College President Tells Black Lives Matter Students To Take A Hike
W. Taylor Reveley III, the president of the College of William & Mary in Virginia, had no use for political correctness or mealy-mouthed words when a group of Black Lives Matter students issued demands to him, telling them, “I don’t deal in demands.”
The confrontation started when the students brought their demand to a livestreamed meeting. Reveley minced no words:
I don’t deal in demands. I don’t make demands of other people. I don’t expect to receive demands from people. I love to get suggestions, recommendations, strong arguments. … When you approach other people with a demand, instead of their ears opening and their spirit being unusually receptive, you get defensive walls erected. So I think you all need to think about it.
One female student patronized, “The suggestion thing. Interesting point. But I’m going to disagree.”
Reveley countered, “That is the beauty of the First Amendment.”
The student responded that suggestions would not be taken as seriously as demands, prompting Reveley to fire back, “No, no, no, that’s not the way the world works. It is not effective, in my opinion, to approach other people and say ‘we demand’ unless you have the capacity to demand.”
Then other students decided to attack Reveley’s stance; one demanded, “We are students, and we pay tuition to be here. That is the reason why we are able to write these demands.” Another echoed, “So you have an issue with the way that we are phrasing this? … I think you’re missing the point … We’ve tried to be nice … It’s not working. So, if you don’t want to have issues on this campus that are affecting students of color, then you have to listen to students of color when they tell you this is what needs to happen …”
Later, Reveley, irritated, pointed out, “I got color, too, I’m white.”
Needless to say, that didn’t go over well.
One student, Erica N. West, later ranted on Facebook:
If you were wondering what “speaking truth to power” looks like, this it … This is what being censored looks like. This is what white supremacy looks like. This is what patriarchy looks like. This is what condescension looks like. This is what being told “you, your issues and your life don’t matter” looks like. THIS is why we say #BlackLivesMatter.
West concluded by admitting she had never met Reveley before, but she still believed he “is not a benevolent grandpa, he is a man with an agenda that excludes students of color. Call it what it is.”
