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Anybody who's read my blogs knows of my thoughts regarding Dr. Douglas. I am appalled and amazed at some of the things he says and does, and his "faux black dialect" commentary is some of the most offensive stuff he posts. Half black or not, the guy talks like a racist, and taken together with his penchant for attacking men with whom he doesn't agree by suggesting (if not actually saying) that they're gay--apparently believing that gay men are not "real" men and thus less worthy of respect--exposes him as the bigot he is. (And that's to say nothing of his anti-muslim posts & commentary.)
It certainly doesn't surprise me that he would post something so offensive as this--:
“Black heritage. Whoo hoo!
That is teh awesome. I goin' be try'n escpe from de massa's house to be goin' to dis heah black her'tge trail. Y'sm sir!"
[Posted by Donald Douglas to THE SWASH ZONE: BLACK HERITAGE TRAIL, BOSTON, MASS. at 10:27 PM, February 17, 2010] (This comment was subsequently removed by a blog administrator.)
--but as frequently happens with things Professor Donald Douglas posts, I'm left wondering why he would stoop so low. (I mean, I know what I think... What I wonder is, what was he thinking, that would make him say such a thing?) Is he opposed to Black history and heritage? Does he have something against the trail in Boston? Does he think it's unamerican to speak of slavery, because it reflects poorly on America and the necocon catechism of American exceptionalism in all things?
All that said, I have to come out against contacting his employers directly. It's one thing to blog about his offenses, and even go so far as to post that the relevant folks at Long Beach City College should make themselves aware of the things he's writing online, should anything he says reflect poorly on the institution and it's reputation, legally or otherwise. (Dr. Donald Douglas is the only professor at Long Beach City College I know anything about... But if I were to know someone who was considering attending, and had a choice, I would certainly advise against going there, on the off chance they ended up having to take a course with the guy. And were I a parent, I would make the admissions department aware of that, too.)
But knowing about the things that Donald Douglas and all their employees are doing that may reflect poorly on Long Beach City College is their responsibility. While I certainly agree that Donald's bigotry is a matter about which they ought to be concerned, those of us on the blogesphere who disagree with him don't have the underlying grounds to speak to the school about it. We are not students or the guardians of students. He is not being a bigot or trolling our blogs in his capacity as a Long Beach City College employee. (The closest he comes is whipping out his position as a college level PoliSci associate professor and essentially yelling "respect my authoritay!!!" in his best Eric Cartman voice. Which in my experience over the years, generally only leaves folks saying "He's a professor? Really?!?) When he's blogging, he's just another private citizen, albeit a bigoted one. And just as we wouldn't want anyone contacting our employers because they disagree with the political or social views that we sit here and write about in our spare time, we shouldn't be hounding Donald at his job for what he does as a private citizen... ...not unless we have a good reason, anyway (such as being the parent of a student at the school, or God forbid, in one of the man's classes, for instance.)
I'm not saying that Long Beach City College shouldn't be aware of what Donald Douglas says and does in public, or care how his words and deeds may reflect on the institution... I'm just saying that I don't think it's our place to tell them quite so directly, if they don't already know...
That's my two cents, anyway... (And yes, I am aware of the shit-storm that may result from my tossing my pennies out, on this issue (perhaps even an ill wind or two blowing portside, even)... I'm prepared to deal with whatever comes, just as you folks are, I'm sure... In retrospect, perhaps I should've said something sooner--not that I expected anyone to change their tune on my say-so, but for the same reason I did so now; right is right. Honestly, I just figure it was a one (then two) time thing that would blow over and fade away of it's own accord... But it doesn't seem to be going that way...)
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Submitted for moderator approval 2/19/10, 2:48 AM (IM blog time)
UPDATE: I see Donald Douglas didn't like Octo's post, either... Can't imagine why... American Power: Swash Zone's Cyber-Bully Harassment Escalates!
A few quick things:
1) Donald Douglas' calling anyone a cyber-bully is highly pot/kettle. Barely a day goes by that he isn't attacking someone--often personally, with name-calling and insinuations that have nothing to do with the subject at hand--for what they believe and say politically or socially. And because of that...
2) seeing Donald Douglas once again playing the victim card -- even though I agree with him to a certain extent, as far as this subject goes -- strikes me as pretty damned hypocritical and sad. While I agree that contacting his place of employment without grounds to do so (being a LBCC student/parent) is wrong, his whining about it as though he does nothing to provoke such reactions in people (part of the very definition of a troll) is nuts.
3) I notice that in his AmPow post, Donald Douglas does not defend--or address in any way--the bigoted comment he made at The Swash Zone Blog that resulted in the "RACIST BIGOT" post.:
“Black heritage. Whoo hoo!
That is teh awesome. I goin' be try'n escpe from de massa's house to be goin' to dis heah black her'tge trail. Y'sm sir!"
[Posted by Donald Douglas to THE SWASH ZONE: BLACK HERITAGE TRAIL, BOSTON, MASS. at 10:27 PM, February 17, 2010] (This comment was subsequently removed by a blog administrator.)
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