Somebody didn’t get the president’s new civility memo:
Gee, let’s start a video “rant” like this:
So we know that I’m not the most politically correct person so don’t take this offensively. I don’t mean it toward any of my friends I mean it toward random people that I don’t even know in the library. So, you guys are not the problem.
The problem is these hordes of Asian people that UCLA accepts into our school every single year, which is fine. But if you’re going to come to UCLA then use American manners.
Hmmm — who would take offense at that, particularly in the tinderbox atmosphere of campus politics, where every offense is guaranteed to be amped up to 11.
But to borrow a line from an old college favorite, what is to be done? FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, claims that the video is “Not Discriminatory Harassment:”
For the last couple of days, controversy has been buzzing about a YouTube video (now with more than 1.3 million views) from a college student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), who chose to take to the Internet to complain about the behavior of Asian students in the UCLA library and elsewhere. The student, who has been identified as Alexandra Wallace, claims that the “hordes” of Asian students at UCLA (UCLA’s undergraduate population is about 37 percent Asian and Pacific Islander) cause various annoyances like loudly talking on their cell phones in the library and having their extended families come over and do their chores for them.If you watch the video, it is easy to see why Asian students in particular, and others as well, might find it offensive—although in my opinion it is really pretty tame, as far as Internet rants go. The uproar it has caused at UCLA, however, is remarkable, and unfortunately displays the common impulse of college students and administrators to turn to official power to silence unpopular or controversial expression rather than relying on informal social sanction. It also displays the unfortunate tendency of many college students to ask for official punishment for those who air views they don’t like, or worse, to make threats—even death threats—against such people.
Let’s first deal with the administrative response.
The old saying is that when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Just about every university’s “hammer” of choice when it comes to unpopular expression is the set of rules prohibiting harassment on campus. Indeed, Robert Naples, UCLA’s associate vice chancellor and dean of students, wasted little time in telling the Daily Bruin, UCLA’s student newspaper, that “We’ll be taking a look at the language that she uses in the video to see if it violates any codes under the student code, perhaps regarding harassment.”
Read the whole thing. If you were running UCLA, how would you proceed next?
I’d tell everyone to settle down and get their panties unbunched.
I am UCLA student, and most likely she was referring to the many Koreans that attend the university. Instead, she categorized them as “Asians.”
Such ignorance on her part.
Koreans, Asians—-whatever….
I’m with Bill.
“I’d tell everyone to settle down and get their panties unbunched.”
She has a right to her opinion. And, quite frankly, if they are in the library, they SHOULD be quiet. Also, where the heck are the librarians I used to know, who would come over and GLARE at you and threaten to throw you out if you spoke above a whisper? That became a cultural meme back in my day – and for good reason.
Demand official actions against people being obnoxious? But, that’s how our left/liberal education system has raised people to be so they’ll need big gov’t to do everything for them!
“how would you proceed next”
I’d ask the students what punishment they think should be given to the videographer. Then I would assign that punnishment to anyone who talks on a cell phone in the library or has their extended family doing chores for them on campus.
She has a valid complaint, and she’s completely innocent. Nothing should happen to her, either socially or academically. Any administrator who does attempt to punish her should be fired. Anybody who is offended is a jerk.
We need freedom of speech back, not speech codes imposed by our ‘betters’ that generate attitudes that something as innocent as what this girl has done should be a cause for anger, denunciation, threats, etc.
Fight for our rights.
‘Asians’ (and everyone else) who talk on their cell phones in the library should learn some basic consideration for other people.
Her expression could be described as ‘a little ignorant’, but not as ignorant as the cell phone yappers in the library. For whatever reason, she identified the yappers as ‘Asians’ – perhaps they are mostly Asians.
Sorry, but it’s a sick, sick society where this video is news at all, and the sick people aren’t people like this girl. The sickos are ther politically correct jerks who abound everywhere, and who need a lesson to get the hell out of our lives.
Okay @ Youknowwho? I totally understand the part of her complaining about the Asians talking at the library, but she didn’t have to go too far about the Asian family going to their apartments! Who cares? she’s flat out racist! Who still says, ching chong? oh right! ignorant racist white people! I’m American, but I don’t go around ranting about stupid immature shit on youtube! There’s a reason why she’s on the news because she went off topic!
You people can waste your time with this silly rant of a video or you can go to THIS video – over 3 million hits – Ghaddafi’s Zenga Zenga. Trust me, you’ll see why this video is hot…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBY-0n4esNY
She’s right, is the sad thing. All of my friends are Asian and they totally don’t have a “library voice.” I get really embarassed studying with them.
@ lol
Actually, you are way too sensitive. Something has justifiably pissed her off, and she has identified it as coming from people different from her and she’s bitching about them. People from this identifiably different group have bugged her in the library through their ignorant behavior enough that she resents it, so she is now sensitized to things she notices about them. Why should she be happy to see the families of the kind of people who are being rude and disturbing her in the library? That doesn’t make her a racist, period. It makes her someone reacting typically to rude, disruptive behavior.
Why don’t you take off with your codes and your sensitivity?
I’m as white as the driven snow and I’m married to an ethnically ‘Asian’ woman born in Asia. My kids are half ‘Asian’.
