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Transcript:
About 3,000 news cycles ago, by which I mean about two weeks ago, a video hit social media, showing a college student at Texas A&M challenging her professor.
(Plays video)
When I first saw that, I cringed so hard that I lost consciousness. I know that stupid people go far in life, but it’s just really depressing to see that level of stupidity in a college classroom. I actually paused halfway through the video to look up Texas A&M’s acceptance rate, which is apparently 57%, so that makes me feel better. Most people who apply get in, including complete dipshits like this person. Even dipshits deserve an education, but it’s sad that she made it all the way to college without so much as seeing a single episode of Schoolhouse Rock. Now, I don’t know where this girl grew up, but after checking Texas A&M’s acceptance rate I decided to look up where Texas ranks in public schooling, and the answer is 40th. So.
To address her, um, points, the President of the United States does not determine what is or is not “legal.” That is done by Congress. Most of us learned that by the age of 8 or 9, I’d say.
Further, it is not illegal for a college to “go against someone’s religious beliefs.” If so, the woman recording the video would not BE in college. She would be at home, pregnant, and only slightly less educated than she appears to be right now.
All of that was depressing enough, but things quickly got worse when Republican lawmakers, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, pressured the University, which responded by announcing that they were firing the professor, her department head, and the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences because the course material being taught differed from what was described in the course catalog.
Which is interesting, because the rest of us have eyeballs and the internet. The University removed the course description, but the Wayback Machine exists, so here it is:
English 360: Literature for Children
“In this course, we will explore a range of children’s literature in English, including picture books, poetry, contemporary novels, historical fiction, and fantasy. Our task is to think critically about what these books can tell us about how we (and others) understand childhood, how those definitions have changed over time, and how these books participate in larger movements of history, culture, and literature.”
Yeah, I can’t imagine why a course like that would deal with one of the biggest current discussions around children’s literature, i.e., LGBTQ+ representation.
Had a student had any question about that, it may have been cleared up on the first day of class (or before) when they received the syllabus, which read, “Some of the material in this class might be controversial, and it is likely differing opinions will emerge. You are certainly not required to agree with me (or your peers), or to adhere to any particular viewpoints,” it reads, adding that McCoul insisted on respectful dialogue.”
Additionally, the syllabus listed the books they’d be reading, which included several with LGBTQ+ themes.
The Texas Tribune interviewed students in the class and found at least four of them who admitted that they hadn’t bothered to read the course description before registering, so honestly why even bother? With anything, I mean. Why bother with anything?
In the only somewhat amusing twist to this story, the guy who ultimately decided to fire all these people for having the temerity to teach their students something was Texas A & M’s president, Mark A. Welsh. In the week following the firings, HE was targeted by the same Republicans, who criticized him for not firing everyone back in the summer when that video was initially recording, instead waiting for the Republicans to post it to Xitter, at which point he panicked and cut everyone.
“His ambivalence on the issue and his dismissal of the student’s concerns by immediately taking the side of the professor is unacceptable,” wrote Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick on Xitter. The pressure of not being a good enough fascist eventually got to Welsh, who ended up being forced to resign.
Which, you know, if you’re a “learnin’ type,” is not surprising! Every single time a person or company or institution bows to the censorious rightwing, they’re punished further. Every time! As outlined by the Center for American Progress, “Once under the searing gaze of the Trump administration, bowing to demands does not remove the glare. For example, in March, Columbia University received a letter from the administration with similar demands to those that would be sent to Harvard University weeks later. Under threat of losing $400 million in grants, the university largely agreed to the Trump administration’s demands, including policies restricting campus protest and overhauling its Middle Eastern studies department. President Trump told reporters in late May that Columbia was working with the administration to find a solution, temporarily taking the university “off that hot seat.” One week later, the Department of Education abruptly reversed course and notified Columbia’s accreditor that the university allegedly violated federal antidiscrimination laws and “fails to meet the standards for accreditation,” which threatens the university’s ability to provide financial aid and legitimate course credits for students. Negotiations are ongoing, and the university’s grants have not been restored.”
This A & M incident is made particularly worse because it is a public university. Unlike Harvard and Columbia, which are private institutions, Texas A & M is built on public land donated by the US federal government and it is run with funding from the taxpayers of Texas. As a member of the The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities it has a responsibility to contribute to the public good, “providing a life-changing education to students from ordinary backgrounds; undertaking pathbreaking research that saves lives, drives innovation, and enhances quality of life; and engaging their communities to tackle some of the most intractable challenges they face.”
In other words: fuck this bullshit.
I know there’s been a lot of news in the two weeks since this story broke, but I really think it’s worth highlighting it and keeping it on our collective radar. The professor, Melissa McCoul, has retained a lawyer and I desperately hope she has the ability to fight this. If she needs backup, we need to back her up. Because again, fighting back on absolutely every level is the only way we can slow down this fascist machine that seeks to silence critical voices and vilify marginalized people to drive them from public life.
And as a final parting thought, fuck snitches like that idiot who shot the video. If you see a snitch, do not befriend them. Do not be nice to them. Do not let them have a moment of peace in public. The girl in the video has chosen to remain anonymous, and that’s great news because it means she’s scared to be a known fascist snitch, even if it would guarantee her a spot on Fox News. Well, maybe Newsmax. I think Fox News still has some standards, requiring a basic ability to make it through a sentence when you know a camera is recording.
