>> COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY WAS BEING CRITICIZED FOR NOT DOING ENOUGH
TO RAISE AWARENESS AND EDUCATE PEOPLE ABOUT RAPE AND SEXUAL
ASSAULT ON CAMPUS, SO AS A RESULT THE UNIVERSITY CAME UP
WITH WHAT IS REFERRED TO AS THE SEXUAL RESPECT REQUIREMENTS,
THAT STUDENTS HAVE TO UNDERGO IN
ORDER TO BE STUDENTS THERE.
APPARENTLY THE LATEST CAMPAIGN
IS BEING CRITICIZED BY STUDENTS, BECAUSE THEY FEEL LIKE IT IS
BELITTLING INSTANCES OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE.
LET ME GIVE
AN EXAMPLE.
STUDENT ACTIVISTS ARE UNHAPPY WITH A BRAND-NEW
SLOGAN, ìCONSENT IS BAE,î COMPLAINING THAT IT TRIVIALIZES
CONSENT AND APPROPRIATES AFRICAN
AMERICAN VERNACULAR ENGLISH.
LET US TAKE A LOOK AT THE FLYERS
THEY ARE PUTTING UP.
"CONSENT IS BAE, AND BAE MEANS BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE."
DOES THIS TRIVIALIZE THE ISSUES, AND IS THIS A CASE OF
APPROPRIATION?
GO.
>> I'M GOING TO VOTE NO.
FIRST,
JAYAR, IS BAE REALLY A PART OF THE
AFRICAN AMERICAN VERNACULAR?
OR HAVE WHITE PEOPLE PRETTY MUCH
APPROPRIATE THAT FROM THE GET
GO?
>> SOMEONE WAS SPEAKING WITH ME IN THE CONTROL ROOM.
WHAT'S GOING ON?
YES, TOTALLY RACIST.
>> IS BAE CONSIDERED PART OF BLACK VERNACULAR OR WAS IT
SOMETHING THAT WAS APPROPRIATED FROM THE GET-GO BY WHITE PEOPLE?
>> I SEE IT AS A KIDS ñ IT'S BEEN APPROPRIATED FROM KIDS,
BECAUSE I'M TOO OLD FOR THAT.
EVERY TIME I HEAR IT, IT SOUNDS
LIKE MILEY CYRUS IS SAYING IT.
THAT'S WHAT I THINK OF WHEN I
HEAR BAE.
I'M TOO OLD, WE GOTTA ASK A TWENTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD BLACK
PERSON.
>> I'M GOING TO LET COLUMBIA GO, COLUMBIA YOU ARE FREE TO GO.
THIS IS SUCH A STUPID CONTROVERSY.
>> COLUMBIA IS LIKE, "YES!"
>> BAE IS A RELATIVELY NEW THING, AND I'VE SEEN IT USED BY
EVERYONE.
I DON'T KNOW THE
ORIGINATOR IS OF THAT TERRIBLE FUCKING WORD, BUT I DON'T THINK
THIS IS A CASE OF CULTURAL APPROPRIATION.
IF PEOPLE START
SENDING ME HATE TWEETS ABOUT THIS I'M GOING TO LOSE MY MIND.
THIS IS NOT A GOOD EXAMPLE OF CULTURAL APPROPRIATION.
THE
THING ABOUT THIS TRIVIALIZING
SEXUAL ASSAULT, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT COLUMBIA IS
TRYING TO DO.
THEY CAME UP WITH THIS EDUCATION PROGRAM THAT
EVERYONE WANTED THEM TO DO, AND ON TOP OF THAT THEY ARE TRYING
TO APPEAL TO YOUNG PEOPLE.
THEY'RE NOT TRYING TO APPEAL TO
FIFTY YEAR OLDS, FORTY-YEAR-OLDS, OR EVEN THIRTY-YEAR-OLDS.
THEY
ARE TRYING TO APPEAL TO 18 TO 22-YEAR-OLDS THAT ARE TRYING TO
GO TO SCHOOL THERE.
THEY THINK ITíS A CUTESY WAY TO DO IT, DO
THEY MISS THE MARK?
A LITTLE BIT, BUT ARE WE GOING TO BE
OUTRAGED ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS IN THE NEWS?
>> I THINK COLUMBIA IS TAKING THIS SERIOUS.
THEY HAVE ADDED A
SUPPORT CENTER, THEY HAVE ADDED CASE OFFICERS, AND THIS WAS EXPLAINED
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
THEY HAVE ADDED
PEOPLE TO MAKE SURE THEY TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY.
