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Was Angela Davis Unjustly Fired By UCLA For Her Political Views?

Was Angela Davis Unjustly Fired By UCLA For Her Political Views?

  • Yes

    Votes: 5 71.4%

  • No

    Votes: 2 28.6%
  • Total voters
    7
MildSteel

MildSteel

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The great black intellectual Angela Davis was unjustly fired at the urging of then governor Ronald Reagan because she was a member of the Communist Party. However

The Board of Regents was censured by the American Association of University Professors for their failure to reappoint Davis after her teaching contract expired. On October 20, when Judge Jerry Pacht ruled the Regents could not fire Davis because of her affiliations with the Communist Party, she resumed her post.
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Not being satisfied, the board of regents persisted in their efforts to fire Davis, and were finally successful

The Regents, unhappy with the decision, continued to search for ways to release Davis from her position at UCLA. They finally accomplished this on June 20, 1970, when they fired Davis for the "inflammatory language" she had used on four different speeches.
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Although the board of regents used "inflammatory language" and an excuse, did they unjustly fire Angela Davis because of her political views?

Angela Davis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
MildSteel said:
The great black intellectual Angela Davis was unjustly fired at the urging of then governor Ronald Reagan because she was a member of the Communist Party. However



Not being satisfied, the board of regents persisted in their efforts to fire Davis, and were finally successful



Although the board of regents used "inflammatory language" and an excuse, did they unjustly fire Angela Davis because of her political views?

Angela Davis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Wiki said:
On October 20, when Judge Jerry Pacht ruled the Regents could not fire Davis because of her affiliations with the Communist Party, she resumed her post.[13]
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Well a judge thought they did
 
MildSteel said:
That was the first instance.
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I'm sure according to employment policy at the university her dismissal was legal and just but I don't find her characterization of the crackdown on protestors nor her description of the police as pigs inaccurate

Personally I don't think she should have been fired
 
instagramsci said:
I'm sure according to employment policy at the university her dismissal was legal and just but I don't find her characterization of the crackdown on protestors nor her description of the police as pigs inaccurate

Personally I don't think she should have been fired
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I don't think she should have been fired and I don't see anything legal and just about it.

Why are you sure that her firing was legal and just according to employment policy?
 
clearly we need more communists
 
MildSteel said:
I don't think she should have been fired and I don't see anything legal and just about it.

Why are you sure that her firing was legal and just according to employment policy?
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I should have said it was legal and just according to them, and in that case it seems like that's the only thing that mattered

Forgive me I'm running on like 15 hours sleep in the past week
 
instagramsci said:
I should have said it was legal and just according to them, and in that case it seems like that's the only thing that mattered

Forgive me I'm running on like 15 hours sleep in the past week
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No worries. Fifteen hours of sleep? WOW! That's brutal.

Of course they would say it's legal and just even though there was nothing legal and just about it.
 
MildSteel said:
No worries. Fifteen hours of sleep? WOW! That's brutal.
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Finals and juggling 3 jobs. God bless america and capitalism :lol:

MildSteel said:
Of course they would say it's legal and just even though there was nothing legal and just about it.
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I don't disagree. I want to look up the laws having to do with this but trudging through a couple pages of labor laws or UC's employment policies just doesn't seem worth it
 
It was a different time. The Soviet Union and the expansion of Communism in the world was a clear and present threat to the US at that time.

It is usually a very difficult and questionable exercise to judge the past by present day standards; slavery being the exception that proves the rule.
 
instagramsci said:
Finals and juggling 3 jobs. God bless america and capitalism :lol:

I don't disagree. I want to look up the laws having to do with this but trudging through a couple pages of labor laws or UC's employment policies just doesn't seem worth it
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WOW! Three jobs!!!! Good luck. I really, really wish you well.

Yeah, no need to look all that up. I think we both agree that she was unjustly fired and that is what is important. I'm also sure we both share a great deal of love and respect for Angela. I wish she was a more visible role model.
 
votemout said:
Just like the left.....
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Yep. Although there are some differences, in practical terms, it doesn't amount to much more than rhetoric.
 
MildSteel said:
Yep. Although there are some differences, in practical terms, it doesn't amount to much more than rhetoric.
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Basically true, but there is a significant difference.

In this case, the right was using a publicly funded institution to silence dissent.

It's one thing for a private company like Google, or whatever channel it was that put Phil Robertson on the air, to fire them. It's another for an institution run on tax dollars to do so.
 
sangha said:
Basically true, but there is a significant difference.

In this case, the right was using a publicly funded institution to silence dissent.

It's one thing for a private company like Google, or whatever channel it was that put Phil Robertson on the air, to fire them. It's another for an institution run on tax dollars to do so.
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Absolutely. Great point. That is why this particular instance makes me angry. Man, Angela Davis is so brilliant. I so wish I could meet and talk to her.
 
MildSteel said:
Absolutely. Great point. That is why this particular instance makes me angry. Man, Angela Davis is so brilliant. I so wish I could meet and talk to her.
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On August 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson, a heavily armed 17-year-old African-American high-school student, gained control over a courtroom in Marin County, California. Once in the courtroom, Jackson armed the black defendants and took Judge Harold Haley, the prosecutor, and three female jurors as hostages.[17][18] As Jackson transported the hostages and two black convicts away from the courtroom, the police began shooting at the vehicle. The judge and the three black men were killed in the melee; one of the jurors and the prosecutor were injured. Davis had purchased the firearms used in the attack, including the shotgun used to kill Haley, which had been bought two days prior and the barrel sawed off.[18] Davis was also corresponding with one of the inmates involved.[19]
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Angela Davis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
instagramsci said:
Well a judge thought they did
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o
That's good enough for me.

I don't support all of Angela Davis's ideas, But I do support her right to express them.




"The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen." ~ Tommy Smothers
 
MildSteel said:
So what is your point?
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As radicals and fanatics of the day were wont to do, she ended up going a little too far. She had no place then in the UC system.
 
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Here's a question for you supporters of Angela Davis 40+ years after the fact:

What would you say of a person now who supports a violent replacement of government to include race riots? Never mind, you can see it here - you call them racists and teabaggers and whatever pejorative you can pull out of your insult bag. You wouldn't be caught dead calling them brilliant, or fawning over them.
 
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