"Hacking Traditional College's White Privilege Work"

[The Minsky Moment]

I wonder . . . if one rewrote the history of the Civil Rights movement, such that existing institutions were eschewed as irremediable bastions of racist privilege.  So no Brown v. Board, no Shelley v. Kraemer, no Heart of Atlanta Motel.   No Voting Rights Act - for that matter no voting, or running for office, what's the point?  No 1964 Civil Rights Act. 

Doesn't seem that alternative history is a really good one.

[The Brain]

Good map though.

[Ideologue]

Stuff like this makes me weep. Sometimes it seems the humanities are truly consuming themselves with idiocy, leading to their total irrelevance and divorce from reality.

"Sometimes"?  "Leading to"?

[Ideologue]

I think I'd be good at this kind of debate, though.

[Warspite]

Sure they did.

What was the premise and how did they attack it?

Should the President's war powers be restricted? The question is pointless, talking about restricting war powers of one branch, when the entire apparatus of the US government is making war on African-Americans.

Other than a spurious link through the word 'war', that's more of a non sequitur than attacking the premise.

[grumbler]

Other than a spurious link through the word 'war', that's more of a non sequitur than attacking the premise.

it's more of just about anything than it is attacking the premise.  But, again, unless the referees punish refusal to debate the issue, teams who spend time on the intellectual heavy lifting rather than focusing on rhetorical showmanship will lose.  It seems that this is the desired outcome among CEDA's membership, so those who want a different standard for competition will just need to go elsewhere.  There is room for performance art competitions as well as intellectual debate competitions.

Now, it is irritating to see people try not only to encourage performance art but to actively discourage and shame intellectual debate, but that's social media for you.

[Admiral Yi]

Other than a spurious link through the word 'war', that's more of a non sequitur than attacking the premise.

Now see, I might have applauded if they had proceeded along the lines of "since the War Powers Act as not invoked to legitimize the government's war against blacks, it is irrelevant."

[derspiess]

I think I'd be good at this kind of debate, though.

Did you see the video?  They'd eat you alive.

[grumbler]

Other than a spurious link through the word 'war', that's more of a non sequitur than attacking the premise.

Now see, I might have applauded if they had proceeded along the lines of "since the War Powers Act as not invoked to legitimize the government's war against blacks, it is irrelevant."

That's no closer to attacking a premise than the tack they actually took.

[Malthus]

How about:

"The questionable hidden premise of this debate is that we can discuss the restriction of the President's war powers without reference to who the President happens to be - as if the Office mattered more than the man. This is false, and hides the reality - that, in America, the fact of the President's race matters as much or more than the office that he holds; a "Black President" is not the same as a "President", and any discussion of the restriction of the powers held by such a man must acknowledge that fact. It is pointless to assume, as this debate does, that offices are race-neutral, rather than to discuss the reality, which is that race is the single most significant factor ... " and go on from there.

[Admiral Yi]

I like yours too Malthus.

[grumbler]

How about:

"The questionable hidden premise of this debate is that we can discuss the restriction of the President's war powers without reference to who the President happens to be - as if the Office mattered more than the man. This is false, and hides the reality - that, in America, the fact of the President's race matters as much or more than the office that he holds; a "Black President" is not the same as a "President", and any discussion of the restriction of the powers held by such a man must acknowledge that fact. It is pointless to assume, as this debate does, that offices are race-neutral, rather than to discuss the reality, which is that race is the single most significant factor ... " and go on from there.

That is an attack on a premise.  It wouldn't help the arguments that the wining teams actually made, but it is an attack on a premise.

[Malthus]

How about:

"The questionable hidden premise of this debate is that we can discuss the restriction of the President's war powers without reference to who the President happens to be - as if the Office mattered more than the man. This is false, and hides the reality - that, in America, the fact of the President's race matters as much or more than the office that he holds; a "Black President" is not the same as a "President", and any discussion of the restriction of the powers held by such a man must acknowledge that fact. It is pointless to assume, as this debate does, that offices are race-neutral, rather than to discuss the reality, which is that race is the single most significant factor ... " and go on from there.

That is an attack on a premise.  It wouldn't help the arguments that the wining teams actually made, but it is an attack on a premise.

The idea is to gradually segue from that opening into a heated discussion of concepts like "nigga authenticity", complete with performed hip-hop and spoken-word poetry. 

[derspiess]

The idea is to gradually segue from that opening into a heated discussion of concepts like "nigga authenticity",

We don't get enough of these discussions on Languish.  Especially these days with Seedy gone

[Berkut]

He had to take time away from Languish because he is coaching a debate team now.