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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSarah Braasch, the white woman who called police on Black grad student defends slavery...
I Love Hate Speech: Sarah Braasch, the white woman who called police on Black Yale grad student for napping in dorm, defends slavery and supports burqa ban in writingsHere are five things to know about Sarah Braasch, the woman who called the police on a fellow Yale graduate student for taking a nap in a common room.
1. She is working on her fifth degree
According to her bio on Yales website, Braasch is working on her fifth degree, a PhD in philosophy. She already has two engineering degrees, a law degree (shes a member of the New York State Bar), and a masters degree in philosophy. The bio says her masters in philosophy was obtained so to address the sub-human legal status of the worlds women at the source, the philosophical foundations of law.
2. She won a middle school class debate about the Civil War with pro-slavery arguments
In a 2010 blog post for Humanist, Braasch recalled a time in middle school when her classed was assigned to debate the pros and cons of slavery.
I know, in retrospect it seems a bit odd to me as well. But, in a sense, what better way is there to learn about any historical subject than to debate it? And rather than debate the subject from the perspectives of late twentieth-century teens, we approached it as if we were abolitionists or southern plantation owners during Abraham Lincolns presidency, she wrote.
Braasch continued:
I was placed on the pro-slavery side of the argument. I remember spending many an hour in the local public library poring over Time Life books And then I had a eureka moment. Somenot many, but someof the slaves didnt want to stop being slaves. A small number wanted to remain with their owners or return even after being freed. I knew I had just won the debate. And indeed, I did. I led our team to victory. The pro-slavery contingent defeated the abolitionists because, in a democracy, in the land of the free, who are we to tell people that they cant be slaves if they want to be? Who are we to tell someone that she has to be free? Who are we to tell someone that she has to be regarded as fully human?
3. She supports banning burqas
In that same Humanist blog post, which was ultimately about a law banning burqas, Braasch wrote about being against hate speech legislation.
For the record, I am an incipient First Amendment lawyer and a staunch church-state separatist. I am an intractable free speech defender and a vehement opponent of hate crime legislation. I stake the claim that morality has no place in the law. I support the anticipated public burqa ban in France. And I would support a similar ban in the United States and anywhere else in the world.
4. She is against hate crime legislation
From a 2011 blog post on Patheos : Hate crimes legislation is stupid. Seriously stupid. Abominably stupid. I hate hate crimes legislation. But, I love hate speech. Hate crimes legislation has a chilling effect on free speech and freedom of association.
5. She refers to her time as a Jehovahs Witness as being a slave
Braasch left the Jehovahs Witness faith as a teenager and looks upon her time in that religion as enslavement. I was a slave who extolled the virtues of being a slave. I was a slave who insisted that I had chosen slavery of my own free will, of my own volition, as a conscious and educated choice. Because, you see, I was a Jehovahs Witness who had been brainwashed from birth to believe that God had created me subhumanbelow man, she wrote in a blog post.
more: https://thegrio.com/2018/05/10/sarah-braasch-yale-grad-student/
Also, Braasch has since deleted her twitter account.
And here I am feeling sympathy for her current situation
blugbox
(951 posts)scrambled egg...
LisaM
(27,794 posts)She seems deranged.
brush
(53,743 posts)quite the opposite in her pro-slavery arguments.
I'd have to meet up with her in a dark alley. The cops would be on me in minute.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)This headline is disgusting.
Demsrule86
(68,499 posts)the cops on two not one but two Black dorm residents...she is a bigot and no one would know about middle school unless she told them..IE proud of it. And what kind of teacher agrees that people brought here in chains 'chose' slavery. She is a terrible person.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,106 posts)Demsrule86
(68,499 posts)Yes...not much point.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Which has since been deleted by that website.
I agree that she seems like a terrible person, but I think including that bit about slavery in the headline is disgusting and bad journalism.
brush
(53,743 posts)Remember middle school debate? It wasn't about believing the side, it was learning to portray anything as correct. Skill, not content. She has enough creepy other things; this didn't need to be highlighted.
The other team must have done a really bad job if all her side had going for it was a few people who didn't want to leave their owners, which sounds like a whitened version of a story in itself.
No doubt she's creepy.
3catwoman3
(23,951 posts)...standing for Piled Higher and Deeper.
Jakes Progress
(11,122 posts)that were not only dreadful people, but stupid as a brick.
That piece of paper comes easier when you just play the game. It is not a sign of intelligence. Her writings and actions say much mor about her.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I feel no sympathy for her whatsoever.
exboyfil
(17,862 posts)For an assigned position in an academic debate. The rest is on her though.
