GrahamH wrote:zoon wrote:Hermit wrote:don't get me started wrote:There are many cultural differences that come into play when people from different cultures interact. (Even English-speaking cultures can have very marked differences.) What is fine and unproblematic in once culture, can be a serious threat to face in another. No-one gets automatic dibs on what is and is not offensive.
As a result of what you and Spearthrower have written, whatever ambivalence I had initially concerning the Race Equality Champions project has melted away. It takes it upon itself to determine behaviour, no matter how micro in scale and possibly unintended, is objectively offensive and racist.
At best this is bound to result in an expensive train wreck situation. Providing safe rooms with colouring-in books for those who feel (justifiably or not) offended/triggered/traumatised is a much more worthwhile undertaking.
It would depend on whether the "healthy, open discussion" promised by Sheffield University includes discussing the points raised by Spearthrower and don't get me started, rather than shutting them down or dismissing them. Given their agenda, I agree that shutting down seems more likely.
What makes you think that? The phrase "healthy conversation" indicates that the intent is not to "shut down or dismiss".
From the article linked in the OP:
Vice-chancellor Koen Lamberts said the initiative wanted to "change the way people think about racism".
...
Rather than being about controlling people's speech, the university says it is "opening up a conversation".
…
It says the equality roles are being created in response to demand from students, training them how "to help their peers understand racism and its impact".
It does depend on how it's managed on the ground. I expect other universities and institutions will be watching to see how it works out.
Universities are coming under pressure from above to tackle racism more effectively. When hate speech against people on the basis of colour, race or nationality became illegal in the UK in
1986, there was controversy then about limiting free speech, but the laws have so far stayed put. The Equality and Human Rights Commission published a report (
here) 3 months ago, in October 2019, saying that UK universities need to do more to tackle racial harassment among both students and staff; they included mention of English students being harassed in Welsh and Scottish universities, it wasn't all about skin colour. I presume universities can be sued if they don't do enough to counter hate speech.
Given that many of the Sheffield students are not from the UK, there's probably much to be said for all the students becoming aware at least of the UK laws around hate speech, and being clear about what can be officially challenged. Discussing microagressions is certainly trickier, especially as microaggression is not a scientific concept, and relies on subjective reports (Wikipedia article
here). The Sheffield University website
here says that "Champions will lead training sessions for students across campus and University residences, equipping students with skills for future life in a global workplace", which does seem to put the student "champions" in a very difficult position: are they supposed to be leading training sessions or discussion groups, how much authority and responsibility do they have? There is probably a groundswell of feeling among the majority UK students that racism needs to be tackled, so the discussions are unlikely to be hijacked by overt racism. Perhaps the initiative is best seen as an interesting experiment rather than a clear strategy?
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