Tolerance fails T-Shirt test

[Pivra]

"McCain Girl."

"I was just really curious how they'd react to something that different, because a lot of people at my school wore Obama shirts and they are big Obama supporters," Catherine told us. "I just really wanted to see what their reaction would be."

Immediately, Catherine learned she was stupid for wearing a shirt with Republican John McCain's name. Not merely stupid. Very stupid.

"People were upset. But they started saying things, calling me very stupid, telling me my shirt was stupid and I shouldn't be wearing it," Catherine said.

Then it got worse.

"One person told me to go die. It was a lot of dying. A lot of comments about how I should be killed," Catherine said, of the tolerance in Oak Park.

But students weren't the only ones surprised that she wore a shirt supporting McCain.

"In one class, I had one teacher say she will not judge me for my choice, but that she was surprised that I supported McCain," Catherine said.

If Catherine was shocked by such passive-aggressive threats from instructors, just wait until she goes to college.

"Later, that teacher found out about the experiment and said she was embarrassed because she knew I was writing down what she said," Catherine said.

One student suggested that she be put up on a cross for her political beliefs.

"He said, 'You should be crucifixed.' It was kind of funny because, I was like, don't you mean 'crucified?' " Catherine said.

Other entries in her notebook involved suggestions by classmates that she be "burned with her shirt on" for "being a filthy-rich Republican."

Some said that because she supported McCain, by extension she supported a plan by deranged skinheads to kill Obama before the election. And I thought such politicized logic was confined to American newsrooms. Yet Catherine refused to argue with her peers. She didn't want to jeopardize her experiment.

"I couldn't show people really what it was for. I really kind of wanted to laugh because they had no idea what I was doing," she said.

Only a few times did anyone say anything remotely positive about her McCain shirt. One girl pulled her aside in a corner, out of earshot of other students, and whispered, "I really like your shirt."


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c....column?page=2

[Каие]

wow, That is pretty extreme, unacceptable...and extremely sad. I was blaming the McCainites for having sour grapes that Obama won, and these Obama fans got sour grapes just because one, just one person wanted something else? *Face palm.

[MaximiIian]

Not surprising. Kids can be vicious. It doesn't matter what it's about or for...children are vicious monsters.

So, yeah, this was idiocy at its worst. Thank goodness most Obama supporters aren't this crazy (same with most McCain supporters).

[Dunecat]

There's hope for this country yet.

[Pious Agnost]

Disgusting. But it is kinda provocative to support someone different to everyone else .......


and I'm going to go right ahead and say SARCASM before someone believes I'm serious

[Rich86]

Not sure what this proves exactly?

I imagine you would get bad reactions to wearing an Obama shirt in some places.

She has a right to make a political statement, equally people have a right to say "I do not agree with your politics." They don't have a right to make threats however.

[Cluny the Scourge]

Yes, "Obama Girl" in an evangelical school in Texas...the results would have been far more interesting given the higher level gun-ownership.

[The King Of Peasants]

As bad as this was its not surprising at all.

Yes, "Obama Girl" in an evangelical school in Texas...the results would have been far more interesting given the higher level gun-ownership.

That is an assumption based on a stereotype...

[Musthavename]

That is an assumption based on a stereotype...

Yes, but out of an entire school it's quite likely that at least one person is close to the stereotype, hence the definition of stereotype!

[Mithie]

This article goes a long way to illuminate the greatest cancer that's eating away the values of America - even moreso than bankers and the recent economic meltdown - STUPID KIDS.

[Nikos]

This article goes a long way to illuminate the greatest cancer that's eating away the values of America - even moreso than bankers and the recent economic meltdown - STUPID KIDS.

Hit the nail right on the head. I just graduated High school in June. I was made fun of for reading, for knowing what the capital of Pakistan was and many other things. Kids these days feel a sense of entitlement and no work ethic. At my job, I'm usually the only one who actually works hard. To think, this is what the future holds.

[Каие]

This article goes a long way to illuminate the greatest cancer that's eating away the values of America - even moreso than bankers and the recent economic meltdown - STUPID KIDS.

Why stop at kids? Stupid people, period.

[Gaidin]

LOL High Schooler's being stupid say it ain't so!

[Valiant Champion]

As for their immature behaviour

Like father like son!!

They had to pick that behaviour up somewhere!!

[Holger Danske]

As for their immature behaviour

Like father like son!!

They had to pick that behaviour up somewhere!!

Ehm, wasn't it the Republicans who used the personal attack tactics during the campaign?

[Gaidin]

Yes because everything is genetic. Makes you no more mature than a monkey.

[Bovril]

I wonder if this girl was bullied generally. The level of controll for unwanted variables in this experiment is so low it makes it meaningless. I think the most plausible hypothesis is that this girl was disliked anyway and seen as contrary, so when she did this it was more of an excuse to be unpleasant to her than a motivating factor. I could be wrong, but I suspect I'm not.

[Nikos]

I wonder if this girl was bullied generally. The level of controll for unwanted variables in this experiment is so low it makes it meaningless. I think the most plausible hypothesis is that this girl was disliked anyway and seen as contrary, so when she did this it was more of an excuse to be unpleasant to her than a motivating factor. I could be wrong, but I suspect I'm not.

But even the teacher said something. Teachers don't usually bully there students like that.

[Bovril]

But even the teacher said something. Teachers don't usually bully there students like that.

To quote the girl's quote in the article:
"In one class, I had one teacher say she will not judge me for my choice, but that she was surprised that I supported McCain," Catherine said.

Now given that this girl only wore the t-shirt to see what would happen, it may well be that a teacher who knew her was legitimately surprised that she did so, as it may have been prima facae out of character. To comment on this, and then qualify that comment by saying that she was not judging her for wearing the t-shirt is easier to construe as friendly chat than bullying. But I don't blame you for thinking it was bullying, since you read it in the context of an article that is absurdly alarmist and sensationalist.

That would mean they made of her wearing the shirt before she ever wore it!! 8-|

Perhaps reading comprehension is not a strong point of yours. I'll try and explain again for you. If there is a girl people bully routinely, and she does something to make herself stand out, or easily targetable, they are more likely than not to pick up on it and bully her for it. I see this phenomenon as being a more likely explanation of the facts than the idea that most of her peers want to see all McCain supporters killed. Don't you?

[Nikos]

To quote the girl's quote in the article:
"In one class, I had one teacher say she will not judge me for my choice, but that she was surprised that I supported McCain," Catherine said.

Now given that this girl only wore the t-shirt to see what would happen, it may well be that a teacher who knew her was legitimately surprised that she did so, as it may have been prima facae out of character. To comment on this, and then qualify that comment by saying that she was not judging her for wearing the t-shirt is easier to construe as friendly chat than bullying. But I don't blame you for thinking it was bullying, since you read it in the context of an article that is absurdly alarmist and sensationalist.

Perhaps, but perhaps the teacher WAS really bullying. We will never really know.