Today’s blacklisted American: Professor fired without due process for lamenting the poor education often received by blacks
Burning witches in academia: It’s the IN thing.
They’re coming for you next: Sandra Sellers, a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center in Virginia was immediately fired by her dean without any investigation, based on an intentional false misreading of of her words said during what she thought was a private Zoom phone conversation.
Last month, Georgetown Law adjunct professor Sandra Sellers told a colleague privately on Zoom, “I hate to say this—I end up having this angst every semester that a lot of my lower [graded] ones are blacks.” Some black students, Sellers said, did well, but the overall pattern made her “feel bad.”
Sellers was not aware that her conversation was being recorded and uploaded to the aptly named “Panopto” software system. If someone had chosen to, he might have clipped her words and posted them to Twitter with the caption: “We need more white professors like this, who feel shame about how badly law schools are failing students of color. Thank you, Professor Sellers!” Instead, Sellers’ words were clipped and posted by Georgetown Law student Hassan Ahmad with the caption: “.@GeorgetownLaw negotiations professors Sandra Sellers and David Batson being openly racist on a recorded Zoom call. Beyond unacceptable.”
That day, without speaking with Sellers, William Treanor condemned her “reprehensible statements,” which he declared “abhorrent.” The next day, against his own university’s policies, Treanor fired Sellers without an official investigation.
Treanor also suspended without investigation David Batson, the law professor whom Sellers was speaking to.
The moral and legal violations here were not committed by Sellers by her words, since she was simply expressing a concern for her minority students and her frustration that she had not been able to figure out a way to help them do better. No, let me list the real violators to truth and justice:
First, while Hassan Ahmad’s recording was apparently not a violation of law, as the Zoom conversation occurred at the end of a recorded passworded class session after all the other students had logged off, he committed an immoral and malicious act by clipping the words to make it sound like Sellers was bigoted, and then proceeded to slander her falsely and start a campaign to get her fired.
Second, Dean Treanor was both a petty tyrant and a coward by firing Sellers and suspending Batson. His school’s policies required him to conduct an investigation in the matter before taking such action. He however apparently considers himself a god who doesn’t need to provide due process to others. He knows what is right, and thus has the right to condemn and destroy others, at his whim.
He is also a coward, because I am sure he did this out of a terrified fear that if he didn’t act immediately a mob of self-righteous twitter bigots would descent upon him and the school for the dastardly crime of demanding due process for all.
Third, that mob, which included the university’s Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action. and its Black Law Students Association, must be condemned. They weren’t interested in finding out the truth and serving justice, they immediately gathered their torches and pitchforks to demand the burning of these witches. Furthermore, they also demanded that all grading be reviewed to guarantee acceptable grades for all black students.
In a petition, the Black Law Students Association also called on the law school to conduct an audit of Sellers’s grading and student evaluations. It also wants the school to assess and improve its “subjective” grading system and commit to hiring more Black professors.
In other words, if you are black you must be given favored status, both in grading and in hiring.
Fourth, Sellers herself should be condemned, not for her words but for immediately kow-towing to this mob.
Sellers shared a resignation letter with The Washington Post in which she apologized for the “hurtful and misdirected remarks” that were part of a longer discussion about patterns in class participation. “I would never do anything to intentionally hurt my students or Georgetown Law and wish I could take back my words,” Sellers said in the letter. “Regardless of my intent, I have done irreparable harm and I am truly sorry for this.”
Though she did nothing wrong, she apologized while also accepting her termination meekly. She should have instead fought for her rights, and fought hard, not simply to defend herself against an unjust act but to use that fight to highlight the very point of her words, that for too many minorities the education system was failing them.
Instead she gave in, and rather than address that real educational problem the school will now worsen it by adjusting the grades of black students upwards, even if they don’t merit it.
We really do live in a time of witch-burning and mob rule. Woe to anyone who dares express themselves honestly on controversial issues in an academic setting. Academia no longer celebrates freedom of thought and robust debate. What it now celebrates is conformity, oppression, and bigotry, the hallmarks of all of the worst tyrannies in human history.
I’ve said this over and over, but it bears repeating over and over. If you have a high school son or daughter, whether they be white or black, schools like Georgetown University are the last places you should send them. Such schools should go bankrupt, and do so as quickly as possible.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Burning witches in academia: It’s the IN thing.
They’re coming for you next: Sandra Sellers, a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center in Virginia was immediately fired by her dean without any investigation, based on an intentional false misreading of of her words said during what she thought was a private Zoom phone conversation.
Last month, Georgetown Law adjunct professor Sandra Sellers told a colleague privately on Zoom, “I hate to say this—I end up having this angst every semester that a lot of my lower [graded] ones are blacks.” Some black students, Sellers said, did well, but the overall pattern made her “feel bad.”
