Ben Carson Says He Will Outlaw ‘Liberal’ Speech On College Campuses, Not Conservative Speech (AUDIO)
I read the text, which didn't really seem to explain the headline. So then I listened to all the audio (the video and the radio recordings). There was missing context with what he was asked. They (the reporters, or whatever you call them now) had to lead him by the hand all the way to the finish line. He kept going on and on about extremism in colleges, but never said liberal or conservative. But what in the hell is he talking about? What extremist university is he thinking about that would justify transforming the department of education into some kind of 1984 monitoring system to keep tabs on all the lessons in the country? Whether or not he meant it for liberals in his own head, the 'reporter' had to throw it in there for him by making sure he was only wanting to censure 'liberal' biases, and that 'conservative' biases wouldn't be.
Ben made sure to point out he is only concerned with stopping 'extreme political bias'. But what example is he talking about? The only one he gives is from a story from several years about where a professor told students to 'stomp on Jesus', where a student claims he was then suspended for not participating. I mean, yeah that sounds pretty extreme. It sounds like a professor wanted to piss off his christian students: yet another example of the liberal bias in university every conservative knows about.
So, I was curious where this happened. It wasn't difficult to find the story, which happened back in 2013. I never heard it before, and probably because it is mainly a conservative talking point. The first few pages of google will be filled with conservative news organizations covering the story, which are all essentially the same. Here is even a follow up story several months later, in the summer, just in case the conservatives forgot about it:
This only reinforces the story of christian persecution, and worse, it appears the university doesn't even care that it's happening right in the classroom.
But at least now I knew the details. I finally found the official statement from the university:
Better yet, more information on what happened:
The exercise was based on an example presented in a study guide to the textbook Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach, 5 th Edition, written by a college professor who is unaffiliated with FAU.So, why would an intercultural communications textbook be promoting christian persecution? Isn't that a bit ironic?
So, I try to track down the exact lesson. I have the name of the book, but it's actually supposedly in the study guide to the textbook, but I couldn't find it online. However, I don't think I need to read it. I did find a report generated by the university because of this incident which describes what the lesson was supposed to be and why they disciplined the student (which of course was not mentioned at all in the follow up article on fox news):
http://fau.edu/ufsgov/Final%20AFDPC%20Report%206-24-2013.pdf
Here is an excerpt of the intended lesson:
The exercise asked students to write the letters “J-E-S-U-S” on a sheet of paper, to place the paper on the floor, to think about it for a short time, and then Dr. Poole asked the students to step on their papers. The stated purpose of this exercise is to start a discussion on the importance of symbolism and its cultural context. The exercise followed by Dr. Poole is included among the instructors’ resources that accompany the course textbook.
It also goes on the state it is optional, of course, because the purpose of the exercise is not to insult anyone. The purpose is to make the lesson that people take symbols seriously. It didn't have to be jesus on the piece of paper, it could be whatever the person would feel negatively about stepping on. If you can't step on it, then maybe they should feel empathy when other peoples symbols get stepped on.
It seems like a completely logical lesson in context. However, it seems the student in question didn't get the point of it. So much so that he decided to stay after class to threaten the professor
The agitated student allegedly approached Dr. Poole in a threatening manner saying, “I want to hit you,” while punching his fist into his open palm. Dr. Poole also said that the student told Dr. Poole never to use this exercise again, and pounded on Dr. Poole’s desk with his fist several times yelling, “Don’t you ever do that again! Do you hear me?” Dr. Poole insisted that both students leave immediately, which they did.A witness also after class corroborates this in a later email.
I am at a loss for words regarding what happened tonight. I just wanted to make it clear that I do not share the same views as my colleague and have the utmost respect for you as a professor
That is when the university notified the student he was being charged under the university student code of conduct. Not because he didn't want to participate in the lesson, which is in the past by this point.
After an initial determination by this office that the student conduct process should proceed, you are being charged with violating FAU’s Student Code of Conduct, Regulation 4.007, specifically: (N) Acts of verbal, written (including electronic communications) or physical abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion or other conduct which threaten the health, safety or welfare of any person.
I think it is safe to say Ben Carson is completely unaware of any of this. Or the fact that it may have well been partially racially motivated. This is clearly after anyone was going to step on the papers, and so after the student supposedly had already been disciplined for not participating in the 'stomping'.
Dr. Poole then asked the students in the class to discuss their personal reactions to the idea of stepping on their papers. Dr. Poole said that one student vociferously objected to stepping on the paper. The offended student remained disruptive, repeatedly calling out, “hey brother!” to reengage Dr. Poole in a one-on one dialogue during class. Dr. Poole told the AFDPC that he instructed the student to stop calling him “brother,” but ultimately dismissed the class early
Not that it should matter, but Dr. Poole is black. The reason he was removed from work was because he received death threats after the media coverage, not because of the lesson.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/01/interview-professor-center-jesus-debate-florida-atlantic
One of the threats said that I might find myself hanging from a tree
The conservative media took some college student who clearly has anger problems, who lost his temper at a professor because he couldn't think outside of his own culture (in an intercultural class), threatened his professor, and the media just encourages and stirs up more anger and threats. The entire thing was built to make people angry.
Now, here we are over 2 years later, and this same half-story is being trolled out. Not just for the conservatives, but also now for the liberals. Ben Carson is just the tip of the ice-burg, and probably doesn't even know what he's referring to half of the time. He just knows what seems to get 'conservatives' attention, and they know how to play him like a flute. It's such a shame it's not even a funny any more. Now he's being used to get this story to make liberals angry too. Does he really believe the dept. of education should censure colleges, or did someone just tell him to say it? It seems like he had trouble remembering what to say, and even needed a second interview to clear things up with some help.
Noone seems to even know or care about what's happened anymore.
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