The world has been shocked by the discovery of the dead
bodies of about 50 Mexican university students.
The students were killed because they were protesting some government
policies. A mayor and his wife, as well
as numerous police officials, have been implicated in the slaughter. Alleged initial government inaction in
response to the murders has prompted outrage and protest throughout Mexico.
In solidarity with the Mexican
protests, and in outrage over the government’s inadequate response, the United
Auto Workers Local 2865, the union representing the University of California’s
graduate student instructors (or, as they were called in prior times, teaching
assistants or TA’s) voted in favor of participating in a Boycott,
Discrimination, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Mexico.
With 2,168 union members voting,
1,411 of them, or 65%, voted in favor of the resolution. (The local has a total membership of about
12,000.) In addition to the vote, 1,136
of the graduate student instructors pledged to personally adhere to a discriminatory
boycott of Mexican universities and scholars.
Regardless of the revulsion one
feels for the Mexican government’s apparent complicity in the alleged actions,
the vote raises serious questions regarding the fitness for their positions and
their ability to fulfill the requirements of the job of those who voted in
favor of the resolution, particularly of those who signed a personal pledge to
boycott Mexican universities and scholars.
For example, one assumes that
pledging to boycott Mexican universities means that if a supervising faculty member
directs a student instructor to work with a colleague from a Mexican university
on a research question, the student instructor will refuse. One also assumes that if a Mexican student is
in the classroom listening to the student instructor’s explanation of a subject
of the class, the student instructor will either stop lecturing or will direct
the Mexican student to leave the classroom.
One would further assume from the
vote and particularly from those who took the personal pledge that they will
not grade papers of students who are Mexican nationals, and will not meet with
them to discuss subjects under study. One
also assumes that they will not consult with Mexican scholars or reference academic
papers produced by any Mexican university or scholar, thus potentially omitting
important information in their own work.
One assumes that conduct such as
that described above, directed at students holding Mexican citizenship, will
contribute to the creation of a hostile academic environment for students
holding Mexican citizenship, and arguably will do the same for American students
of Mexican descent. Similarly, such
conduct will contribute to the creation of a hostile work environment for
fellow employees holding Mexican citizen, and arguably will do the same for
American workers of Mexican descent.
Posts