Demsrule86
(68,499 posts)cynatnite
(31,011 posts)It sucked, but I made it work. The debate was a tie.
That's a normal part of learning to debate. Being put on the opposite side of your personal preference. When we competed, we had to prep for both sides of an argument.
The rest of it...well, she sounds like a forever student who'll never get out in the real world.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)womanofthehills
(8,666 posts)May 10, 2018 The Humanist magazine published two articles from Sarah Braasch as an outside contributor (not a staff member or regular blogger). We regret that this material remained up as long as it did and appreciate those who brought its offensive content to our attention.
We have removed the article Lift the Veil, See the Light by Sarah Braasch (published in the Sept/Oct 2010 issue of the Humanist magazine) from our website after it was brought to our attention that it contains racially offensive argumentation. The article was part of a point-counterpoint on the topic of laws barring Muslim women in France from wearing face-covering veils. In the article in question, which argues for the ban, the author equates the small number of slaves who wanted to remain with their owners after emancipation (an idea that is itself still a justification for racism in some circles) with women who choose to be slaves in abusive, misogynistic, or otherwise patriarchal religious traditions. She makes this analogywhich we have judged to be inaccurate and racially offensiveto argue that if human beings are forced or conditioned to accept indignity, suffering, and an inferior position in society then that society has an obligation to make laws to correct that. While the authors final point is one some humanists might champion, the analogy to American slavery is definitely not.
We have removed Sarah Braaschs second article, Original Intent (published in 2009), after finding it racially offensive. The article was a commentary on the Puritanical dogma and religious tyranny in colonial America, making the case that our nation was founded on principles antithetical to such oppression. However, the authors interjection that racism is a silly social construct renders this article out of step with our commitment to social justice and to the pressing need to be realistic about the racism that permeates our culture today.
We sincerely apologize for publishing these articles and we will strive to do better at upholding our humanist values going forward.
https://thehumanist.com/editorsnote/
oberliner
(58,724 posts)The Humanist editor suggests that she was making an analogy between slavery and women in abusive patriarchal religious traditions. An analogy they found to be racially offensive. Not "defending slavery" by any stretch of the imagination.
Sailor65x1
(554 posts)You are quite right, but won't find much traction around here. And for my opinion, I think her analogy is quite apt, from a realistic standpoint. Unfortunately, realism doesn't go well with people's desire to only attribute suffering to one group.
B2G
(9,766 posts)It was a debate.
Absolutely despicable on the part of "The Grio".
Kingofalldems
(38,425 posts)Do you deny that?
oberliner
(58,724 posts)And she wrote: "A small number wanted to remain with their owners or return even after being freed."
Kingofalldems
(38,425 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)Have you read any slave narratives?
Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938 is a good place to start if you haven't.
It's housed at the Library of Congress, but you can read much of it online.
A very small number of them do espouse that viewpoint.
Kingofalldems
(38,425 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)It's pretty fascinating to read these primary source documents.
moriah
(8,311 posts)Not sure if the one you linked to is representative, given my reading of them.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)The one I linked to was specifically not representative, but rather one of the rare ones cited.
Lulu KC
(2,561 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,783 posts)It's interesting to read how much she didn't like white people. It's amazing my dad's grandfather rubbed shoulders at all. Unless - you consider he "used" white people for financial gain.
My grandfather was very accepting of my mom though - so it took two generations to build tolerance.
Sailor65x1
(554 posts)When you have to stamp the word "Fact" on something, it usually means it isn't.
This poster has presented solid evidence of his or her position on this, and provided a link to supporting documentation.
Kingofalldems
(38,425 posts)She defended slavery and further evidence is presented in this thread that she continues to be a bigot. Fact.
Response to Kingofalldems (Reply #55)
Post removed
Tarc
(10,475 posts)Is someone a bit sad that their white privilege didn't save them for once?
JI7
(89,241 posts)And her pride about it was based on winning the impossible argument, not slavery itself. But, this is DU after all.
stonecutter357
(12,694 posts)EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)"Who are we to tell someone that she has to be free? Who are we to tell someone that she has to be regarded as fully human?
Wow.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Because the counter is no slave who knew the possible existence of a better life would *EVER* want to go back... This is why educating slaves was punishable by death...
And the Freedmen who stayed during reconstruction literally had no place to go, no capital, and no job skills other than agriculture... This is how they eventually fell into the trap of sharecropping which on paper was supposed to guarantee them their own plot of land but we know how that worked out...
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/sharecropping
I'd like to think middle schoolers could argue this but then I'm reminded just how inadequate the history of black Americans is in grade school...
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)World, thus is an eternal student.
