I have an exceprt from it written over at my blog: semperfidoordie.blogspot.com

One year, I walked up and pointed out that they had a poster up saying that the Religious Studies department was ‘not diverse’ because they only had one professor who wasn’t white. I asked the person at their little desk how many ‘ethnically diverse’ profs that department should have. They responded ‘at least 4!’

At which point I mentioned the entire department only had 3 faculty members.

I pretty much agree with that take on it. Reinhard does get a little too far into the Jim Crow comparisons.

The chief failure of the comparison being the fact that Jim Crow laws promoted racism directly, and there was little question as to the intent. The OMAS policy is simply trying too hard to correct a past wrong in the wrong way… but two wrongs don’t make a right, as they say.

It wasn’t really the content of the article that interested me as it was the fact that it’s getting bigger than Eugene and the UO, and the surprise that a writer for the Oregonian was not defending the policy.

He does make an excellent point about “Cultural Competency”, which was the biggest red-flagged question mark that came up in my mind reading the draft Diversity Plan. The copy I saw didn’t define it at all.

What is “Cultural Competency”? Well, I’ve got a definition, found on http://www.air.org:

“Cultural competence is defined as a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in crosscultural situations (Cross et al., 1989; Isaacs & Benjamin, 1991). Operationally defined, cultural competence is the integration and transformation of knowledge about individuals and groups of people into specific standards, policies, practices, and attitudes used in appropriate cultural settings to increase the quality of services; thereby producing better outcomes (Davis, 1997 referring to health outcomes).”

And that last bit:

Godwin’s Law is, of course: “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”

So Olly’s law should read something along the lines of: “As a (possibly online) discussion about diversity or multiculturalism grows larger, the probability of a comparison involving Jim Crow laws or national institutionalized slavery approaches one.”

Also, I think we need a Godwin’s Law for Jim Crow comparisons. Until someone thinks of something better, I’m calling it Olly’s Law.

Seems there is at least one commentatar at a major fishwrapper that agrees there is a problem with the OMAS classes.

A quote: “It’s astonishing. The university has managed to concoct a program mixing modern racial quotas with a system old, Southern, white racists would have envied.”

Okay, let’s see here, this is the United States of America, so to be competent in our culture you have to have a basic understanding of market capitalism, be willing to exchange labor for wages, and enjoy television?

Is one “culturally incompetent” if one cannot name the cast of the latest Survivor series, at least three of the founding fathers, and hold a somewhat informed discussion on the principles of Federalism?

I somehow think that’s probably not what G-Vin had in mind.