Sellers was not aware that her conversation was being recorded and uploaded to the aptly named “Panopto” software system. If someone had chosen to, he might have clipped her words and posted them to Twitter with the caption: “We need more white professors like this, who feel shame about how badly law schools are failing students of color. Thank you, Professor Sellers!” Instead, Sellers’ words were clipped and posted by Georgetown Law student Hassan Ahmad with the caption: “.@GeorgetownLaw negotiations professors Sandra Sellers and David Batson being openly racist on a recorded Zoom call. Beyond unacceptable.”
That day, without speaking with Sellers, William Treanor condemned her “reprehensible statements,” which he declared “abhorrent.” The next day, against his own university’s policies, Treanor fired Sellers without an official investigation.
Treanor also suspended without investigation David Batson, the law professor whom Sellers was speaking to.
The moral and legal violations here were not committed by Sellers by her words, since she was simply expressing a concern for her minority students and her frustration that she had not been able to figure out a way to help them do better. No, let me list the real violators to truth and justice:
First, while Hassan Ahmad’s recording was apparently not a violation of law, as the Zoom conversation occurred at the end of a recorded passworded class session after all the other students had logged off, he committed an immoral and malicious act by clipping the words to make it sound like Sellers was bigoted, and then proceeded to slander her falsely and start a campaign to get her fired.
Second, Dean Treanor was both a petty tyrant and a coward by firing Sellers and suspending Batson. His school’s policies required him to conduct an investigation in the matter before taking such action. He however apparently considers himself a god who doesn’t need to provide due process to others. He knows what is right, and thus has the right to condemn and destroy others, at his whim.
He is also a coward, because I am sure he did this out of a terrified fear that if he didn’t act immediately a mob of self-righteous twitter bigots would descent upon him and the school for the dastardly crime of demanding due process for all.
Third, that mob, which included the university’s Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action. and its Black Law Students Association, must be condemned. They weren’t interested in finding out the truth and serving justice, they immediately gathered their torches and pitchforks to demand the burning of these witches. Furthermore, they also demanded that all grading be reviewed to guarantee acceptable grades for all black students.
In a petition, the Black Law Students Association also called on the law school to conduct an audit of Sellers’s grading and student evaluations. It also wants the school to assess and improve its “subjective” grading system and commit to hiring more Black professors.
In other words, if you are black you must be given favored status, both in grading and in hiring.
Fourth, Sellers herself should be condemned, not for her words but for immediately kow-towing to this mob.
Sellers shared a resignation letter with The Washington Post in which she apologized for the “hurtful and misdirected remarks” that were part of a longer discussion about patterns in class participation. “I would never do anything to intentionally hurt my students or Georgetown Law and wish I could take back my words,” Sellers said in the letter. “Regardless of my intent, I have done irreparable harm and I am truly sorry for this.”
Though she did nothing wrong, she apologized while also accepting her termination meekly. She should have instead fought for her rights, and fought hard, not simply to defend herself against an unjust act but to use that fight to highlight the very point of her words, that for too many minorities the education system was failing them.
Instead she gave in, and rather than address that real educational problem the school will now worsen it by adjusting the grades of black students upwards, even if they don’t merit it.
We really do live in a time of witch-burning and mob rule. Woe to anyone who dares express themselves honestly on controversial issues in an academic setting. Academia no longer celebrates freedom of thought and robust debate. What it now celebrates is conformity, oppression, and bigotry, the hallmarks of all of the worst tyrannies in human history.
I’ve said this over and over, but it bears repeating over and over. If you have a high school son or daughter, whether they be white or black, schools like Georgetown University are the last places you should send them. Such schools should go bankrupt, and do so as quickly as possible.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
So what happens if Black graduates start underperforming on bar exams compared to the artificially high grades they were awarded in law school? Will we then have to award them extra credit on the bar to make up for it? And then what happens when word gets around that they, on average, may not be as well qualified as those of other races who’ve passed the bar fairly?
It’s a mess, and I believe it will be the Black students who will ultimately pay the biggest price. If only we could live MLK’s dream, where we are ALL judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin.
Other Peoples Money (1991)
“Shoot all the lawyers” scene
https://youtu.be/35rErQtJ6uA
1:32
“Do you know what happens, when Capitalism gets [expletive deleted] up?”
I regret to say I attended that university, over five decades ago. I have long since felt any pride or attachment to it. For so many things they’ve done in the intervening years, they should all be ashamed of themselves, particularly because they are run by the Jesuits, the Society of Jesus.
Rats! I meant to say I have long since felt “no” pride or attachment to it.
Bob, I wish there was a way we could revisit our comments and correct typos or goofs, such as the one above.
