By Professor Ben Foster–
Recently U of L received negative publicity for alleged illegal employment activities, which is not surprising. Late fall 2015, I attended events on diversity and inclusiveness where two U of L diversity leaders spoke. Both men referred to black or Hispanic U of L employees as ‘tokens’ if those employees did not speak up about perceived problems facing minority groups like they did. One man specifically referred to such people as “no good to any of us.”
A few years back, some black U of L students referred to a conservative black student leader as an ‘Uncle Tom.’ At U of L, people may be called racists when they are proud of our new Lt. Gov., Jenean Hampton, but criticize Barack Obama’s policies. Even people at U of L who do not agree with all the goals of the LGBT Center may be referred to as unsophisticated bigots.
Some in the U of L community speak as if people who believe in the superiority of free markets over government planning and control to create wealth and alleviate poverty are just evil greedy capitalists. Some such comments, if directed at other groups would be considered ‘hate speech.’
Basically put, I wish U of L was an inclusive ‘safe space’ for everyone. Some diversity proponents on campus appear eager to develop something such as exclusive inclusive excellence – only for people who think like them.
If people insist on judging people based on the color of their skin, each hard working minority person should be viewed as a ‘role model’, not a ‘token’ or ‘Uncle Tom.’ We obviously need more diversity of thought among our diversity policy makers. U of L community members need to know that some people on campus respect and value different opinions, believe in following nondiscrimination laws and will support their rights under the First Amendment.
