Socrates & King » SF State

A resolution against violence

profpam — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:19:25 +0000

Across California there will be a protest against the budget cuts in education. SF State’s faculty union, the California Faculty Association has made this resolution in support of non-violent protests.

Here’s an excerpt:

The executive board of the SF State chapter of CFA adopted the following statement on February 25th:

California Faculty Association (CFA), San Francisco State University Chapter shares in the anger and frustration of students, faculty and staff regarding budget cuts that are destroying public education. We believe that peaceful protest and civil disobedience are powerful forces for change in a democratic society, and we defend the rights of individuals and organizations to practice them. However, CFA does not support or condone violence in any form. We oppose any vandalism or destruction of property. We also oppose the excessive use of force by law enforcement. This is our university – students, faculty, staff, and the community – and such acts undermine efforts to protect San Francisco State from those who would dismantle it. We seek a university founded upon mutual respect, social justice and accountability.
The governor’s chief of staff acknowledged that last fall’s campus demonstrations pushed him to raise the amount of money he proposed for next year’s CSU budget. That pretty well tells us one of the things CSU needs: more large peaceful demonstrations for public education and services. Ultimately, it is the integrity of our position and actions rather than violence that promotes the establishment of a community which supports a long-term commitment to education and social justice.

http://takeastand4publiced.org/

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Who has the big ‘fro?

profpam — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:32:12 +0000

Sigh. When introducing myself to the class this semester, I remarked that although I’m the first tenured philosopher at SF State who is an African American, I’m not only African American philosopher who has taught here. I pointed to my very closely shorn hair (Spring shearing!) and gave the hint that this very, very radical person had hair that was the extreme opposite of mine.

Silence! A few wrong answers! I had to tell them her name.

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Student protests at SF State

profpam — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:00:23 +0000

As most of your know there was a student protest on campus. Students occupied the Business Building and some blocked traffic on 19th Avenue. I felt a twinge of (Gator) pride coupled with concern.

I often give an example of blocking traffic on 19th as an example of civil disobedience. I wondered whether any of my Gators were responsible for doing it for real. When we were reading the Crito, I “promised” that I’d bail Gators out of jail, just as Crito had promised the court to post bond for Socrates. The convergence of class discussion and actual events was, well, creepy.

I didn’t know all the demands of the occupiers until I received a letter from President Corrigan. I followed the link he provided to their WordPress blog. I’m in favor of a lot of their demands. Two things in particular struck me about Corrigan’s letter. He mentioned that he had participated in the “real” (my words, not his) civil rights campaigns of the past, the very ones we studied this semester.

The other thing that most grabbed my attention was that Corrigan highlighted the same question we pondered in class: does it really count as an act of civil disobedience if you’re not willing to take the punishment that comes with it?

It’s always heartening to have events connect with classroom discussion.

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Once a Gator, always a Gator

profpam — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:51:37 +0000

I lectured today about ethical and metaethical principles. One point was about existentialist ethics. It’s the view that moral truths are based upon the kind of life or the kind of person I choose for myself. Actions that comport with this authentic self are, for that person, moral actions.

I mentioned being “Gator” identified. (This may be more of a clan or group thing, but I used it with respect to my own personal identity.)

I just received a LinkedIn invite from a former student. I then discovered that I was not hooked up with the LinkedIn SF State Alumni group. (Horrors!) I joined, of course. And discovered this bit of news. Wow! The big 1-0-0!

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