# Chalk on the sidewalk, Boo hoo hoo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 24, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025 "2016-03-24T15:20:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/41 "2016-03-25T03:05:36Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Somebody should start a website which keeps a list of all the ridiculous cry-baby snowflake protests on campuses. The site should be embedded in all the job-hunting sites, (like monster dot com, etc), so that they scan the list along with all the resumes . > > And then employers should state that if your resume includes a degree from any of the listed cry-baby campuses, they will _NOT_ read it. > > Like those policy notices “We test for drugs”. > > But this one would say “We test for stupid snowflakes”. You know, I saw something on Facebook the other day that somewhat reminds me of what you suggest. Seems there’s a website that’s devoted to parents sending in pictures of their toddlers upset (read: crying or in a tantrum) over the most minuscule or irrelevant things. So you’ve got pictures of little Johhny wailing his lungs out over broken pieces of cheese. Then the caption will say, “And he asked me to break them in half for him.” Yadda yadda. Maybe we need something similar here? Whiny students protesting the most absurd non-issues imaginable. Then we can take shots of them yelling at authorities and post them with “And the dean refused to _only_ serve low fat milk!” The fallout would be even better than pissed off two year olds. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/42 "2016-03-25T04:29:09Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > These people are freaking out at the idea that there may be people on campus who support a political candidate they do not like. THAT is the scary part of this. More and more I think it resembles a cult. This hyperbolic fear reaction is probably induced by some instructors and reinforced by the reaction of the administratipn and others. Oh, and [the Daily Beast article on this hysteria](http://emorywheel.com/emory-students-express-discontent-with-administrative-response-to-trump-chalkings/) is tagged “paranoia”. You ain’t kidding. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/43 "2016-03-25T04:34:23Z")
Also from the Daily Beast article: [Emory Students Express Discontent With Administrative Response to Trump Chalkings - The Emory Wheel](http://emorywheel.com/emory-students-express-discontent-with-administrative-response-to-trump-chalkings/) > [@](#): > > Peraza opened the door to the Administration Building and students moved forward towards the door, shouting “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” Now where have I heard that last sentence before? Somehow it brings to mind this. [History of propaganda - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_propaganda#Vietnam_war) > [@](#): > > The key factor is how to control people and their opinions. Only Marxism–Leninism can do that. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/44 "2016-03-25T10:56:18Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It boggles the mind how these snowflakes will cope in the adult world. This. I told my young-adult kids if their only competition is Generation Butthurt, success for them should be a cakewalk. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/45 "2016-03-25T12:10:19Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > This. > > I told my young-adult kids if their only competition is Generation Butthurt, success for them should be a cakewalk. My children shall rule the world. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/46 "2016-03-25T12:59:30Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The worst part is that the university president has declared that they are going to go through camera footage and take disciplinary action against the students who did the chalking. Apparently Emory has a policy that students have to reserve areas to chalk ahead of time. So they’ll be disciplined for not doing that, not for what they wrote. I hope next time they actually follow procedures, at which point anyone trying to erase or deface “Trump 2016” will be in violation of the policy and face disciplinary action. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/47 "2016-03-25T16:12:03Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Apparently Emory has a policy that students have to reserve areas to chalk ahead of time. So they’ll be disciplined for not doing that, not for what they wrote. > > I hope next time they actually follow procedures, at which point anyone trying to erase or deface “Trump 2016” will be in violation of the policy and face disciplinary action. Just the “Trump 2016” people, or will they be using those cameras to track down all of the unauthorized chalkings on campus? ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/48 "2016-03-25T18:08:57Z")
> **[Emory Students Traumatized by Trump Graffiti?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/emory-students-trump-graffiti/)** > > A controversy at Emory University over graffiti promoting Donald Trump led to some predictably inaccurate media reports. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/49 "2016-03-25T18:15:16Z")
