What the hay is wrong with Cornell, the Ivy League university offering rock climbing classes only to black, indigenous (whatever the hell that means), people of color? My skin is Olive so I demand special considerations! If you are off-white, you need to get benefits!
That’s no crazier than saying blacks and so-called indigenous should get special rock climbing privileges.
The class was originally only “for people who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, or other people of color.”
By the way, plenty of Asians and Chinese are lighter than I am and I am considered white.
After some backlash over the obvious racism, the course description for “BIPOC Rock Climbing” was changed to read: “This class is designed to enable Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, or other people of color underrepresented in the sport of rock climbing to learn the sport and to feel included and supported. The class is open to all Cornell students interested in learning rock climbing with this special focus.”
At first, they didn’t want whites.
University spokesperson John Carberry told the Daily Sun on Monday that while such classes “may include a focus on students with specific identities, they are not restricted to only those students.
“Cornell offers many programs that support interests and perspectives of different parts of our community,” he added. “We encourage any student who is interested to take advantage of the unique opportunities across campus to learn from and with the many diverse perspectives and voices across campus.”
With the semester winding down, students and instructors defended the course’s emphasis on non-white students.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 36% of Cornell’s 15,000-plus undergraduate students in the fall of 2019 were white. The second-largest racial group was Asians (20%), followed by Hispanic/Latino students (14%). Black or African American students made up 7% of Cornell’s undergraduate population, behind “Race/ethnicity unknown” (8%) and “Non-resident alien” (11%).
What those last statistics tell me is Cornell is NOT choosing the best. They are going by the irrelevant skin color of the applicants. Asians should have a much higher representation in the admissions.
Ivy Leagues are not so special.
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