Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch, #85

Fucking hell:

A [life-sized effigy] of Sen. Barack Obama was found hanging in the George Fox University quad early Tuesday along with graffiti aimed at minority recipients of a scholarship program, the university president told The Oregonian this morning.

…A custodian discovered the cutout of Obama about 7 a.m. Tuesday and removed it. The cutout was hung from a tree with fishing line near Minthorn Hall. He said the image of the African-American Democratic nominee for president was accompanied by the words, "Act Six reject."

Act Six is a scholarship program that was established two years ago and is aimed at including more low-income and minority students in the George Fox student body, [university president Robin Baker] said. Students are chosen for their leadership potential; all receive full scholarships.

He said about seven of those students are African-American. About a quarter of the student body is minority, "which for us is a really significant achievement," he said.

…"We select these kids in their senior year of high school," he said. "We talk to them about what it is like to join a suburban campus and some of the problems associated with it. It was very disappointing to find this."

Maybe it's not the students of color who need the talk about integration. Ahem. As Shaker JoAsakura's friend said (which JoAsakura sent to me by email) after hearing yet more about the special classes for Act Six students on the radio, "George Fox University's Act Six students all have had SPECIAL TRAINING as to what they can expect to have to handle, being that George Fox is a historically majority-white school. Where are the training programs for the white students as to what constitutes racial insensitivity?" Maybe they exist—although, if they do, they're sure not being mentioned today the way the classes for the Act Six students are, which itself smacks to me of a passive-aggressive reminder to those students that they're not to do anything crazy like get demonstrably angry about this.

(And maybe the president of a school interested in promoting diversity shouldn't say things like: "George Fox University is committed to becoming a place that more broadly represents the Kingdom of God – a place where students from diverse backgrounds come together to live out the teachings of Jesus in our world. We are all created in the image of God and placed in this world to reflect the character of God." But that's a whole other post.)

The supposed good news, such as it is, is that very few people actually saw the effigy before it was removed—although I'm curious if, in their zeal to remove it, the school potentially tampered with evidence at the scene of what certainly sounds like a hate crime.

Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty-Two, Forty-Three, Forty-Four, Forty-Five, Forty-Six, Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, Fifty, Fifty-One, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One, Sixty-Two, Sixty-Three, Sixty-Four, Sixty-Five, Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven, Sixty-Eight, Sixty-Nine, Seventy, Seventy-One, Seventy-Two, Seventy-Three, Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five, Seventy-Six, Seventy-Seven, Seventy-Eight, Seventy-Nine, Eighty, Eighty-One, Eighty-Two, Eighty-Three, Eighty-Four.