A message sent to all MIT undergraduates, most of whom live with at least 400 companions in dorms, on Wednesday evening (emphasis added):
Dear Undergraduates,
Sometimes, we feel afraid. We understand that fear can be consuming. Regardless of the results of the election, or who you supported, there is a sense of fear across our campus. Together, we want to show you that you are not alone.
As a community, we are here for each other with our efforts. With the help of the MIT administration, we will strive to make sure that here, in our home, you can feel safe. We will be coordinating with them to hold an event in the next few weeks to openly voice our concerns and working with them to see what MIT can do to advocate for you. As students, we are meeting tonight at 10 PM in the UA Office, W20-401, and invite you to stop by and join the discussion. Ed Bertschinger, Suzy Nelson, and Kirk Kolenbrander will be in attendance.
First, don’t forget that we have each other – reach out to friends, peers, and student groups for support. If you find yourself needing someone else to talk to or additional help, there are a number of resources. Some people find comfort in talking to their counselors, others have close relationships with the Office of Minority Education, and others enjoy speaking with the Chaplains. From my experience, if you’re at a loss for where to go and want someone to speak with, I encourage you to try Let’s Chat. You can sign up the same day on the third floor of building 8, room 8-316, and they are open from 1-3 PM, Tuesday – Friday. With regards to schoolwork, Tamar has reached out to Dean Randall, and Student Support Services is aware that this election has affected people in different ways and is there to help support students academically. Try reaching out to professors for leniency and understanding, and S^3 is always there in the event that you either do not feel comfortable reaching out directly to professors or you feel that things are not going as they should be.
As friends and allies, we urge those of you who don’t feel this fear personally to reach out to your friends, who may feel paralyzed and afraid, and show that you care and that you support them.
As people who have felt afraid, we can offer you this. Sometimes, it is okay to close your eyes, and remind yourself over and over that, in this current moment, “I am safe. I am loved,” until you feel like you can open them again. We will all work together to make each of us stronger, to understand each other; we will all be stronger by being together.
Your peers,
[about 15 students with various official positions, such as UA (student council) president]
There are young people in the military that have to live with the threat of being shot or blown up almost every day and these pathetic excuses for humanity are all in a tizzy because a guy they don’t like got elected. It’s hard to have any respect for them and makes me sad knowing that some day these people will probably be in charge.
The message I take from this is: “Employers, don’t hire anyone from MIT.”
I am genuinely puzzled by the “I’m afraid” reaction to Trump that is all over the media. What are they afraid of:
– Peace? (Hilary said she would definitely attack Iran, and would attack Russia if they hack our websites)
– Better trade deals? (70,000 factories already lost since NAFTA)
– Democracy? (its the least bad political system)
– Diversity? (Trump’s first presidential appointments = Conway (woman), Carson (black), Thiel (gay))
– Gay Rights? (Trump 1st ever candidate photo’d with a rainbow flag)
>What are they afraid of
People are afraid of the bigotry which Trump really has activated and normalized. When they incorrectly project this bigotry on to everyone who voted for him it becomes truly terrifying.
Bigotry (defn): intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself.
So people are afraid that Trump will be intolerant against their opinions? Is that like when john Boehner approached Obama and said “I’m will to negotiate with you” and Obama told him, “Negotiate? You lost. You get nothing.”?
Advertising is effective – it sells soap and it sells fear too. “We go high” Hillary spent billions on the message that Trump is an insane racist sexist maniac and people wonder why some people are afraid?
@billg
I will concede you plenty of intolerance on the left. Are we really going to pretend like there is no race hatred in America and that Trump did not play to it?
>“We go high” Hillary spent billions on the message that Trump
>is an insane racist sexist maniac and people wonder
>why some people are afraid?
I don’t think she spent all that much in MA.
They only people with any reason to be afraid so far are Trump supporters who face verbal and physical attack from violent leftists who soaked up every lie and exaggeration about us from the Clinton campaign and their allies in the media.
