"We are all orange together..."

When the pursuit of knowledge is pushed aside for the pursuit of multiculturalism and diversity, this is the result:

Lil' Kim to talk to Syracuse University class

Lil' Kim to talk to Syracuse University class

Wednesday, November 3, 2004 Posted: 12:57 PM EST (1757 GMT)

SYRACUSE, New York (AP) -- Syracuse University students taking "Hip-Hop Eshu: Queen B@#$H101 -- The Life and Times of Lil' Kim" will have a guest speaker Wednesday -- the multiplatinum recording artist herself.

Kim accepted an invitation to speak to the class, which is an accredited course being taught by English professor Greg Thomas. She'll also meet with faculty and about 100 other invited students during her visit to discuss her role in the hip-hop culture and her experiences as one of its leading female stars.

"I am honored and quite proud that a class is being taught on my sensationalist lyrics, unique style and fashion and leadership role within the hip-hop community," the 29-year-old rapper said in a statement.

The class is one of a growing number of courses being offered by colleges and universities around the country that look at the growth of hip-hop as a cultural movement.

The Syracuse course requires students to read Kim's song lyrics as literary texts and analyze her iconography in videos and performances, according to the course description....

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Race is a touchy subject, but I don't mind talking about it. You see, as a White Conservative Republican Male, Liberals brand me as an evil sexist racist bigot no matter what I say. So, I really have nothing to lose.

The great thing about achieving diversity is that it's easy. It doesn't take any real work.

You see, skin color and gender are not accomplishments. One's skin color and/or gender are not things that we work towards or are things that require any effort to achieve. We are born a certain race and a certain gender.

Diversity is just a collection of race and gender. Although it is fair to say that diversity can be collectively achieved, since it's components are, again, just race and gender, it does not require any real effort (just a ratio and some racism.)

I know this sounds obvious, but google search the word DIVERSITY and you will see the industry and attention that the quest for diversity has created.

Colleges and universities are the most interested in diversity. They DO see race as an accomplishment. And that's how we get to Lil' Kim and other absurd classes. You see, our intellectual elite believe that there needs to be a perfect mixture of race and gender in a student body before the absorption of knowledge can begin. All culture - no matter how absurd - must be included and given equal coverage.

The problem is that so much time is spent on promoting and "achieving" diversity that no one ever actually gets around to the "learning of knowledge" part of the process. Colleges and universities now seem to stop at the diversity phase and declare victory. This has happened so frequently in so many schools that diversity has now replaced the role that knowledge once held. Diversity is now the goal to be accomplished.

Why has this happened? Did schools just get so wrapped up in diversity that they forgot about the teaching part? Maybe it's just easier for them this way - remember, teaching is hard. Teaching DOES require effort.

Also, you can accept a lot more students when success in college takes no effort. More students means more money.


By the way, there is also the issue of Diversity of Thought on campus, but that is a subject for another day.



P.S.

Syracuse University's mascot was, for many years, "The Orangemen", but the "men" part was too "gender specific". Now they are just The Orange

from their athletic site:

...“To clarify one of things that is part of this process. We are going to refer to ourselves as “The Orange.” That does not preclude us being represented in print as Orange men or Orange women. It is no longer Orangemen or Orangewomen. I also want to make sure that everyone knows that we are all orange together. We will encourage more orange in the Carrier Dome, so that we can in fact be orange together.”...

- Athletics Director Jake Crouthamel