An Embarrassing Videotape From UCLA

Chalk up one more embarrassing incident for the University of California-this time at Los Angeles. In the past few days, an embarrassing videotape was made by some dopey young co-ed criticizing Asian students for talking too loud in the library.

A minor point you might say, but the girl went on to mock the languages ("ching-chong etc") used by students as they talked on their cell phones about such trivial things as the tsunami in Japan. I am not going to name the girl or show the video. She has taken it down, but copies are out there and still circulating. I figure she is getting enough grief and hopefully  has learned a life's lesson.

I should also mention that UCLA Chancellor Gene Bloch, to his credit, has spoken out strongly in response to the video.

Rather than crucify the girl in question, I think a couple of comments are appropriate. Many UC campuses have a large percentage of Asian-American students, many of whom do not even speak the language of their ancestors. Surely at UCLA there are also many Asian exchange students. At UC-Irvine, which also has a large number of Asian-Americans, there are also Asians from the Far East, some of whom we teach English to in the UCI-Extension. Certainly with them, there are cultural differences, which we as teachers learn to deal with just as we deal with the cultural differences and different learning sytles of students from the Middle East, Latin America and other regions.

I have stated before in other essays that Asian-American (and Asian) students are often subject to stereotypes and sometimes resentment due to their excellence in their studies. That should not be a cause for resentment. Rather we should admire their achievements and strive to follow their example. (No, not all Asian students are great students.)

Yet, once again I must wonder; after following incidents of intolerance on university campuses, have we established a double standard based on who the aggrieved group is and who is the offender? (The girl at UCLA is white, which has been pointed out in the web reports.) The question must also be asked; would this girl have made such a video complaining about African-Americans and mocking black inner-city vernacular?

I doubt it.

Which goes back to the same issue; racially offensive comments are or should be unacceptable universally. Yet, the incidents that occurred last year at UC San Diego (Compton Cookout, library noose, and anti-Semitic comment to David Horowitz) suggest to me that there is still a double standard. As I have stated before, the Compton Cookout story and the mysterious noose in the library have literally turned the UCSD campus upside down, while the comment to David Horowitz agreeing with the Hezbollah leader's genocidal remark avout Jews had no legs.

I commend Chancellor Bloch for his strong statement, which hopefully, will nip this in the bud. More importantly, I hope the young girl in question has learned a lesson-especially in this day of high technology. One click can cause you a lot of grief.