The Hearing - Part 8

CASE HEARING RACISM

Chair:                           Professor Deltdrick Ross, Head of Electrical Engineering

Department

Committee Members:   Professor Floyd Bohrer, Architecture

                                    Professor Elena O’Brien, Civil Engineering

                                    Professor Moses Fogel, Mineral and Mining Engineering

Witnesses:                    Delbert Ballas, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Frank Covington Posey, Electrical Engineering student

Agnes Davis, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Carlo Erickson, Electrical Engineering student

                                    John Martin, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Yolanda Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Angeline O’Connell, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Jennifer Wallace, Electrical Engineering student

Logan Wittels, Electrical Engineering student

Professor Phyllis Bligh, Electrical Engineering

Professor Richard Grant, Electrical Engineering

Victim:                         Frieda Pianas, Electrical Engineering student

                                   

Accused:                      Jennifer Miller, Electrical Engineering student

                                    Dina Wise, Electrical Engineering student

 

Professor Ross nods and concentrates on the paper in front of him.

DR:                              Jennifer Wallace is next.

Jennifer Wallace seems to be determined and defiant.

DR:                              Please describe what happened three weeks ago.

Jennifer Wallace (JW): I don’t remember.

Professor Ross struggles with his temper. He has enough of students, who claim not to

remember what was going on at the time. Professor Fogel takes over.

MF:                              Let’s juggle your memory a bit. Ms. Miller seemed to have entertained part of your class…

JW (nonchalant):           Oh, you mean the jokes she told.

MF (smiling wry):         Exactly.

JW:                              What do you want to know?

MF:                              Describe in your own words what happened.

JW:                              I think she told two jokes. They made me laugh hard.

MF:                              What were they about?

JW:                              One was that Hispanics don’t like swans, because they are more beautiful. The swans that is. The other was about a shoot out in a bar. The American showed the chili… I mean the Colombian and the Saudi who is the master…

There is a loud murmur in the crowd. The committee is shocked.

MF:                              What was that, Ms. Wallace?

JW:                              Nothing.

MF (persists):               You started a word with chili. What did you want to say in all honesty?

JW (suddenly interested in the wall across the room): I didn’t want to say anything.

MF (keeps his temper under check): Ms. Wallace I know exactly what word you wanted to use. It’s a derogatory term of somebody from Latin America. Spill it!

JW:                              Okay, okay. I nearly said chili dipper.

MF (suddenly very serious): Ms. Wallace, this is unacceptable! I’m very ashamed a student at our college would take such a word in her mouth. This has consequences!

JW (with head bowed): Yes, sir.

DR:                              Professor Fogel is absolutely right! I’ll expect you tomorrow at

                                    08.00 a.m. sharp in my office. We are going to discuss your disgraceful behavior then.

JW (by now red faced): Yes, sir.

DR:                              Leave!

After forcing him to calm down, Professor Ross suggests to go on lunch break before

hearing the last three witnesses.

DR:                              The hearing is adjourned until 14.00 hours.

After the break Professor Ross invites the next witness.

DR:                              Logan Z. Wittels, please.

Logan Wittels takes a seat. He is a bit tense.

DR:                              Same question to you, Mr. Wittels. What did you witness three weeks ago?

Logan Wittels (LG):      Ms. Miller told a racist joke and was then encouraged by Ms. Wise in words and by the rest surrounding her, when they laughed, to tell another.

FB:                               What were the jokes about?

LG:                              I didn’t listen to the first one. I was preparing mentally for the class. The second got my attention, because it was extreme, in my opinion.

FB:                               What was so extreme about the last one?

LG:                              It described in detail what happens if a racist fellow citizen is going to a bar and encounters a Hispanic and a person from the Middle East. They end up dead, because the American believes they are illegal immigrants.

FB:                               What did you do next?

LG:                              I kept quiet, but was fuming. I thought I better didn’t interfere with so many people involved, but wanted to discuss the situation with my girl friend, Ms. Davis. I also saw Ms. Pianas entering, when Ms. Miller, until then one of her best friends, told the first joke. Ms. Pianas was hurt and angry. She kept her composure and even though, it had upset her, behaved more or less normal. She was maybe a bit distracted during the day.

FB:                               What did Ms. Davis and you decide to do?

LG:                              We decided to offer Ms. Pianas our friendship. She might have been isolated and lonely, if we didn’t. I also bet she didn’t want to sit beside Ms. Miller and Ms. Wise, so I left it to Ms. Davis to deal with Ms. Pianas. I said I was going to talk to one of our professors, because racism has to be stopped in its tracks. I wasn’t able to catch Professor Grant. Professor Bligh on the other side had time and listened. She promised to take care of the problem.

FB:                               What happened next?

LG:                              Professor Bligh and Grant arrived at the next class together and asked what racism was. They also made it clear there would be consequences if one of the students behaved racist.

FB:                               Was this the end of it?

LG:                              I don’t know. I only know around a week later Professor Bligh sent Ms. Pianas home and asked my girl friend to take care of her. I’m unaware of the reason, though.

FB:                               Thank you for your openness, Mr. Wittels, and for doing the right thing. It was important you informed us.

Logan Wittels leaves.

©2012