A professor called Trump’s election an ‘act of terrorism.’ Then she became the victim of terror. (Washington Post; Dec 27)
“Now, at 66, I’m paranoid,” [targeted instructor] Cox said. “It doesn’t feel good at all to be looking over my shoulder and wondering when an unfamiliar car pulls up across the street whether they’re going to take a picture of me or something worse — but that’s my life now. I feel like I’ve been attacked by a mob of people all across the country,” she added. “If they’re telling me over and over again that they want to shoot me in the face, how am I supposed to know if they’re going to do it or not?”
. . .
Cox’s comments were recorded by a conservative student in her class who found her statements offensive and decided to share the video with the Orange Coast College Republicans, according to Joshua Recalde-Martinez, a political science major and president of the campus Republican group.
. . .
“Go out in the middle of the football field, pull out a handgun, put it to your temple and shoot yourself,” Jim Ernst wrote [to Cox]. “Or better yet, douse yourself in gasoline and set yourself on fire.”
. . .
The harassment crested when Cox received an email from a man named Tim White that showed her home address, phone number and salary and threatened to spread the information “everywhere.” The email referred to Cox as a “libtard, Marxist, hatemonger, nutcase.” It was then, Cox said, that she could no longer stand to be in her home and decided to flee.
The professor turned her final week of class this semester over to a substitute, but Cox said her ordeal continued after the controversial video appeared on the O’Reilly Factor. The host referred to her statements as “gibberish” and “slander” and labeled the professor part of “the totalitarian left.”
“That woman needs a psychologist,” he said.
. . .
The Orange Coast College Republicans have filed a formal complaint with the school and hired an attorney, said Shawn Steel, a former chairman of the California Republican Party.
Steel told the Orange County Register that Cox is using her power as a grade-determining instructor to “basically scare and shame students.”
“It’s alarming,” he said. “It’s scaremongering. It’s irrational. It’s a rant. And it doesn’t belong in the classroom.”
. . .
[Cox's] name has been added to a controversial website called “Professor Watchlist,” which lists the names of about 200 academics across the country accused by a conservative group of advancing “leftist propaganda” and discriminating “against conservative students.”
“This is a very carefully planned plot to attack college professors that they don’t like and disagree with,” she said. “This is being done all around the country. It’s not my fault, and I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Rob Schneiderman, president of the Coast Federation of Educators/American Federation of Teachers Local 1911 that represents Cox, agrees that the problem is not what Cox said, but the fact that she was recorded, a violation of the student code of conduct that was expressly stated in the professor’s syllabus. Schneiderman said the short, edited clip fails to provide viewers with any context for Cox’s statements and could warrant punishment.
“She’s known as an open teacher,” he said. “There’s a petition going around on campus to nominate her for teacher of the year. She’s very well respected on campus, and this was an absolute violation.”
Schneiderman said the union plans to work with school officials to strengthen its free speech policies to keep students and professors safe from “Gestapo tactics.” Many professors on campus, he said, have vowed to resist any attempts by the campus Republicans to dictate classroom discourse.
. . .
“My parents left Cuba so we would not have this kind of harassment and so we would have access to free education,” [Cox] said. “They made sacrifices to bring us here, and I’m proud to be an American.”
“It’s just hard to believe that this is happening to me,” she added, “and if this is what America is turning into, we all need to be afraid.”
* * * |
6 comments:
It's astonishing to see the lack of logic among people in the states. You might think learning about a few fallacies wouldn't be so much to ask for. But then you see people use them. Everywhere. I'm guessing anyone who disagrees with me here will likely reply by using an ad hominem fallacy about me (aka trolling) without putting in the effort to logically defend an alternative argument. It's interesting, though, because even some liberal-minded friends of mine who know lots about, say computer science or electrical engineering , are clearly rational to some extent and even know about logic. But they think logic has no place in politics. They believe logic is meant for science and "facts" only, and that politics are subjective. There are lots of issues with that thinking, mainly that science is still profoundly important in politics (like when Trump rejects it or climate change) and using a tool like logic cuts through most political BS like a knife cuts butter. Maybe if more people understood logic, or even valued it), nonsensical rhetoric wouldn't be the norm for American politics.
Looks like your picture of Cox is from 30 years ago. She looks like a totally different person now at age 66 in the classroom video. Not knocking her, just suggesting that she gets properly represented.
Glad she is feeling the heat.
Your job is to teach and spew hateful opinions.
Some IVC professors will be next. Students are recording and their attorneys are waiting.
Harassment of teachers is but one indicator of the edge on which democracy clings to. Many students, I suspect, do not realize what could occur after something goes on line. Professor Cox is but one with gun sights aimed at her and what she represents.
May this episode in which we live soon come to an end.
Private citizen Trump prefers torture to justice. He fits in with that group of misfits with disorders related to dictators, or in his case a failed one.
Post a Comment