shown is that conservatives are completely on their own on campuses. Which makes one wonder what is the point of diversity officers -

I think its for the best. It forces conservatives to examine their beliefs and practice defending them. Honed and sharpened minds. We have seen what these diversity officers have done to liberals - coddled them to the point that they have a meltdown when confronted by arguments they have never encountered and are not prepared for.

It's kind of ironic - the Left has created a Red Guard through indoctrination, but they self-destruct at first contact with the enemy. Nice own goal.

Owen said...

The quote above by Victor Cruz is pretty amazing. If he can catch a football with even a small fraction of the skill with which he pulls fragments of memes and illogic out of thin air, he is headed for Super Bowl status.

Mike Sylwester said...

I feel compelled to continue telling you all about The Record newspaper's 15-paragraph article reporting that NY Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz suspects that Donald Trump motivated the graffiti-vandalization and burglary of the home of fullback Nikita Whitlock.

One of the article's three photographs shows that the burglar wrote the word TRUMP on a wall in Whitlock's home.

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/cadec4ad90b266cc8cffc8741da2e39680272e7e/c=211-0-3540-2503&r=x408&c=540x405/local/-/media/2016/12/08/Bergen/NorthJersey/636167872938926995-120816-Moonachie-HateTZ2211.jpg

Here is another excerpt from the article:

[quote]

That this happened so close to Cruz’ hometown, and so near where the Giants go to work every day, seemed to rattle him. Moonachie is only a few miles away from the Giants' facility, and many players live in the towns surrounding MetLife Stadium. Though the team declined to make any official comment about what happened to Whitlock, they did express support and offer any security assistance he might need.

“I was just appalled. I’ve never even heard of anything like that around here,” Cruz said. “Obviously, unfortunately, you hear about it in places in the South and things like that, things that go on and things that happen. But you don’t hear about things like that around here, less than 15 minutes away from here. For that to be evident in this day and age, here and now, it’s pretty unfortunate.

“That’s what's most shocking to me about this specific incident with Nikita Whitlock; it’s 20 minutes from where I grew up. This could have easily happened in Paterson, could have easily happened in Clifton or Passaic, Lyndhurst even for that matter. This could have happened anywhere. To see something like that happen around here, to happen the way that it did, breaking into a home, the vandalism, Nikita has children and he’s got to explain that to his children. Not just right now, but five years from now, 10 years from now when they ask, ‘Hey Daddy, remember when that happened?’ They have to answer those questions, he has to answer those questions to his children. It’s unfortunate. No one should have to go through that.”

Empathy was the prevailing emotion of the day. “I know a lot of guys reached out, it’s crazy what happened, it’s awful,” offensive lineman Justin Pugh said. “That’s his home, his sanctuary. His home was invaded, and not only broken into, but to have something offensive written like that. In this day and age, that shouldn’t happen. He’s our teammates, and right now all our thoughts are with him. He’s a great guy.”

[unquote]

Fen said...

My local newspaper, The Record (Bergen County, NJ) published a long article today in its Sports section, reporting that Donald Trump motivated the burglary and graffiti-vandalization of a home in Moonachie, NJ.

Wow. It's right out of Orwell's 1984. Goldstein did it!

These people are nuts.

Fen said...

And six months later we discover that while it's true Nikita Whitlock's house was burglarized, the racist Trump graffiti is oddly similar to Whitlock's own handwriting.

Mike Sylwester said...

The Record newspaper concluded its 15-paragraph Sports-section article on a positive note. The article further quotes wide-receiver Victor Cruz as follows:

[quote]

.... Cruz ... couldn’t hold back his anger.

“I think it’s definitely a direct reflection of how this country’s being run,” he said, “of how this country is reacting to some of the decisions and some of the ways that this country is being run, things that are being said at the helm of this country and at the helm of our day-to-day lives. Our day-to-day, from social media all the way up to the White House, these are things that are being spoken of and being talked about on a daily basis, the good and the bad. Moreso the bad at this point right now because that’s all we have to work with. It’s just an unfortunate situation we’re going through right now.

“I think there’s a specific mind-set that comes with supporting a guy like Donald Trump and supporting what he stands for," he said. "There’s a certain type of person that comes with that. And I’m not sure that person is always a positive-minded person if you know what I mean.”

He knows he’s facing an angry backlash.

