Cans of worms a’poppin open all over. There’s a discussion on one of the campus listservs pertaining to hate crimes. A banner for Semana de la Raza was stolen recently after it had already been defaced with KKK and other such crap.

The discussion on the faculty list has been variously wounded, combative, and most of all passive aggressive. I believe that whenever you reply to a person by using their language in quotes throughout the email you are really just attempting to bait them into some kind of conversation. Some kind of “conversation” indeed.

So although I really try like hell to avoid these interactions, I felt compelled to send a message to the list. Here’s hoping I don’t get flamed to death. I just feel strongly that a) I don’t want to receive these damn emails every day, b) this is totally not the point of the faculty list, and c) the “conversation” has already gone to crap.

I agree that there is a conversation to be had here but I would respectfully ask that the conversation take place off of this listserv. This asynchronous email environment is one in which there is great potential for misunderstanding one another without the benefit of both vocal and non-verbal expression.

If we are a community then let us come together as a community:  honestly and with good intention. Strive to use language that is transparent– not to bait one another into responding. We have to embrace the notion that we may feel and experience these complex constructs very differently. We should allow language to open us to one another and to ourselves, not to close each other off.

In the words of John Dewey, “There is more than a verbal tie between the words common, community, and communication…. Try the experiment of communicating, with fullness and accuracy, some experience to another, especially if it be somewhat complicated, and you will find your own attitude toward your experience changing.”

Out of respect for my colleagues I won’t be sharing any of the other emails on this topic. I can say that while I was writing this an e-mail came through that in response a face to face discussion has been scheduled for next week in the TLC. That’s all I really wanted.