I have been backchanneled by people who report that the performance has crossed
the line to threats of sexual violence against female debaters in the room in
explicit terms with the proviso that the debaters from SFSU want it "to hurt."
I still don't really know what was involved in the incident last weekend, but I
do think threats of sexual assault against other participants in the round
cross a line.
Sherry
----- Original Message -----
From: road runner
To: Shawn T Whalen ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL
PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 12:09 PM
Subject: Re: [eDebate] Accusations of Illegal Debating
Shawn,
As most of us don't know the particulars of this incident it is hard for us
to understand the complexity of what happened.
That being said, I do have a question.
You said:
>>>>>>>>>>
While I completely respect and promote the rights of each individual to
assert and defend all of their rights under the law, I want to suggest that
debate rounds might not be the most appropriate place to make those assertions.
>>>>>>>>>>
Haven't we been using debate rounds for several years to assert our rights?
We have used Hip-Hop, narratives, and even a petition to make accusations of
racism and sexism. Debate teams make these accusations at just about every
tournament I attend. Sometimes the accusations are veiled (very thinly) and
sometimes they are just blatant. Teams accuse their opponents, their judges,
and especially the system. But those accusations are there.
>>>>>>>>>>
Our students encourage and invite a discussion of style, taste, and
aesthetics but ethical and legal accusations are designed to enjoin us from
inviting that discussion.
>>>>>>>>>>
I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop for a while now. I have had
this conversation with several other coaches about it, and we all agreed that
it was coming. How long before the cavalier tossing of accusations took its
toll in debates, at the tournaments, and in life? And make no mistake about it,
many of the accusations that have become prevalent in debate rounds go way
beyond "style, taste, and aesthetics" and move right into "ethical".
I will not defend that these ethical accusations are any better or worse than
your case of legal accusation because, again, I don't know enough about your
case.
>>>>>>>>>>
These accusations have forced us to seek the support of university
administrators who do not fully appreciate the debate tournament context and
who could act as censors.
>>>>>>>>>>
This is another thing I have been fearing for many years. I understand that
your situation may be worse, but I have been waiting for ethical accusations to
get back to school administrators and administrations. You can only be accused
of racism and sexism for so long before the wrong people hear about it. And
like you said, it is difficult to convince someone who doesn't know the debate
tournament context.
I feel for you and for your situation Shawn. I am glad that your
administration is supportive. I also hope that maybe this manifestation will
demonstrate that we need to be more careful how we couch and deliver our
arguments. Maybe we shouldn't throw accusations of racism, sexism, and sexual
harrassment around quite so cavalierly.
Bob Lechtreck
Saddened but not surprised
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