“I have a professor from a country which was just hit by a tsunami. I think he might have family there, should I say anything to him about it?”
Wouldn’t that be odd? Yet, the posing of the question in this thread is not seen as odd, even by those who fully support statsman1982 in going ahead. No one says, “gosh, what’s wrong with you, that’s a no-brainer” (although I’m sure now someone will), the way they would if the “tsunami question” were posed as a thread.
So, sorry statsman1982, I just can’t let you off the hook that easily and will reiterate the fundamental difference between the examples you give in your last thread and the actual discussion at hand. I will continue to doubt your methods of finding your professor’s information, and I will continue to suggest you to examine your motives and reexamine them.
I will also stick with my suggestion that you go ahead. I was never concerned about your professor’s feelings or reaction, but with your motives. Sometimes the reason you do something matters more than the result, be it good or bad.
weiming, in case you didn’t read my previous reply, I decided not to say anything. The class is over, and I probably won’t see this particular person for quite a while. If you want to believe that I have some ulterior motive for wanting to express my concern over what is happening in his country, so be it. I can’t change your perception that I’m doing this out of some sort of “white guilt” or whatever you think my motives are.
In your last post, you never actually responded to my 9/11 example. Again, if someone from another country were to have come up to me on that day and ask me how I was doing and if my family was okay, I wouldn’t see it as patronizing or condescending or anything but an expression of humanity.
Finally, you seem to be concerned about how I found out about his national origin. He sent all of us emails frequently, and in his signature line was a link to his university website. On the front page of his website was a link to his CV, with his birthplace clearly visible. He’s made no attempt to hide it.
I chose to ignore your comments regarding the events of the eleventh of September 2001 because they seem wholly unrelated to the issue, in the same way as the tsunami incident you referred to.
There’s one more way I can make my argument. You mentioned, as quoted above that you were afraid your professor would “take it the wrong way”. Given your purity of motives, and the simple humanity and concern for your fellow man involved in your proposed actions, could you outline what led you to become concerned that your professor could possibly “take it the wrong way”?
You ask me to see how simple and obvious the issue is/was, why couldn’t you?
It’s not too late to approach your professor. I have a friend who successfully tracked down a professor and managed to thank him properly for lessons he had learned years after the fact.
You also said however “…I wish only the best for his country’s citizens…”. I have to admit I’m not as confident that your professor would be able to convey your message.
Everyone knows the story of “helping” the butterfly out of it’s cocoon. We can imagine the legions of pilgrims traveling around the world trying to “rescue” people from their heathen ways and show them the “true” religion. The designers of the Affirmative Action policy probably imagined themselves as doing the most brave and humane thing possible, and never imagined that something seemingly so obviously good could create so much continuing strife and negative feeling.
It seems illogical and even cruel that pure good will could lead us to do things which are ineffective or even have the opposite effect of our intentions, but this is a reality that we must be on guard against. We must constantly evaluate our motivations and the possible outcome of our actions.
Having said that, I feel that you should always do what you believe to be right, and that the opinion of others should matter little in your final decision, but that in becoming the master of your own morality, you have a duty to fully examine any qualms or reservations you have. Furthermore, I am only more than happy to play devil’s advocate to help point them out.