Pirate's Cove

This is the kind of idiocy we’re dealing with in today’s society of everyone being a Victim and having to have a National Conversation on everything

A ‘disturbing trend’: Duke president issues statement following coffee shop firing

Three days after two baristas were fired from a coffee shop on Duke University’s campus, President Vincent Price issued a statement linking that clash of cultures – a Duke vice president was offended by rap lyrics playing over the coffeeshop sound system – to other recent racially-tinged incidents on campus, saying they illustrate a “disturbing trend.”

I’m going to skip down into the story to give you more of an idea as to what happened first

On Friday, Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs at Duke, walked into Joe Van Gogh to purchase some items when he heard music lyrics playing from the speakers that he said were inappropriate.

“I expressed my objections to the staff with whom I’ve always had a cordial relationship,” he said in a statement.

Moneta said he then contacted the director of Duke dining to express his concerns, and that was the end of his involvement.

The two employees working at the time were let go from their jobs on Monday.

Missing from this article is that Moneta heard the F and N words streaming from the Spotify playlist.

(Washington Post) Moneta said in a statement to the News & Observer and the Duke Chronicle on Tuesday that he was “shocked” to hear lyrics that he said were “quite inappropriate for a working environment that serves children among others.” He said he was particularly troubled by the line in the song that goes “I …. her up real good,” using the f-word.

The coffee slinger who interacted with Moneta was black. The other employee, who stayed out of it, was white. Now, should they have been fired? In the absence of other issues, I would say no. Put them on notice that playing garbage music like that in a place of business is inapropriate. They should have known that, but, people do things all the time where they go “huh. You’re right. Should not have done that.” Heck, if it was me, I’d love to crank some heavy metal. But, I wouldn’t, because the business is about the customer. Perhaps there were some other issues that caused the terminations. The company is not saying, which is the correct thing to do.

Of course, this caused protesters to do their thing, protesting and dancing and chanting, along with singing the disgusting lyrics to the song, because these kids are totally mature and stuff. But, we expect this kind of stupid stuff from college kids, and they are kids mentally. Back to the beginning of the original story, with the statement by Duke’s president

When we learn a racial slur has been scrawled on a dorm door, a social media posting has used abhorrent language, anti-Semitic posters have been distributed in Durham, or workers on our campus have been treated unfairly, we feel angry, discouraged, and disappointed. Duke should be a place where these things don’t happen. They are a painful reminder that we have more work to do to make our Duke community the dynamic, diverse and welcoming community of students, faculty, and staff we aspire it to be: a place where our daily challenges are grappling with a new concept, a new idea, or a new way of thinking – and not with how someone has behaved, or how we ourselves have behaved, that has caused others pain or hurt.

Something has to change.

I will simply say that I am deeply sorry that we are not where we want to be as a university. I am, in particular, sorry that the words of one of my senior administrators recently resulted in two individuals working for one of our on-campus vendors losing their jobs; and while I am pleased that the vendor has taken steps to reverse this action, I apologize for the precipitous and unfair treatment these employees experienced. We must do better.

At the same time, we cannot and will not succumb to a rush to judgment that demands instant retribution absent context and deliberation.

So where do we go from here? Having now completed my first academic year as president, I am reflecting on these problems of basic decency, and our legacies of racism, intolerance and xenophobia, that continue to follow us, and indeed all of society. They do not lend themselves to easy answers or quick fixes. But they will continue to plague us unless we address them directly, honestly, in good faith, and with a healthy dose of courage.

This is, quite frankly, beyond stupid. It’s a simple thing. Two employees were fired for playing beyond inappropriate music in a company that deals solely with the public in a public venue. There’s no racism. There’s nothing unfair. There’s no reason to link this to other things like a racial slur on a door or anything else. If I was playing hardcore metal and was fired for doing so, no one would shed a tear and complain about racism and being unjustly fired. People need to get over themselves. And, seriously, this became national news. People need to take responsibility for their own actions, rather than becoming Victims.

BTW, here’s another crazy one making the rounds

The greatest trick the patriarchy ever pulled was convincing women it was feminist to get naked https://t.co/a7UyEojwKW

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 10, 2018

You’ll have to read the whole thing, there’s so much stupid that it would require another long post. I have to wonder if this child considered that companies will see this, and go “huh. She might be a big problem if we hire her.” And, if someone actually interviews her, will she pitch a fit when told that the company actually has a dress code that she’s expected to comply with?

Read: Ant Hill To Mountain: Simple Case Of Employees Being Fired Turned Into “Disturbing Trend” »