“That’s fine with me. I’m comfortable with that. I’m comfortable with people’s reactions to that,” he said. “That’s my opinion. That’s my mind-set. That’s the way I think. I’m not upset at anybody else that thinks otherwise.

Cruz did make sure to emphasize he did not include every Trump supporter. “Obviously there’s people out there that just want change that want something different, that want someone with more of a business acumen at the helm. And I understand that. And I’m all for change in that regard. But when it comes to using his name to vandalize things and using his name as a positive reinforcement as to why you’re doing this, that’s where I have the problem.”

[unquote]

Fen said...

Or perhaps the Trump graffiti is in Cruz's handwriting. Someone should check.

These types of "hate-crimes" almost always turn out to be perpetrated by the victim. In this case, it gave Cruz a soapbox to promote his little rant, which makes him suspect.

320Busdriver said...

The difference between the two campus groups: The conservatives asking for "safe spaces" are tweaking their snowflake counterparts, those like Joon Kim pictured in the article and quoted saying "Immediately after that election, I think what I really needed to do was just cry."

Buckle up buttercup, it's going to be a long 8 years for you and yours.

The Donalds greatest accomplishment as president, presiding over the funeral of the failing NYT.

Darrell said...

I predict bank robbers wearing Trump masks--like they did with Nixon masks back in the day. The Left probably has them on order.

Matt Sablan said...

"And people don't know the difference between fake news and real news."

-- I blame The Daily Show for this.

Captain Drano said...

damikesc said...
If a school cancels classes because their students cannot handle an election result, then higher education has failed SPECTACULARLY in preparing students for the real world.

Indeed. I had a similar thought when I saw this re a law school event.

“Post Election Panel
This event will be a panel of professors …to discuss what the president-elect can actually do under his administration. It will address student fears as well.

Sponsors: LGBT Law Forum, HLSA, ACS, WLF, ACLU, FED SOC”


While it is sponsored by both left and right groups, why couldn't they have said "It will address student concerns as well" versus "students fears?" Doesn't that just feed the narrative? And we are not talking teenage college students here--what are they so fearful of?

mikee said...

Letting a NY Times photographer into your bedroom doesn't give him your permission to f**k you over. Although, the invitee being a NYT photog, one should have expected such.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

How sweet -- the Leftist student supports the right if people to support Trump so long as they keep that support quiet. You know, kind of in the closet? What a generous concession; it is neat that suddenly distaste for someone else's beliefs and lifestyle justifies calls for them to respect your feelings (by telling them to hide the things you dislike). Can't think of any analogous situations, can you?

Is it really true that these people, the Left, cannot imagine that the rules and standards they force on others may one day be used in says they don't like? If they are going to make "safe spaces" a thing, of course people are going to insist that the Left recognize the need for such spaces for people who disagree with the Left.
Gee, do you think any of the efforts to do away with due process protections will turn around and harm the Left? What a shame that would be...

Jupiter said...

"Ibtihal Makki, a self-confident senior in a pink hijab who is studying biopsychology and neuroscience and is chairwoman of a student government diversity committee"

A pink hijab! Isn't that sweet? Kind of like a pink KKK hood, right? It's a shame that this young woman feels the need for a "safe space" simply because she openly wears the uniform of a genocidal Death Cult whose members regard homicidal attacks on non-believers as a sacrament.

Known Unknown said...

I'm sure quite a few Deletkas took chemical showers back in the 40s, but we don't feel too bad about it now.

khesanh0802 said...

The MSM is lost. They believe that they should be believed, but the people are saying otherwise. There has been so much really fake news during the campaign that the MSM can't figure out a way back to their slanted version of real news. After January 20 they'll have so much real news to cry and gnash their teeth about that they won't have time to invent the kind of garbage they have been selling for the last 6 months.

Trump has already mortally wounded PC and his ability to ignore the MSM has made it clear that they truly have no clothes.

Jupiter said...

320Busdriver said...

"The Donalds greatest accomplishment as president, presiding over the funeral of the failing NYT."

Actually, it appears that Trump's election resulted in a very large bump in NYT subscribers;

"The New York Times confirmed to Fortune on Tuesday that the newspaper saw an increase of roughly 132,000 paid subscriptions to its print and digital editions over the period between the Nov. 8 election and this past Saturday."

I guess they can't send it to Hillary any more, so now they send it to Carlos.

Fritz said...

It would be ironic if the paper switched the picture captions and the Trump hater got beat up by other Trump haters.