> [@beagledave](#): > > [Emory Students Traumatized by Trump Graffiti? | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/emory-students-trump-graffiti/) Snopes is really sinking: True: “Students at Emory University gathered in protest …” False: “… students were … not angry or protesting.” ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/50 "2016-03-25T19:58:57Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Snopes is really sinking: > > True: “Students at Emory University gathered in protest …” > > False: “… students were … not angry or protesting.” I _think_ this is just a really bad construction. They’re saying: it’s true that students were protesting. It’s false that they were “afraid or traumatized, not [i.e., rather than] angry or protesting.” I think. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/51 "2016-03-25T20:18:08Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Snopes is really sinking: > > True: “Students at Emory University gathered in protest …” > > False: “… students were … not angry or protesting.” You don’t make your case very well by editing out the key word in the second phrase, which was “traumatized,” and thus completely distorting the meaning. Snopes agreed that the students were angry and protesting. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/52 "2016-03-25T20:24:00Z")
Her is a fuller version of the quote: > [@](#): > > …complained their “safe spaces” were violated; students were afraid or traumatized, not angry or protesting. I don’t see how my removing two words changed the meaning in any degree whatsoever. In the previous paragraph Snopes says they were protesting. In this one it says they weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/53 "2016-03-25T20:24:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > You don’t make your case very well by editing out the key word in the second phrase, which was “traumatized,” and thus completely distorting the meaning. Snopes agreed that the students were angry and protesting. This is the claim that they were “testing”: \* Students at Emory University were offered “emergency counseling” after pro-Trump graffiti appeared overnight in campus “safe spaces.”\* They set it up as an obvious straw man, and then tore it down. If they had tested the claim “Students at Emory University protested the chalking of the words ‘Trump 2016’ on campus, claiming to be in pain, and received concessions from the university” which is the actual story, they could not have done this. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/54 "2016-03-25T21:45:58Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > This is the claim that they were “testing”: > \* > Students at Emory University were offered “emergency counseling” after pro-Trump graffiti appeared overnight in campus “safe spaces.”\* > > They set it up as an obvious straw man, and then tore it down. If they had tested the claim “Students at Emory University protested the chalking of the words ‘Trump 2016’ on campus, claiming to be in pain, and received concessions from the university” which is the actual story, they could not have done this. No, they didn’t. They referred to what the media is actually saying. You know, the stories they are actually sent and respond to, which they always quote in the article. And this time they even quote multiple people saying this stuff. And then they have a section where they specify what parts are true and what parts aren’t, so that you can’t be misled as to what is being said. You are the one telling them to rewrite things to fit a preconceived conclusion. You want them to ignore the outrageous posts and just focus on the ones you think are true, instead of looking at the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/55 "2016-03-25T21:49:50Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Her is a fuller version of the quote: > > I don’t see how my removing two words changed the meaning in any degree whatsoever. In the previous paragraph Snopes says they were protesting. In this one it says they weren’t. Fuller, yes. But not full. Here’s the full quote of that paragraph: WHAT’S FALSE: Counseling was offered to or demanded by anyone; students complained their “safe spaces” were violated; students were afraid or traumatized, not angry or protesting. So everything said in that paragpraph is false. The claim that they were not protesting is false. So if “not protesting” is false, that means they were in fact protesting. The claim by Snopes is that the students were protesting, but they were not complaining their safe spaces were violated. They were not afraid because of the chalking, and they were not claiming to be traumatized. They were, in fact, angry and protesting. