[1483] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
What We May All Have Missed
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Adam Champy)
Tue Oct 7 21:20:50 2003
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2003 20:36:36 -0400
From: Adam Champy <aschampy@MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
I think that many who are trying to condone what happened with the
insensitive email invitation are missing the critical issue which causes
the administration to respond in the way it has. Some things are right and
some are wrong - I know it sounds simplified, but it is that crystal clear.
If an entire group of people are doing something wrong, that doesn't make
the action right, it just shows moral flaws in that group of people. I
believe that those who originally wrote the invitation did it in the
intention that it be funny and in some sense cool. Many of those who
received that email probably laughed at it and felt like the party would be
a fun one to attend. That is the issue - what was said in that email isn't
right and the fact that everyone seems to accept it as being ok is the
issue which troubles our campus leaders. Racist, insensitive remarks have
no place on this campus. If you feel like you want to party and celebrate
the plight of the urban poor and use language which has been banished from
our vocabulary, something in your mind should tell you that it's wrong to
do so. Previous discussion in multiple forums have already described how
self-segregated this campus is. We don't need communities ridiculing and
reveling in the economic situation of another racial or ethnic group. The
fact that those who wrote the email felt no shame and those who agree that
the email is ok feel no shame is shameful in itself of this entire
community. We should be better than that. Even if we are the one community
out of many who feel that it's wrong, MIT would be a better community for
it. There are many times in life where one will be presented with a moral
question - one that we must answer based on an inner sense of what is right
and wrong - not based on religion or what someone told us is right and
wrong - but one that in our fellowship amongst each other moves towards a
closer and more tight-knit community. Lying, cheating, stealing - one does
not need commandments to understand that something is wrong about each. If
we are a community that stands out amongst our peers in so many areas,
every member of the community should understand that ridiculing a racial
group is wrong, no matter what the rest of society may accept. This isn't
about trying to make an example out of a few people that happened to have
done a stupid thing and it came to the attention to the administration so
they had to say something. This issue runs much deeper, in the idea that
those who spend part of their lives contributing to this community we call
MIT should live up to a higher standard, in academics, work, and life.
Thanks,
Adam Champy
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