This debate is pretty obvious. Here is a news article explaining it, and you can see a YouTube video of the speech here.
So, did he go too far? I for one think he was great, but we do live in a world where people get offended over the stupidest things, and believe that because they are offended that their feelings must be catered to*. What are your thoughts here?
*Personally, I realize that everyone gets offended at times, the correct response is to just DEAL WITH IT. IMO the mark of maturity is to be able to deal with it in an appropriate way, usually by ignoring it if it was obviously unintentional, discussing it with the offending party if you think it’s more than that or by avoiding that person in the future if it’s a serious offense. Public pronouncements of anger or hatred and demands for retribution are, IMO, childish and pointless, a very immature way of handling offense. This is just MHO, of course.
He lost the election (and I’ve never heard of an election for valedictorian either). No word on whether or not his parents will sue the school to have the results overturned.
I think that what was being voted for was commencement speaker. As I understand it, with all of the extra credit, AP and college level courses offered now, some schools wind up with a plethora of valedictorians, all carrying 4.0 GPAs.
When you’re giving a speech it’s important to know your audience. Does the audience in fact know him well enough to separate what he says from who he is? Generally you don’t just give speeches to people you know you give them to all sorts of people you don’t know. In the case of a valedictorian this would include family members who show up for the graduation ceremony. It was a good speech but perhaps this wasn’t the best opportunity to try out his material.
That said, investigation? Seems like a waste of time and I doubt anything will come of it.
I know, and personally - without having viewed the speech - I’m strongly in his corner. I was making a joke about a well-publicized case from a couple of years ago wherein a student sued her school district for the reason I mentioned.
I remember that case. The school was trying to say her bonus grades didn’t count because she had so much extra time on tests and projects due to an Asperger’s diagnosis or something. I believe she was home schooled for the majority of her high school career as well, meaning that the tests she took were not the same as the other kids and that the school was in the right to name someone else valedictorian.
She was later kicked out of college for plagarizing a paper. I smiled a bit at that one.
It’s not the speech that I object to. A little humor and a healthy attitude can go a long way. It’s the way your post is worded, Weirddave. – all of the vinegar and none of the wit.
I 'unno, the speech is a little too close to stereotypical white guy rage about how the black lesbian paraplegic is getting preferential job treatment. I got a mild chuckle here and there, but nothing I’d consider particularly shocking or particularly clever.
I agree. I kinda wish I had my seven minutes back. It wasn’t very fresh, it didn’t offer a new perspective, it didn’t really make a point other than that the speaker is not particularly active in his school. Frankly, I found it rather boring.
