Supporting Hierarchy (Vera Speaking)
						MAIN PATH: Malik
				Fred		Malik

Malik and I have talked about this and we basically agree on how to think about it. We strongly disagree with Fred's description of this as the work of isolated individuals. We agree with Ann that this can be seen as harassment that is partly the result of pressures on campus. But we would go further.

We need an even broader context for this so-called "incident." Midwest University does not exist in a vacuum. It exists in and was created by the people who run the larger society. It is not only their creature and not only a functional part of that larger society, but it mirrors the hierarchies of power and privilege that exist in that society.

The struggles of blacks and women on this campus are part of a larger struggle in society to upset those hierarchies and redistribute power. Some of the white students here may only dimly understand that. But what is at stake in that struggle, both here and in society, are the structures of domination that have developed over centuries of white male rule.

What we saw Saturday is a reaction to that struggle, a reaction to the dimly felt loss of privilege and an almost instinctive defense of the entire structure of which that privilege is a part. Language is a part of that defense. It is a tool, a weapon wielded against the weaker members of society to keep them 'in their place.'

To see what happened Saturday correctly, we have see it as a reflection of that larger society and a reaction to those who seek to change it. We should think of this as assaultive speech that intentionally or unintentionally tends to recreate and reinforce unjust social hierarchies. To respond properly to what happened, we have to change those structures. One place to begin the struggle is by stopping the speech that reinforces them.

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