Phil: I will ask my web guy to see if it possible. I suspect I will have to install third party comment software, which I’d rather not do for numerous reasons. But I will ask.
Mr. Z.,
–if we’re taking a vote, I’d skip the ability to edit the past.
As someone who has pressed that ‘post comment’ button, tooo fast on occasion, I empathize. But I think it’s better to let everything stand.
tangentially–
I occasionally get the following pop-up notice when I first access BtB in the day:
“Anti-spam by Cleantalk plugin error: timeoutPlease, contact Cleantalk tech support https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/cleantalk-spam-protect/”
It will disappear within a few seconds if I do nothing, and/or refresh the page.
(I am assuming it’s a rendering error at my end. Windows 10 Microsoft Edge-chromium browser.)
Phil: I have an answer. Nothing is going to change because to provide people the ability to edit already posted comments I need to require commenters to register. I ain’t doing that. Too much work for little gain.
Ask the Black Law Students Association if Louis Farrakhan is a Racist, Anti-Semite, Anti-White bigot.
If so, will they condemn Farrakhan? If not, why not?
No Double Standards.
Her sin was saying what everyone knows but no one is allowed to say.
Panopticon:
“The panopticon is a type of institutional building and a system of control designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be observed by a single security guard, without the inmates being able to tell whether they are being watched.”
Check these people out.
…….Then check out their customer list.
https://www.panopto.com/
I don’t know diddly about how Zoom functions, but this panopto software is specifically designed to record & manage corporate/institutional video.
It has OCR to scan printed items that appear in the video, and it has voice-recognition capability to scan spoken language.
KHAN OR “CON? YOU DECIDE
One of three of the founders of a rising (?) radical, by their own words philosophically Marxist organization, Patrice Khan Collurs is being widely criticized by many in the public and by many of her own followers for the recently revealed real estate purchases in primarily Tony white California neighborhoods. Up to $4 or $5 million dollars worth I believe at this moment in time.
(I think the next interesting question to ask these self described Marxists. What are the other two founders up to? And I am sure there are all kinds of monies involved here from Hollywood and the like related to their story and any movies or media projects that may result.)
BLM founder defends her property empire (msn.com)
https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1fJmVF.img?h=525&w=888&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f
P.K.C.: “BLM is not a charity”, “We are a power building body”. They in fact are a corporation, a business in other words.
History: “In 1848, Marx and fellow German thinker Friedrich Engels published “The Communist Manifesto,” which introduced their concept of socialism as a natural result of the conflicts inherent in the capitalist system. “.
In the end, like most every and all similar movements, its all a CON. In the end its all about the Benjamin$. Its human nature. What drives the human being? Greed, self interest and fear ultimately pushes ideology aside when the opportunity to empower and enrich oneself presents itself.
Patrice Khan Collurs? She in the end has crafted, and you have to give her respect here, a business model in the Capitalist world that has touched and inspired many to action and to donate money to fund it. And she has apparently been driven by her own personal family experiences regarding her brother and alleged police brutality. But she is a Marxist? She is a PR master and a corporate raider to my thinking.
I love it, I give her a big fat, I am smarter than you, gold Capitalist star.
And there have been many in the corporate world that have seen their way to “donate” some $100+ million dollars (?) to the organization. And that is some serious cash flow and we see where these committed “Marxists” see fit to invest their profits from their business.
In the end what is “Marxist” Patrice Khan Collurs? A Marxist or a brilliant Capitalist? I think the latter applies here as it always applies to all concerned involved in such movements throughout history from what I can see.
Need one more reason for Facebook to be defined as a utility and broken up or 230 to be dispensed with?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9477097/Facebook-blocks-users-sharing-DailyMail-com-story-BLM-founders-property-empire.html
Patrice Collurs: “While the Covid 19 illness is tragic, what’s more tragic is CAPITALISM”. (No mention of her massive real estate purchases and investments)
And Facebook will not allow this offense to logic and rational thinking to be spoken of. Just one more reason.
Robert wrote: “In other words, if you are black you must be given favored status, both in grading and in hiring.”
Isn’t this the purpose of Affirmative Action, the governmental institutional implication that certain races are not as capable as others and thus must be promoted through reverse-racism in direct violation of the Fourteenth Amendment?
“Instead she gave in, and rather than address that real educational problem the school will now worsen it by adjusting the grades of black students upwards, even if they don’t merit it.”
Thus causing all future employers to wonder whether certain students actually earned their grades and their degrees, reinforcing the soft racism of Affirmative Action.
“Woe to anyone who dares express themselves honestly on controversial issues in an academic setting.”
Wasn’t it Eric Holder who said that Americans are afraid to discuss race?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/holder-americans-cowardly-on-race-issues/
It is kind of funny that his own crowd is afraid of the discussion but that conservatives have been having such discussions for two thirds of a century. If only Holder got around more and talked to a wider variety of people.
