Lawmakers duke it out over micro-aggression bill
Jan 29, 2016, 12:36 PM | Updated: 12:59 pm
Academic Freedom bill won't get a vote in Olympia and maybe it's because it's not clear as to what a micro-aggression is. (AP file)
(AP file)
Rep. Matt Manweller’s Academic Freedom bill aims to protect students’ first amendment rights and prohibit punishing for micro-aggressions.
Why won’t it get a vote in Olympia?
Rep. Drew Hansen, chair of the Higher Education Committee, said parts of it might get a vote, but people really didn’t seem to like the bill.
“One of the great parts of opposition at the hearing is the bill actually makes it OK, under state law, for a professor to racially harass students as long as they do it kind of quickly,” Hansen explained. “A bunch of students testified against it. Rep. Manweller, to his credit, said that’s something he’s inclined to get out of the bill.”
Really?
“That was pretty offensive to listen to,” Rep. Manweller responded. “There is nothing about micro-aggressions that has anything to do with speed or quickness. To suggest that somehow a micro-aggressions is someone who acts racist quickly indicates they simply don’t know what a micro-aggression is.
“To suggest that we had a bill that said you could sexually harass students as long as you did it quickly – I think that was an intentional and disingenuous misrepresentation of what the bill says.”
Listen to the full exchange:
-
Tune in to Seattle Red AM 770 weekdays at 3-7pm to The Jason Rantz Show.
