Walking on Eggshells at WSU

Walking on Eggshells at WSU

You know you’re going to have difficulty navigating a minefield when even its creators can’t find their way through without stepping in something. The most politically correct department on the WSU campus, Comparative Ethnic Studies (formerly known as Comparative American Studies), finds itself accused of gender-based discrimination as a consequence of a job interview last spring.
One Devon Mihesuah was interviewed for the position as head of the program and, according to Dr. Mihesuah, "Within 20 minutes of the (interview) on April 6, I was verbally labeled unethical, meddling, untrustworthy, a nationalist, an essentialist and a Nazi.” And it is worth noting with some irony, that she was offered the job. Nevertheless, she decided that her treatment dripped of “gender-bias,” and refused the job. Plus, she believed that as a Native-American, she was entitled to more than the $129,500 per year she was offered.
To get the flavor of her experience, Dr. Mihesuah was asked about her familiarity with Asian cultures and began her answer by noting that she had taken martial arts courses. Interviewer John Streamas jumped in and called her answer “racist.” This is to be expected from a department that is composed in large part of chronically indignant professional offense-takers.
I know the experience personally. I once offended Mr. Streamas myself, and receive a scolding via e-mail. Within his screed (I have the letter right in front of me), could be found this line regarding Asians: “…we're actually quite good in activities other than math.” Now, I have never written, said or even thought that Asians were only good at math. But, I was assumed to hold these prejudices, much as Dr. Mihesuah was assumed to be racist.
Is it racist to assume racism based upon skin color?
I earned my place on Streamas’s fecal roster because I ridiculed a recently passed Washington state law outlawing the word, “oriental.” The word descends from “orient.” The word’s original Latin roots translate into, “where the sun rises.” As a verb, orient means, to face east. It was only natural that the word would come to mean those regions on the map east of wherever one happens to be. From the perspective of Europe, Asia is found in “the orient.”
Modern backpackers use their compass to find magnetic north and orient their maps with the top pointing north. All the words and legends printed upon the map assume this orientation. Before compasses were available, travelers planned their day’s journey by “orienting” their maps with the tops pointing toward the rising sun.
This etymology conflicted with the supposed pejorative origins that Dr. Streamas teaches his students.
It’s instructive that, even after Dr. Mihesuah and the search committee concluded their little politically correct playground fight (My offense is bigger than your offense), she was offered a hefty sum with the expectation that she teach just one class per semester. I wish I could get paid like that. But there simply is not much demand in academia for freckle-faced, Irish surnamed Mexicans. I will just have to content myself with making less than one-third of what Dr. Mihesuah considered an insultingly low offer.
Even though, "It was the best offer I've made to anyone in liberal arts,” according to Dean Barbara Couture, it wasn’t nearly good enough to satisfy Dr. Mihesuah’s appetites.
“One thing Couture doesn't understand is the market value of Native scholars," said Dr. Mihesuah. "She never quite got it straight as to who she had." Mihesuah believes herself to be worth in excess of $200,000 per year.
So, as entertaining as it is to watch what happens when one fills a room with hair triggered hand grenades, not just prone to taking offense, but eager to take offense, it’s also instructive. It shows just how promiscuously such accusations as “unethical,” “racist,” “untrustworthy,” and “Nazi” are hurled about. Clearly those who fling such words about don’t even take themselves seriously. How else could those who utter insults offer the person so accused such a high-paying job?
And how seriously should we take such accusations when they are aimed at someone else? Just a week ago, WSU’s student newspaper was accused of racial insensitivity. If a “Nazi” deserves the highest paycheck in the College of Liberal Arts, then the Daily Evergreen deserves at least a medal for mere insensitivity.