THIS IS ANOTHER
PART OF THEIR EFFORT TO MAKE
SURE PEOPLE GET EDUCATED ON IT.
AND THEY SAY THAT IT WAS
ACTUALLY SURPRISINGLY EFFECTIVE.
THE ISSUE OF CULTURAL
APPROPRIATION, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO?
TAKE AWAY ALL OF ROCK 'N
ROLL?
THAT WAS CULTURAL
APPROPRIATION.
THE WHOLE COUNTRY IS BASED ON CULTURAL
APPROPRIATION.
PIZZA, CULTURAL APPROPRIATION OF
ITALIAN-AMERICANS, GONE.
CHINESE FOOD, GONE.
YOU NAME
IT, EVERYTHING IS CULTURAL APPROPRIATION.
WE ARE LIVING
TOGETHER, AND WE LEARN AND WE SHARE AND THAT'S ALL WE DO.
IT'S A DIFFERENT THING IF YOU HAVE A VERY SPECIFIC CASE OF
SOME GUY OR A WOMAN PRETENDING TO BE BLACK, OR GOING AROUND AND
TAKING CREDIT FOR IT, BUT MEANWHILE TREATING
AFRICAN-AMERICANS POORLY, THEN I'M 1000 PERCENT ON YOUR SIDE.
BUT WHEN YOU SAY THIS IS CULTURAL APPROPRIATION, YOU LOSE ME
ENTIRELY.
YOU LOSE A LOT OF PEOPLE ENTIRELY.
BY THE WAY, I
FIND YOUR ASSUMPTIONS INTERESTING.
YOU ASSUME THAT
THE STAFF MEMBERS AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY WHO DID THIS ARE
WHITE AND ARE APPROPRIATING
AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE.
MAYBE IT WAS AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN STAFF
MEMBER.
THAT IS AN ANGLO NORMATIVE ASSUMPTION.
I'M NOT
SURE I WOULD MAKE THAT.
ON THE
ISSUE OF TRIVIALIZING CONSENT.
WHAT DO YOU WANT US TO DO?
DO
YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SIT DOWN WITH EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLDS WHO ARE GOING
TO COLLEGE, NOW WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A SERIOUS DISCUSSION WITH
YOU?
YOU NEED TO HAVE A SERIOUS DISCUSSION.
THE QUESTION IS,
WHAT IS GOING TO BE MOST EFFECTIVE IN DELIVERING THAT
MESSAGE?
THE BOTTOM LINE IS WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THEY GET THAT
CONSENT, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE MESSAGE IS DELIVERED.
WHETHER OR NOT A SERIOUS DISCUSSION DOES THAT, A
LIGHTHEARTED DISCUSSION DOES
THAT, OR SOME COMBINATION OF BOTH.
YOU WANT PEOPLE TO GET CONSENT SO THAT SEXUAL ASSAULT
DOESN'T HAPPEN ON CAMPUS.
IF YOUR OBJECTION IS SOMETHING ELSE, LIKE NOT BEING
OFFENDED BECAUSE OF YOUR ASSUMPTIONS, THEN I
CHALLENGE YOUR ASSUMPTIONS, AND YOUR PRIORITIES.
>> THE OFFENDED TRAIN IS THE MOST EXHAUSTING TRAIN TO BE ON.
EVERYONE IS OFFENDED BY EVERYTHING.
EVERYTHING PEOPLE
DO IS BEING TALKED ABOUT.
YOU ARE WALKING THE WRONG WAY,
SCRATCHING YOUR ASS THE WRONG WAY ñ JUST CALM THE FUCK DOWN.
>> THERE WAS A STORY TODAY ABOUT BLACK WOMEN GETTING KICKED OFF A
WINE TRAIN FOR HAVING TOO GOOD A TIME ON A WINE TRAIN.
A WHITE WOMAN WAS OFFENDED BY HOW MUCH THEY
WERE LAUGHING.
WHAT ARE THEY, DRUNK OR SOMETHING?
THAT'S THE
WHOLE POINT.
>> I'M OFFENDED THAT EVERYONE IS SO OFFENDED.
I WANT EVERYONE TO CALM DOWN, ENJOY LIFE A LITTLE BIT.
STOP NITPICKING THINGS LIKE THIS.
COLUMBIA IS DOING SOMETHING, AND IT'S IMPORTANT.
I DON'T CARE IF THEY USE ANY TYPE OF RIDICULOUS LANGUAGE,
AS LONG AS THEY'RE GETTING THE POINT ACROSS.