Neal: What bigotry are you talking about? I keep hearing that Trump’s a bigot, but the evidence points in the other direction. Trump wanting to build a wall to keep illegals out is not bigotry. It’s defending the nation. Same thing with limiting immigrants from questionable Middle East countries. The presidents duty is to serve the people of the country. Immigration should be determined on what’s best for the US not what’s best for the people wanting to immigrate.
MIT has gone full retard. You never want to go full retard.
>What bigotry are you talking about?
Calling Mexican immigrants rapists, calling for a religious litmus test for immigrants, discriminating against blacks as a landlord, Trump’s treatment of the central park five, the vocal and enthusiastic racism of some supporters at Trump rallies, the enthusiasm for Trump’s candidacy by David Duke and the KKK.
Again, are we really going to pretend that there is no racism in America and that Trump didn’t play to it?
>Trump wanting to build a wall to keep illegals out is not bigotry
Agreed
>It’s defending the nation.
Well, we already have a wall and it hasn’t stopped illegal immigration, so I would call expanding the wall expensive and ineffective. There is exactly one policy which would eliminate illegal immigration and since it is obvious and relatively inexpensive and (to my knowledge) Trump has never mentioned it, I can only conclude Trump is not really that interested in actually stopping illegal immigration. Examination of his business practices might explain why.
>Same thing with limiting immigrants from questionable Middle East countries.
Immigration from those countries is already limited.
>Immigration should be determined on what’s best for the US not what’s
>best for the people wanting to immigrate.
Well yes, but immigration also produces benefits for America which must be considered when setting policy.
How to cope?
My facebook friend who is a female professor with tenure at a California college said she “needs to think about something positive, so she’s planning her trip to Maui in December.” Meanwhile.. back in Kentucky/West Virginia…
>What bigotry are you talking about?
and the vile filth spewed at Jews who dared to do anything but genuflect before Trump.
@Moderator (sorry for the run-on post; but I think this one is important)
To clarify and amplify: I am trying to provide an explanation for why the poor MIT students are so upset. I am not trying to condone or excuse their excesses in that distress. I am not accusing all Trump voters of being racist. I am only pointing out that even if a Trump supporter does not think that they or Trump are racist, it is not entirely unreasonable for someone else to think that at the very least Trump encouraged the racism of others during his campaign. From there, it is only one mistake to get to some very frightening propositions. For example, if one doesn’t think clearly about the real checks on the power of the American President and the fact most of the people holding those checks abhor racism, one could conclude President Trump could use the power of the state to advance a racist agenda. If one (mistakenly) thinks that only a racist could vote for Trump, then one suddenly thinks that half the country are committed bigots.
Trump’s candidacy certainly riled up American racists. Is it surprising that his election riled up the other side?
I have not met anybody who voted for Trump who likes him personally or sympathizes with his various prejudices. Most of them were appalled at the prospect of HRC packing the Supreme Court for a generation, and/or they had enough dynasty politics.
I agree with both concerns, but Trump is too bent in too many ways to take a chance on him in the WH.
FWIW, I thought Obama had zero qualifications for the job too, but he did have a bit of curiosity and potential.
With Trump disinterring such zombies as John Bolton(!) the prospect of leaving it to the undercard is bleak too.
Next up to bat – Oprah?
>and the vile filth spewed at Jews who dared to do anything but genuflect before Trump.
That certainly explains why the Orthodox Jewish community in NYC mostly voted for Trump and why there were so many Orthodox rabbis who supported his candidacy.
It also appears to me that there was very substantial support for Trump among Russian, Korean, and Chinese ethnic communities around where I live. (To be honest, I don’t have any numbers and my evidence is largely observational or even anecdotal and some of it is based on community newspapers and even posters.)
Anon: The two observations are not mutually exclusive.
Good example of the democrats becoming the party of the rich. MIT students will never have to look for jobs, never have rainy days, never have to find extra money to cover rent increases, never have to pay penalties for not having health insurance. Meanwhile, if you can’t afford these things, you’re now the enemy of social justice.
>Meanwhile, if you can’t afford these things, you’re now
>the enemy of social justice.