“based on an intentional false misreading of of her words said during what she thought was a private Zoom phone conversation.”
Yet another reason to never Zoom.
Do you know who was in office and whose administration instituted Affirmative Action……Richard Nixon
He really was “Tricky Dick” – he had us thining he was a conservative….
On, and AA was supposed to be “temporary”, we were told it was only to last until minorities could compete on their merits. A half century later it is institutionalizws
Col —
Nixon gave us the EPA as well.
(the quintessential progressive crony republican)
Understood, Bob. Just thought I’d ask. Besides, as a former press editor (and now a book editor) I should’ve double-checked the thing before submitting. Will endeavor to do so from now on.
Col Beausabre,
This historical explanation is a bit closer to my memory of the topic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action#Origins
In addition, In recall that the Supreme Court ruled in the early 1970s that Affirmative Action — reverse discrimination — was constitutional, despite the Fourteenth Amendment.
“Q” IS OVER, NOW THERE IS “G”
A rumored confidential conversation that occurred within the last 48 hours in the White House between, president Joe Biden and his main Obama advisor, Susan Rice?
Joe: Susan, good morning. (Joe goes to hug her)
Rice: Good morning Mr. president. (She puts her hand in the middle of the presidents chest and strong arms him, pushes him back and says, I told you Mr. president, no hugging)
Joe: (Joe looks down, dejected) I have to tell you, Susan, this border thing we have going on is getting a little too hairy, even for me. Hairier than my wet hairy legs.
Rice: Please Mr. president I do not need images of your wet hairy legs bouncing around in my head today. I told you, stop using your weird homey stories to make yourself more human to the public. Your not doing yourself any good, your creepin people out.
Joe: OK, OK. But this border thing is getting to the point that I think we have to continue to finish at least some parts of the wall to try to control all of these people rushing the border. It just does not look good. And even I do not care if it makes that other guy look good. The images of these children wrapped in these foil survival blankets reminds me of a giant oven filled with baked potatoes. It makes me very hungry, I am dreaming about baked potatoes every night. I love baked potatoes, especially with lots of butter and sour cream.
And there are thousands and thousands of them, where the hell are they all coming from!? And they say that 10 percent of them have the virus and they are re infecting the country. And many of them have the new variant! And I heard the other day that most of them are young 16 and 17 year old boys who could be gang members and are lets say sexually driven. Where are they going? What are they going to be doing? And, how much is this costing?
Rice: Mr. president, first, don’t worry about how much any of this is costing, we have unlimited funds. Remember when we spoke before you “won” the White House? And take a note Mr. president, that name, “White House”, is going to have to be changed.
When we spoke before the “election” I told you regarding the border that the rush over the border would be massive once the word went out that we would be welcoming all and we would be paying them when they got here. This is the future of America Mr. president. The future of America and the Democrat party.
Joe: But, but, but, Susan, um, um, um, um, it does not look good for me and my image? Im Joe, the nice guy, this does not look good. What will the people of America think?
Image result for BIDEN AND SUNAN RICE
Rice: First, Mr. president no one cares what they think, and these children and all of the people that they will bring into the country over time after the amnesty will ensure that we retain political power for the foreseeable future, certainly for the next 50 years if not for the rest of history.
Joe: I think we are going to have to make some adjustments, that’s all I’m saying, Susan. No?
Rice: No. Mr. president, we are staying on this course no matter what, no matter who is getting raped or abused or who dies in the process of getting here. We need the numbers. And if we do not have the numbers and if we can not control the election system as efficiently as we did in 2020 then this is all for naught. Its all a waste of time. The plan is the plan.
And remember Mr. president, if we lose in the 2022 midterms it is not out of the realm of possibility that you will be impeached immediately and removed from office. And that will threaten your son, Hunters chances of not being prosecuting for his “Business” deals (She holds her fingers up and makes the quotation signs). And I think that you may have some legal liability in regards to them, remember? HELLO.
So, Mr. president lets everyone just stay on course and lets get done what we have to get done and stop talking about these irrelevant details and your making some adjustments. Are we on the same page, Mr. president?
Joe: I hear you, but I was just saying, Susan.
I’m, Joe, the nice guy.
There’s a pending confrontation with real reality for our culture. When it will hit, I don’t know, but at some point people are going to be forced into confronting the cognitive dissonance. I hope it happens sooner than later, though I don’t know the results as some peoples’ minds will literally be blown.
A friend sent me a reply to: “Q” IS OVER, NOW THERE IS “G”
She wrote: “Creatively written!
My response: “Unfortunately its probably closer to the truth than creative writing.”