LuvNewcastle
(16,838 posts)She's an educated fool. Her professors probably hate her, but people like her keep the bills paid.
Response to tenderfoot (Original post)
Post removed
oberliner
(58,724 posts)The "defending slavery" refers to her being in a middle school class debate when she was 12 years old and assigned the pro-slavery side by the teacher.
HipChick
(25,485 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)Her actions were obviously disgusting. She tried to kick a student out of her own dorm building for sleeping for crying out loud!
womanofthehills
(8,666 posts)Reneson said Braasch did not appear to think he was a Yale student and accused him of being an intruder. Feeling ignored, I went down to the base of the twelfth floor and eleventh floor and turned my back, but she continued to verbally assault me from the twelfth floor claiming that I didnt belong here and I was making her uncomfortable, Reneson told the newspaper. He said Braasch left and Reneson went to the meeting, but four officers soon showed up to investigate a suspicious character. They quickly established Reneson was a student invited to the building by Siyonbola and left, the newspaper reports.
https://heavy.com/news/2018/05/sarah-braasch/
oberliner
(58,724 posts)She sounds like an awful human being.
Kingofalldems
(38,425 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)I attacked the headline - which I find disgusting.
Kingofalldems
(38,425 posts)oberliner
(58,724 posts)Plenty of bad things to say about her without the BS "defending slavery" nonsense. That is way too much - and reflects badly on the source.
Demsrule86
(68,499 posts)HipChick
(25,485 posts)ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)hunter
(38,304 posts)It's a two-for-one.
They can tell people they're addressing their sexual harassment problems without actually accomplishing anything, and they get someone who endorses their hate speech.
Sailor65x1
(554 posts)I'm pretty sure she's not worried about landing a job.
ProudLib72
(17,984 posts)since we don't want respectable companies to hire racists. However, I bet you're correct. They would overlook this little incident.
John Fante
(3,479 posts)Blue_true
(31,261 posts)So she goes back to school.
And Yale is probably trying really hard to figure out a way to make her leave.
Demsrule86
(68,499 posts)Ligyron
(7,619 posts)Other than that...
Kingofalldems
(38,425 posts)No doubt about it now.
madaboutharry
(40,190 posts)and make the decision to live in the real world. She seems like a very messed up person.
Sanity Claws
(21,841 posts)Admission is very selective. Why would Yale accept her into a selective graduate program?
I wonder if she was paying full tuition and that played a role in it. People, unless they are ultra rich, are unable to remain perpetual students.
Sailor65x1
(554 posts)Yeah, can't imagine why Yale would want her...
JI7
(89,241 posts)This seems odd. She has serious issues.
treestar
(82,383 posts)How can one afford that? She must not have loans.
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)perhaps she'll be leaving now
IluvPitties
(3,181 posts)WhiteTara
(29,693 posts)CentralMass
(15,265 posts)Last edited Thu May 10, 2018, 10:16 PM - Edit history (1)
grantcart
(53,061 posts)As many above have remarked when you do competitive debate you are prepared to argue both sides of a position and are placed in the positive or negative side.
That is not what is so strange here.
What is so strange is
1) that she remembers it
2) that she talks about it with relish
3) that she explains her brilliant reasoning that won the debate.
She is such a sick person, IMO, that there may or may have been a debate and she may or may not have won it.
The fact is that she brings it up decades later with obvious relish isn't because she is proud of her debating skill but because she is strongly in sympathy with the subject.
I spent years in debate and couldn't tell you most of the subjects that I spent months debating on. She is recalling it because she thinks that there is an underlying basis for her racism, and she is a racist.
Kingofalldems
(38,425 posts)Oneironaut
(5,487 posts)John Fante
(3,479 posts)pro-slavery argument. Would they make the same argument for battered women or molestation victims?
"Hey, they said they felt love for their abuser, they must have enjoyed the abuse too!"
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Vinca
(50,237 posts)She ought to find a new hobby. Endless schooling isn't teaching her much.
JustAnotherGen
(31,783 posts)I give Mr. Lewis the absolute final word in the argument.
His life makes her debate win obsolete.
beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)people back into the shadows....before its too late to save our country
ExciteBike66
(2,297 posts)1.) She "defended slavery" in the context of a debate where she was placed on the pro-slavery side. This has nothing to do with her personal feelings on slavery, which are probably very anti-slavery.
Also, the debate happened in middle school.
Unfortunately, the article appears to have been scrubbed from the link. The link states that she later used the slavery argument in the context of the burqa ban, to argue that the women wearing burqas are "conditioned" like the AA slaves of our history. Once again this does not mean she condones slavery.