My intelligence from a student at a different (MIT caliber) school is that there is a lot of looking down on the poor whites who voted for Trump going on.
Cenk does a good job of describing what there is to fear in Trump.
It’s too funny. From Phil’s stories, I thought MIT would be more efficient in crushing the spirits of low performers and discarding their worthless noodlearmed bodies into barista jobs, but whatever; let us bookmark this and remember it forever on, especially for the class reunion.
And to any Harvard students reading this, remember! “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me.”
I do remember a number of racial riots from this summer, except they were against Trump, against police (Dallas), against Trump voters (San Jose), etc.
Neal: You’ve been listening to Hillary’s propaganda for way too long.
Here’s what Trump said about the illegals:
“They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
Note, he was not talking about Mexicans, he was talking about illegals. Some of the people coming over the border are decent people but a lot of them aren’t, either way if they want to come here they should go through the immigration process just like everyone else. The very fact that they’ve entered illegal makes them criminals.
On the Central Park 5. Here’s the way the events went down. The attack happened in 1989. A woman was brutally beaten and raped. Five people were arrested and 4 out of the 5 confessed to the crime. Trump called for justice by running an ad in the New York Daily News advocating the return of the death penalty; something a lot of people would have like at that time because violent crime in New York was out of control and the animals doing it were often just slapped on the wrists. Later, the 4 recanted their story and in 2002 the 5 were exonerated.
What exactly did Trump do wrong here?
“The vocal and enthusiastic racism of some supporters” Pure B.S. The Left made these accusations against the Tea Party too. I have been to a number of Tea Party rallys and all the people were well behaved decent folk and did nothing that appeared to be racist. At each rally there were blacks as well as whites in attendance.
How come the Left never holds Black Lives Matters to the same standard. I hear racist hatred coming from them all the time. Same with the students at a lot of the current protests. They say white people are evil and the problem. I, personally, have been told by two people that they can’t wait until all the old white men die off. Seems pretty racist to me.
“The enthusiasm for Trump’s candidacy by David Duke and the KKK”
How is this Trumps fault? David Duke and the KKK can support anyone they want. Again, why isn’t Hillary held to the same standards. She has the support of many Left wing subversive groups yet no one ever seems to mention that.
On Trump discriminating against blacks.
The so called discrimination occurred in the 60’s and was done by Trump’s father not Trump himself.
According to the New York Times:
“While there is no evidence that Mr. Trump personally set the rental policies at his father’s properties, he was on hand while they were in place, working out of a cubicle in Trump Management’s Brooklyn offices as early as the summer of 1968”
Wow, how evil of him, a young man working at his fathers company.
How come you choose to ignore that when Trump opened his Mar-a-Lago golf resort, he insisted on accepting Jews and blacks even though other clubs in Palm Beach to this day discriminate against blacks and Jews.
Here’s an excerpt from an article on Truthfeed.com.
“At the time in 1997, then-Anti-Defamation League President Abraham Foxman praised Trump for elevating the issue of discrimination at private clubs, telling the Wall Street Journal, “He put the light on Palm Beach. Not on the beauty and the glitter, but on its seamier side of discrimination. It has an impact.” Foxman credited Trump’s move with encouraging other clubs in Palm Beach to do the same as Mar-a-Lago in opening up.”
Trump may be no angel, but he’s also not the devil that so many make him out to be. He’s a man that has done good things and bad things and has also shown the ability to learn and evolve.
I get frustrated because people just blindly believe the left wing propaganda about the Republicans, but never hold the Democrats to the same standard.
Would it be impolite to mention that Hillary’s mentor was Senator Robert Byrd, the last KKK member in Senate (so far). It’s one of those teflon facts.
http://observer.com/2010/06/hillary-clinton-remembers-friend-and-mentor-robert-byrd/
http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/29/flashback-hillary-clinton-praised-former-kkk-member-sen-robert-byrd-video/
http://twitchy.stage.townhallcloud.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/clinton_gore1.png
The South was prevented from rising again. So close.
Al:
>Trump may be no angel, but he’s also not the devil that
>so many make him out to be. He’s a man that has done
>good things and bad things and has also shown the
>ability to learn and evolve.