When every offended ‘Asian’ has taken steps to stop the rude behavior of representatives of your ‘group’, and when you have further taken steps to befriend her instead of denouncing her, you might be in a position to see whether she actually is a racist. She sure isn’t one for violating oppressive codes.
If it turns out that she doesn’t like ‘Asians’ anyway, well, you know what? Live with it. When you are perfect yourself, you’ll know what to do about it.
@youknowwho
Do you condone her behavior? Or do you just like blaming the victim?
Why are the few people she is identifying as Asian automatically “representative” of a group? You think that an entire continent of people should be judged by the actions of a few? Isn’t that pretty much the definition of bigotry and racism? Doesn’t sound logical to me. A few people of the Muslim faith decided to fly planes into buildings. Therefore you can hate every single person of that faith? Maybe you can, in a free world, but that doesn’t mean you can make a video and expect members of that faith/race/ethnicity to take it lying down. Her attitude is what incites wars and perpetuates hatred.
Yeah, we can “deal with it” and ignore her. But if she has the right to offend, the offended party has the right to respond.
Victim? You’ve got to be kidding? Exactly how were you, or ‘Asians’ hurt? Having your pride offended is not the same thing as sustaining an injury or being victimized. You are not a victim of her rant. Asians are not victims of her rant.
You have also cast this into something about all Asians, as well. In fact it is ambiguous that way. There is no racist theory in the video.
Why don’t you save your outrage for something that is actually outrageous?
They can’t afford to do that. There are taboos to be enforced! And believe me, they know the value of those taboos — to them.
There is nothing wrong with what the girl said. She expressed her opinion. She is allowed to do that. People who don’t like it are free to piss & moan all they like. What she said was true. If it had been a pack of lies then the people pretending to be offended by it would have a legitimate bitch. It wasn’t a pack of lies. So live with it.
I am disappointed with the reactions here. The student had multiple options for dealing with her “problem” in a civil manner. Simply put, the student was free to a) go up to the offending parties and tell them to use their phone outside or b) go up to a librarian and let them know about the noisy disturbances or even c) make a youTube video complaining about her annoyance with general cell phone usage in the library. Does it MATTER that the majority of the offending parties were Asian? No, it doesn’t. If her main point was actually that she dislikes noisy library patrons, then there would be no problems.
She had every right to make a video, but does she have the right to offend an entire continent of people with her racial intolerance and prejudice? All the while in the name of UCLA? She wasn’t talking about cell phone users in general. She delineated them as ASIANS and spoke scornfully of Asian culture while advocating “American” manners. If she actually had any manners at all she would point out the fact that it is just common library policy to restrict cell phone usage. She also disparagingly referred to Asians living in her apartment building, was completely disrespectful to the victims of the Japanese earthquake/tsunami, and offended the entire Asian population at UCLA (and beyond). I almost agree with @lol that she went off topic except that she was right on topic–she dislikes Asians and her annoyance at library cell phone usage was just a platform to discuss her general bigotry and ignorance.
I do not think UCLA should suspend her, but I do think that she needs some serious diversity training. UCLA also needs to clearly state their stance on hate speech. I am all for freedom of speech in a free society. As much as I find the Westboro Baptist Church to be abhorrent, they are allowed to say what they want because they live in the USA and have freedom of speech. However, I find it irresponsible for any society or institution of higher learning to cheerfully support vitriolic rhetoric that could incite violence and discordance.
Does she have a right to rant/rave and stereotype? Yep, do you have the right to be offended ? Yep. Is she a racist? I don’t know. I don’t what steps she took before the video. She does exclude her friends from this complaint? Could they be Asians? I don’t know. But I do know that all of you that wish to shut her up are stepping on her rights of exprssion. And frankly if you choose to live in this Country perhaps it will help your future success by adopting some the good manners that are needed for a smooth running community.
Sounds to me like the Asian kids in the library need some “serious diversity training.”
ASianthe largest..
What rubbish.
So the woman is a silly racist, we can all spot that. Big deal. Any Asian person who has any sense realises that the woman was a fool and will move on. The College should leave it alone.
The problem has been in existence since the coined term “oriental”, or those oriented in a position different then our own. The vast majority of UCLA students are all American. All of their manners are American manners.
haha it’s so funny that this video is made by a white BLOND girl living in AMERICA….. as if she has a general level of intelligence and manner with proper education to judge others’ behaviour….. By the way, when you say ASIANS… you are talking about 60% of the entire population. dumb dumb.
Can UCLA keep its academic prestige only because there are Asians that do actual studies, anyways? Because, from the video, I honestly don’t see how UCLA can be so proud of its students, if they accepted this girl.
“white BLOND girl living in AMERICA”
You are doing the same thing as the videographer, so I hope you are not one of those calling for punishment or ‘diversity training’. If she needs it, so do you.
@Karen, proudly Korean:
Do you completely miss the irony in bashing the young lady in the video, calling her a “white BLOND girl living in AMERICA” … for (wait for it …) engaging in stereotyping?
it was very racist for her to make a video about asian’s being disruptive. I see alot of different racial doing the same thing but i don’t go on youtube and say that about them. i’m not saying this because i’m asian, I’m saying this because there’s way you can do to solve this.
I wonder what would’ve happened to her if she had said something about blacks or latinos? Are you listening jessie and al?