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/56 "2016-03-25T21:56:32Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > No, they didn’t. They referred to what the media is actually saying. You know, the stories they are actually sent and respond to, which they always quote in the article. And this time they even quote multiple people saying this stuff. > > And then they have a section where they specify what parts are true and what parts aren’t, so that you can’t be misled as to what is being said. > > You are the one telling them to rewrite things to fit a preconceived conclusion. You want them to ignore the outrageous posts and just focus on the ones you think are true, instead of looking at the whole thing. Great. So, instead of taking the actual story, they took the most extreme version of the story as retold on the most extreme outlets, and said that certain nuances of that were untrue, and therefore the story is “mostly false”. Again, the thing that is upsetting people is the actual story as reported by multiple legitimate news outlets, including the actual school newspaper from the actual school: _Students at Emory University protested the chalking of the words ‘Trump 2016’ on campus, claiming to be in pain, and received concessions from the university_. This is true. This actually happened. They tailored the “claim” by peppering it with additional details about safe spaces and counseling that no one was actually caring about (cite: the words “counseling” and “safe spaces” don’t appear anywhere in this thread, because no one was claiming them as a reason that this was stupid) in order to get the desired outcome of “mostly false”. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/57 "2016-03-25T21:59:49Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > This is the claim that they were “testing”: > \* > Students at Emory University were offered “emergency counseling” after pro-Trump graffiti appeared overnight in campus “safe spaces.”\* > > They set it up as an obvious straw man, and then tore it down. It can’t have been that obvious, given that it was taken as fact and repeated in several reports before Snopes got to it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/58 "2016-03-25T22:02:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Why do students keep saying that? I’m talking about the “comfortable” part. Of course they should feel safe, but if you don’t sometimes feel uncomfortable, then you’re not doing things right. The same reason you think you have the right to be comfortable in your own house and yard. The students are championing for a place where they can get away from the real world for a while. A place where people who are regularly face bigotry all the time can get away from it for a while. A place where they don’t constantly be on their guard. They have to say “safe and comfortable” because all you guys keep making fun of them for saying “safe spaces” when they aren’t in any real danger. What I don’t get is why people give them grief for this. Let’s say you get together with your friends and want to have a place where no one makes you feel bad for drinking to excess and getting rowdy. If someone comes in and treats you badly because you drink, you would get upset, right? So some gay people want to get together and have a “no homophobia allowed” rule. Why is that something to make fun of? Or, heck, let’s say all the minorities get together and have a “no bigotry” rule. Why does that bother you? This is why the Snopes article is useful. It points out how all the blustery hate articles are just that. They are no different than the “Obama is a Muslim” Facebook posts. They are deliberately misstating facts to work people up into a tizzy. The shit about safe spaces is MRA bullshit. The crap you believe about them is stuff created by their opposition. I don’t know why you fall for it. A “safe space” is not a bad concept. You may disagree with their rules, but the idea of a place where you can go and get away from the bigotry you face everywhere else is not a bad idea. And, before some of you pull out the “lecture” bullshit, let me remind you that this is just like hundreds of other posts. It’s not some horrible thing because I _gasp_ disagree with you, and try to explain my point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/59 "2016-03-25T22:15:04Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > It can’t have been that obvious, given that it was taken as fact and repeated in several reports before Snopes got to it. And the counseling and safe spaces were the crux of what made this story? Obviously not, as no one in this thread anywhere brought them up. You don’t get to add unnecessary details to a story that nearly no one associated with the story, and then call the story “mostly false” when those unnecessary details are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025/60 "2016-03-25T22:18:36Z")
That was not Snopes’ finest work. For instance, they ignored the [article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/higher-education/emory-president-students-scared-by-trump-2016-chalk-signs/2016/03/23/cf634d22-f11b-11e5-a2a3-d4e9697917d1_story.html) where the guy Snopes referred to as a protest organizer who said he wasn’t scared of the chalk told the AP that he wasn’t a protest leader and that one of the chalked messages made him feel unsafe. And saying that it was false that students felt afraid when the article Snopes did cite actually quoted students who said they were “afraid” and feeling “fear” is just shoddy. The Daily Beast quotes other [fearful](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/24/emory-university-students-think-donald-trump-is-out-to-kill-them.html) students, including one who said, “I legitimately feared for my life.” And given the use of language like “triggering” and “navigate through the environment of distrust and unease,” I can even see where the “counseling” claims came from. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chalk-on-the-sidewalk-boo-hoo-hoo/750025.md?page=4)