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Comment by sonnyblarney | Hacker News Reader

How can it be the 'straw that broke the camel's back' if it's not a straw and has no mass?

You honestly think there is popular legitimacy in student's demand for authoritative policing of Halloween costumes?

(Edit: literally putting Yale students, the nations 'best and brightest' under more policing literally than children, high schoolers or other adults who for some crazy reason don't need to have their halloween costumes regulated)

This is not a 'yes, but' situation.

There are no 'butts'.

I'm actually quite shocked to read your comment as I had hoped that most Yale students had common sense and thought of the whole episode as pedantic rubbish.

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From your comment I am left to believe we are not talking about the same event? Could you describe what you think happened? Do you think this whole debacle was really over one stupid letter? As I described elsewhere, the letter just started a conversation. The tone deaf responses in that conversation is what escalated the situation.

The student's concerns about costumes were heard, some advice was given apparently, and that's all any academic organization or otherwise should have to contend with.

That's the end of the story.

There's no reason for the faculty to have to address it further.

Whether or not responses were 'tone deaf' it subjective, and certainly besides the point with respect to anyone being fired.

Students who bullied the staff should have been admonished (or possibly expelled), not the other way around.

The whole costume thing was a minor part of the conversation (and went more or less as you described). It was a convenient chance to start a conversation. Students had legitimate complaints about documented casual racism on campus, and initially they received only dismissal. This is the source of all the anger.

> documented casual racism on campus

Please provide any link on this, i'm curious about these problems.

This would be a good start (mostly self reported though, shows significant differences in the experience of some students) https://nursing.yale.edu/gpss-report-race-diversity-inclusio...

This story is rather ridiculous (and it would have been funny if it was an isolated incident, but a subset of the students face this more often than others): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/05/1...

YDN from around that time would probably have testimonials.

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