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"I am SO mad" and Efficiency

By Jeffrey Harrison

That line appears in a children's book I must have read to my own kids a few thousand times. Like every other parent I know I would try to vary it. Sometimes I read the title, author and all publication information including the ISBN. Other times I just added things like "I am so mad [I just got my hankie caught in a weasel's woofer.]

Now it is coming back. I think it was a book that featured the "little critters." Their chests were pumped up and their little arms straight down and fists clenched. BOY they were really mad!

At my law school we have had an nasty incident. Someone who may or may not be a student here (I don't know since I avoid the gossips) wrote a blog that most people (including every single person I know) will think tasteless and cruel. I will not give you the site because I'd prefer not to be someone who aids in this. Plus, I do not know it.

Now remember, every person I know and I think have ever known would be put off and even angered by this blog. I'd go a step further. I think every person every law professor knows would find the blog offensive at some level.

But that's my point. If everyone everyone knows would find it offensive what kind of courage, thinking, or risk is involved in all the complaining emails that have bounced around my school and others. I mean, where are these heros when there is some risk and actual controversy?

It's just way too predictable. Its' like pushing buttons on a panel. Push the right one and 15 people pipe up. Push another one and zero pipe up. In fact, on my campus there was another speech issue and the targets were a less sympathetic group than the target of the blog I have described and I think there was one person on the faculty who spoke up.

I've got an idea. Just to be efficient about it, on every email where you have your phone number or maybe just on your business card or tattooed to your arm have this:

"If anyone has said something racist, sexist or hateful about (here you add what ever you want -- environmentalists, vegans, Federalist society members, Republicans, Latinos, pizza tossers) whether or not I know about it, I am SO mad and I want someone else to do something about it."

Now you never have to worry about missing a chance to chime in and you yourself never take a risk or make a sacrifice. In the alternative one could decide not do this because, as I said, no one reading this blog or any other blog by a law professor and no one any of those people know do not already agree. This would leave you the time to think about actually taking a risk someday.

Full post as published by Class Bias in Higher Education on February 20, 2008 (boomark / email).