My main point in this thread is that the evidence is ambiguous. Reasonable people could interpret it differently and then assign different weight to what they do see.
>Here’s what Trump said about the illegals:
The most offensive part of Trump’s quote was conveniently omitted.
>>Some of the people coming over the border are decent people
>but a lot of them aren’t…The very fact that they’ve entered
>illegal makes them criminals.
It means they have broken a law. We all break laws every day; that doesn’t make us criminals. To meet them, most “illegals” are not what anyone would call “criminals”.
>either way if they want to come
>here they should go through the immigration process just like everyone else.
The immigration process has been broken for decades and that isn’t really their fault. If we want to stop illegal immigration we need to introduce significant consequences (and enforcement mechanisms) for the Americans that hire them. This would not be difficult or expensive, but it would add a very significant new state intrusion into the economy. Absent compensating adjustments to the legal immigration process it would also starve the economy of an important source of labor. Until we do that, I think “illegals” deserve to be treated as the contributors to our society that they are. Personally, I think that a relatively free flow of people across the Mexican border is a net benefit for America (and Mexico).
>On the Central Park 5…What exactly did Trump do
>wrong here?
A grave injustice occurred and race played a big role in it. Trump’s explicit refusal to acknowledge the injustice was wrong.
>How is this Trumps fault? David Duke and the KKK can support
>anyone they want. Again, why isn’t Hillary held to the same
>standards. She has the support of many Left wing subversive
>groups yet no one ever seems to mention that.
Both Republicans and and Democrats often denounce the extremists that line up with them. When given the chance to explicitly denounce David Duke and white supremacy, candidate Trump demurred. The kind of racist sloganeering which occurred at Trump rallies was not typical for a Republican or a Democratic campaign.
>The so called discrimination occurred in the 60’s and was
>done by Trump’s father not Trump himself…Wow, how evil of him,
>a young man working at his fathers company.
I expect a candidate for President who participated in such a system to acknowledge that “so called” discrimination did occur (even if he doesn’t admit to having done so himself) and explicitly repudiate the practice. To my knowledge Trump has not done so.
>How come you choose to ignore that when Trump opened
>his Mar-a-Lago golf resort, he insisted on accepting Jews
>and blacks even though other clubs in Palm Beach to this
>day discriminate against blacks and Jews.
I didn’t actually know about this so I didn’t choose to ignore it. It certainly is evidence that Trump is not a committed racist. But then, I wasn’t arguing (and don’t actually think) that Trump is a committed racist.
>I get frustrated because people just blindly believe the left wing
>propaganda about the Republicans, but never hold the Democrats
>to the same standard.
If you look at Hillary’s turnout among blacks you may find evidence that the point is not lost among all Democrats.
Neal:
>The immigration process has been broken for decades and that isn’t really their fault.
Uhm. If I leave my door unlocked and people come in to watch my TV and use my Internet connection it’s not really their fault?
It’s burglary.
Hey: they didn’t take anything and they cleaned your basement, something you never bothered with.
It’s still burglary, with extenuating circumstances.
How about this: I use locks and a security system. If I want my basement cleaned, I’ll invite them in.
>If we want to stop illegal immigration we need to introduce significant consequences
>(and enforcement mechanisms) for the Americans that hire them. This would not be >difficult or expensive, but it would add a very significant new state intrusion into >the economy.
Sure let’s do that.
But first, let’s build a wall (lock our doors).
>Absent compensating adjustments to the legal immigration process it would
>also starve the economy of an important source of labor. Until we do that, I think >“illegals” deserve to be treated as the contributors to our society that they are. >Personally, I think that a relatively free flow of people across the Mexican border is >a net benefit for America (and Mexico).
Why should we favor illegals from Mexico? Why not Angola? Or Bangladesh? Just because Mexico is closer? That hardly seems fair. Shouldn’t we provide a chance for others in the world to better themselves doing “jobs Americans won’t do”?
