Drug Bust Dopiness, Flag Raving Mad

The Heights, a student newspaper at Boston College, has been branded racist for a headline reading, "[Resident Directors] Resign Following Drug Bust," according to the Daily Free Press.

Members of a minority student group say use of the term "drug bust" in a story about the arrest of three black Resident Directors caught smoking dope was insensitive and racist. They even burned some copies of the newspaper to make their point. They insisted that the term would not have been used had the perpetrators been white.

The paper printed an apology on the front page of the following issue expressing regret for "the pain that the mistake inflicted on the BC community."

Now It's Not Inclusive

Latino activists in California say a high school's rule prohibiting students from wearing clothing with flags on it not "inclusive" enough because it prohibits kids from wearing images of the Mexican flag, according to the Hollister Freelance.

Students who came to school wearing clothes with the Mexican flag on them in honor of Mexican Independence Day were told to remove them or cover them up by officials at San Benito High School. A blanket ban on all flags -- including the Confederate flag and the U.S. flag -- was cited.

Dozens of students and parents were described as "irked," and Mickie Luna of the local chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens said the district needs to rethink the policy.

"I wish that people would be more inclusive and then wouldn't have these problems with students," he said.

So Much for School Spirit

The chalk phrase "Scalp the Indians," scribbled on a sidewalk at Oklahoma State University before the school's annual football contest with the Arkansas State University Indians, has been derided as innappropriate and racist, according to The Daily O'Collegian.

Stuart Sparvier, adviser to the campus' Native American Student Association, called the sight of the phrase very disturbing.

"It's an exploitation of people's culture, and it should not be appropriate," he said.

The article didn't say whether there were any actual American Indian students offended by the phrase, only that faculty members were upset.

Adventures in Etymology

Canada's National Union of Public and General Employees celebrates Herstory Month in October, and Fort Valley State University in Georgia now has a "Differently Abled Services Center." Really.

Oh, and in Australia, students are not likely to get pass-fail marks or letter grades these days. Instead, they are graded "beginning," "established," "consolidating," or "emerging."

Romney's 'Slip'

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is under fire from newspapers and civil rights groups for suggesting that some Muslims in America should be put under surveillance in the name of security.

In a speech last week to the Heritage Foundation in Washington, Romney suggested that the government wiretap people connected to radical mosques and authorities keep a close eye on university students who come from countries known to sponsor terrorism.

Romney is refusing to apologize for the comments, saying "there is no place for political correctness" when it comes to national security.

The Boston Globe is leading the charge of those critical of the comments. The comments are "an affront to the values and principles that make America a great country," according to civil rights groups quoted by the Globe.

Swirly Offense

Burger King restaurants in the UK were forced to remove and replace ice cream containers across the country because a Muslim man said the swirly image too closely resembles the inscription for Allah and is therefore sacreligious, reports the Scotsman.

Burger King said the image on the lid of an ice cream desert is supposed to look like a spinning ice cream cone.

But Rashad Akhtar of High Wycombe said he wants to put a Jihad on BK for the snafu, or at the very least a boycott.

"This is my jihad. How can you say it is a spinning swirl? If you spin it one way to the right you are offending Muslims," he said.

For more doses of politically correct nuttiness, head on over to the TongueTied daily edition.

Mailbag:

John C. in Miami writes:

Hmmmmm, Jillian Bandes, a student at UNC Chapel Hill, opines and correctly (in my opinion) advocates racial profiling of Muslims at airports. She is fired from the school paper for "journalistic malpractice."

On the other hand, Ward Churchill calls 9/11 victims little Hitlers and advocates the murder of innocents, and as a result he is celebrated far and wide in academia, kept on the U of CO (state) payroll and defended as courageous in his opinions. We're supposed to believe there's no uber left wing/radical bias in the media and academia. Those "intellectuals" really do believe they're smarter than the rest of us, don't they? Disgraceful is the only word that comes to mind.

Beth Y. wonders:

Do I understand that Queers on Wheels will be instructing us on proper people-centered language? They want the public to use the word "queer"?

William in Michigan writes:

I fail to see how opposing a constant flood of illegal immigrants is racist. If Canadians were sneaking across our northern borders, increasing crime rates, and overall wreaking havoc upon local governments and schools, the same action would be taken up there. The fact that these things are happening is statistically proven; those protesting against the Minutemen have nothing to base their argument on. It seems they may be racist themselves, only against white people.

Or should I say European Americans?

Ben S. in Seattle writes:

The Ku Klux Klan is a group that supports and promotes the abuse and killing of people based solely on the basis of their race. The Minutemen is a group of patriots who have come together to support safety, freedom and financial security. If the immigrants put forth an effort to comply with immigration law, there would be no reason to oppose the Minutemen. Condoning the illegal activity is nearly as bad as the act itself in my opinion.

Walt C. in Wyoming writes:

By cancelling their pig roast to satisfy a few militant vegetarians, the people at St. Mathews Church are just encouraging this outlandish and rude behavior. If some of the vegetarian members were offended by a pig roast, they were welcome to not attend.

Freedom of association as well as freedom of speech is a benefit of democracy. My response to such a complaint would be "mind your own business and pass the sauce."

Mark. M in Colorado Springs writes:

Gingerbread men, gingerbread persons? Who gives a damn? It's a cookie; find something better to do with your spare time than seeking out things to pretend to be upset about. I'll continue to use their original moniker until one of those cookies explains the difference to me.

Rich A. in Maryland writes:

Lately when I read this column, I'm not looking at who's wrong or right or whose view I agree with. When I read, I'm seeing a nation at war with itself, not on two fronts but on hundreds of fronts. We are shattered in our ideals, united on nothing. The unity we experienced after 9/11 was brief and forgotten. As a nation, we have no will, no resolve, only hatred for each other.

No one wants to admit it but this very minute the United States, the greatest nation the world has ever known, is in real, imminent danger of collapse, and the enemy is us. As a member of the Armed Forces, I am saddend to see that I have spent my life defending the nation against enemies foreign while we've made ourselves into enemies domestic and that our end may be nearer than anyone realizes.

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