student suspended for calling themselves "white african american".

maybe,just maybe it was sincere and he had no idea it would be received the way it was.

maybe he came to america to better himself and as is the case with most immigrants in america focused on his education and succeeding and not the culture or what is deemed politically correct.

i really dont think its fair to assume he was just trying to stir the pot.

 

Universities are so big, I don't understand how this even became an issue, you'd think it would get lost in the ramble of other stuff being said by the thousands of other students. Must be a small, enclosed Uni.

 

I mean there must be more, saying what he said wouldn't cause the stir it did, and it certainly couldn't spread around a university campus like that.

 

Filed Monday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, the lawsuit traces a series of events that Serodio maintains led to his 2007 suspension, starting with a March 2006 cultural exercise in a clinical skills course taught by Dr. Kathy Ann Duncan, where each student was asked to define themselves for a discussion on culture and medicine.

After Serodio labeled himself as a white African-American, another student said she was offended by his comments and that, because of his white skin, was not an African-American.
According to the lawsuit, Serodio was summoned to Duncan's office where he was instructed "never to define himself as an African-American … because it was offensive to others and to people of color for him to do so."


"It's crazy," Serodio's attorney Gregg Zeff told ABCNews.com. "Because that's what he is."

Serodio, who lives in Newark, said he never meant to offend anyone and calling himself African-American doesn't detract from another person's heritage.

Neither the American Civil Liberties Union nor the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People responded to messages seeking comment on the meaning of African-American.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines African-American as "an American of African and especially of black African descent."

"There are people of all races who are African," Serodio said, adding that he's never had a problem identifying himself as an African-American until that day in Duncan's class.

Zeff pointed out that Serodio only labeled himself after his instructors asked him to do so and was then penalized for it.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=7567291&page=1

 

It seems it's the African American part of the term that is stirring the drama... not the white.

This is not anything new.

http://www.ketv.com/education/2783824/detail.html

OMAHA, Neb. -- Four Westside High School students are suspended for promoting a white student for an African-American award.

More than 150 flyers were distributed throughout the school Monday. They featured junior Trevor Richards (pictured, left), A South African native who moved to the United States in 1997.

 

Hopefully he hates niggers.

 

I looked through that earlier. I can see what they are saying (all a bit of nonesense in of itself)...but if your going to give it all credance and sue a school over this...It be best to appreciate the term and ramifications.
The article says: "white, African, American'' .
Perhaps he wasn't such a tool...if he wasn't refering himself as African-American per se...
But, really, was all the trouble explaining himself truly worth it?

It probably did mean that once upon a time.

I have no idea. Why is this guy wishing to add "white" too?
I have a theory: He isn't "white". His lineage is probably far from "white".
I just think the poor man wanted some attention.

I'm sure that was his reasoning too.
I'm not really disputing logic here...just to do such a thing is stupid, imo.
With a name like, Paulo Serodio, he probably isn't even that white.

With more mockery than he recieved anyway, probably.

I'm shocked

 

That would be funny if the article said at the end "the plantiff also hates niggers."

 

Maybe he wasn't.
I did just post he might not have been such a tool after all.

 

I know.

 

Oh the lulzy ignorance.

 

You're using that word way too freely.

 

odon, look at my post above with the ABC article.

That does say he said white African American ... doesn't mention commas.


Urban dictionary is good in this case, because like i said, it DOES capture the practical everyday aspect to the controversy. I see it ALL the time.

I've also studied the racial gap in American academic achievement... and even that, as blatant as the statistics are, does prove African American = verrrrry sensitive issue.

Also, the term "underrepresented" is a crafty term to cloak the taboo. They won't define the term. It does not mean minority. It means AA, Hispanic, or Native American. They usually never come out and say that. They usually say "you don't qualify" and after some questioning, they come right out with it.

Just informing, 'cause i see we can both agree the terms alotta drama :cheers2:

 

lol I'm writing essays, jeez. sorry.

 

this school doesnt strike me as the type of school where some flunky out to stir racial tensions would attend..

http://rwjms.umdnj.edu/about_rwjms/about/at_a_glance.html


to be quite honest im amazed that the black folk attending the school would be so petty as to cause such a ruckus over it..

 

I spotted that. I'm swaying back to thinking he is a tool.

Oh, I understand it is.
That is why I think the guy is at worst a tool, at best very very naive.

 

Pavel was made in a laboratory with the DNA of every race on earth, he can't be racist.

 

No worries. Nice you put some effort into it.

 

I couldn't agree with you more, I grew up in an all-white community, attended an all-white school, and all of my friends growing up were white .............................

From this moment forward I denounce my african american heritage for my new role as a white caucasian male :cheers2:

hotwater

 

Are you white Pavel?