How about this: We (pick a number) add that many worker visas for low tech jobs (hand waving here). In order to get a visa you subject yourself to the following: DNA testing, fingerprinting, required to carry a (pick a color) card. You are required to get a job, pay taxes, etc. After some period measured in years (parole) you are given the opportunity to apply for green card… Once you are given a green card or deported or somehow resolve your status, your visa is returned to the pool and available for another. The size of the pool would be periodically reviewed, say just after presidential elections, and adjusted.
Lots of holes here: what about families? Do we allow spouses and children in on this visa? Dunno, maybe not.
What about children created in the U.S.A. after admittance? Hmmm. Dunno. Perhaps revoke the visa and deport the lot? Doesn’t that violate current law regarding anchor children? Yes, perhaps that law should be changed.
>But first, let’s build a wall (lock our doors).
We have already locked our doors. How much have we spent on border security over the past 20 years? Exactly how much more are you proposing to spend? Why do you think this extra spending will do the trick?
Until the wall stretches from sea to shining sea…
MIT by sending out that letter, they added gasoline to the fire. If they were going to send a letter, it should simply have said: “Be afraid and take actions on president Trump’s actions not words”.
@Neal, it is one thing to pass a law, and another thing to enforce a law. A lot of our laws are hardly enforced, or one sided. Example: what Hillary did (and yes there are things that Trump has done) if was done by Joe Six-Pack, then Joe Six-Pack, would have been in jail, but Hillary isn’t.
Brian King, Chancellor, Los Rios Community College District, (second-largest community college district in California) also felt the need to reassure students.
“Unfortunately, many members of our community are fearful that these values are under assault. We are aware that some students, faculty and staff have openly expressed concerns that they do not feel safe in light of the divisive rhetoric in the recent campaign. Though we are in a period of disturbing uncertainty at the national level in the wake of the recent election, the Los Rios colleges remain unwavering in our commitment to fulfill our mission to “provide a vibrant learning environment that empowers all students to achieve their educational and career goals.” We will continue to serve as a place where ALL students are provided with an opportunity to fulfill their educational goals and dreams.”
What MIT should have written:
The local Medical School sent out a similar letter. There must be a safe space forum where meta-educators brainstorm the coddling.
Or more likely similar directives ‘from above.’
The Special Snowflake Generation has been “triggered”.
Someday these people will be in charge. I weep.
Some commenters seem to suggest that this came from the MIT administration, but from the closing (“Your Peers) I’m guessing the administration wasn’t involved. It was just other students. I wouldn’t deduce that this is official.
Sounds like MIT students consist of five year-olds in kindergarten. Wow. What a bunch of pussies.
The Silent Majority reared their head for the first time in a couple decades. I guess the backbone of the USA finally decided to show their backbone. Result: Trump.
Considering MIT’s bleak campus I am surprised there is any spirit left to be crushed however there is plenty of evidence for some people to be afraid of Trump.
1. Mike Pence and shock therapy
2. Mike Pence on praying to stop HIV
3. Trump’s tax plan for single parents
4. Trump’s plan on treating all Muslims as potential terrorists
5. Trump’s plan on treating blacks as second hand citizens
6. Latinos who have family illegally here
7. Trump’s EPA nominee and the already existing Republican congress plan to dismantle clean air and clean water acts
8. See above but for Climate change
9. Trump’s expected choices for Chief of Staff and Cabinet Members
10. Women expecting males to physically assault them and get away with it as Trump allegedly did
As a relatively old white male I might get some tax breaks and more pollution. Overall I am no losing any sleep but I can see how some people are.
@Tekumse No doubt female college students everywhere will now avoid alcohol and fraternity parties so as to minimize the risk of Trump-style assaults.
From what I recall of the news, not myself being much of a campus visitor in recent years, campus rape culture became an increasingly serious problem in the Obama years.
Tekumse, I believe your checklist omitted Trump’s virulent anti-semitism that media has informed us about, but permit me to suggest you donate your upcoming Trump-gotten gains to your grandchildren at MIT, or, if worst comes to worst, Harvard.
Alternatively, you could buy a house in your neighbourhood and rent it out to needy Section 8 families, something perhaps needed now more than ever, while donating the proceeds to worthy causes.
>From what I recall of the news, not myself being much of a
>campus visitor in recent years, campus rape culture became
>an increasingly serious problem in the Obama years.
I know of one unreported rape which occurred at UCLA in 1984; I’m confident rape was a problem even then. What you saw in the news could easily be the result of increased attention and not an increase in the underlying problem (I don’t know the stats and don’t have time to research them).
>Trump’s virulent anti-semitism that media has informed us about
I have not read any media reports of “Trump’s virulent anti-semitism”. What I have read are reports that Jews who have in some way opposed (or wrote unflattering things about) Trump have experienced much higher levels of jew hatred during his campaign compared with previous presidential campaigns.
>but permit me to suggest you donate your upcoming
>Trump-gotten gains to your grandchildren at MIT, or,
>if worst comes to worst, Harvard.
>Alternatively, you could buy a house in your
>neighbourhood and rent it out to needy Section
>8 families, something perhaps needed now more
>than ever, while donating the proceeds to
>worthy causes.
ad-hominem: Tekumse’s charitable giving or lack thereof does not address any of the points in his post.
What’s ad hominem about it? Tekumse left out one population group that media tells us has been foully attacked by Trump, so I thought I’d remind him. He furthermore appears to be uneasy about Trumpian policies that will result in his gain, so why not use that money to help the poor and presumably deserving? (MIT at least, not so sure about Harvard)
I’ve noticed that Phil does attract a fair number of “alt-right” fans.
But what do the above-it-all, pooh-poohers make of having Brietbart’s Steve Bannon inside the White House? Are you comfortable with the casual anti-semetic tropes from his website ?
You do realize that the next Goebbels won’t literally come dressed in a brownshirt, right?
“Alt right website Breitbart ran a blaring front page headline denouncing The Weekly Standard founder Bill Kristol as a “renegade Jew” Monday.
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/05/15/bill-kristol-republican-spoiler-renegade-jew/
“This turn of events ended Applebaum’s dream of being Poland’s first Jewish-American first lady. And hell hath no fury like a Polish, Jewish, American elitist scorned.”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/09/27/anne-applebaums-russian-style-disinformation-offensive-msm-vs-anti-globalist-right-will-people/
In view of the reactions in Russia would not Tsarump be a better name for your president-elect?
>Tekumse left out one population group that
>media tells us has been foully attacked by Trump
Straw man: The media has not said Jews have been foully attacked by Trump.
FactcheckerFred: My Facebook friends refer to this Bannon guy as a Jew-hater as though it were an established fact. Yet Bannon did not write either of the articles that you cite. The author of the first article says “I am a Jew who has never been to Israel and has never been a Zionist in the sense of believing that Jews can rid themselves of Jew hatred by having their own nation state. But half of world Jewry now lives in Israel, and the enemies whom Obama and Hillary have empowered — Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, ISIS, and Hamas — have openly sworn to exterminate the Jews.” So the Jew-hatred that you cite was authored by someone who identifies as a Jew.
It looks as though that Breitbart web site has at least dozens of articles every day. If these two articles are the most outrageous examples I don’t think we have a 21st Century Goebbels here.
I did a quick Google search for this Bannon guy (whom I had never heard of) and the Jewish angle. Mostly what I found was an affidavit by a cash-seeking child support and custody plaintiff. As part of her quest to wrest the kids and the cash from Bannon she alleged that he hates Jews. But the journalists couldn’t get her to go on record to confirm this. See http://www.realworlddivorce.com/DomesticViolence for just how far Americans are willing to go in family court to get the cash that they dream of.
Tom –
There were probably just as many rapes before Obama. We hear about them more now, especially in the last 2 years, as women’s issues have been pushed forward, at least in part as rallying points to elect the first woman president.
I’ve read articles calling Trump an anti-semite at least. That has to be based on something, presumably.
Well, the rape convictions for genpop appear to be declining yearly for the USA, while “rape culture”, mainly a campus term, has been growing since about 2012-2013 (according to Google Trends).