?

[Graduatedayear2early]

i'm all for diversity but the PC society stuff is getting crazy.

But this idea is stupid. I'm a history teacher who teaches that time period. Knights were white men from the upper nobility. To have a knight of every race, ethnicity doesn't make sense. Is MSU going to change Sparty?

Likewise, there are so many historical falsehoods that come from changing this. Most notably if they were to have a Muslim knight. Again, I support diversity but I seem to remember something called the Crusades. I dont ever recall reading about Muslim knights.

If it ends up being changed, go with the idea of a masked knight.

 

[RUtix4me]

I am not normally a fan of post "there is a nother thread on this", so I wont post that.

There are at least two separate threads on this........do we need another?

 

[RUMBA-JK]

i'm all for diversity but the PC society stuff is getting crazy.

But this idea is stupid. I'm a history teacher who teaches that time period. Knights were white men from the upper nobility. To have a knight of every race, ethnicity doesn't make sense. Is MSU going to change Sparty?

Likewise, there are so many historical falsehoods that come from changing this. Most notably if they were to have a Muslim knight. Again, I support diversity but I seem to remember something called the Crusades. I dont ever recall reading about Muslim knights.

If it ends up being changed, go with the idea of a masked knight.

while clearly a rarity, there are discussions of the existence or Moorish Knights -

Knights on the Frontier: The Moorish Guard of the Kings of Castile (1410-1467)
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cat/summary/v096/96.4.o-callaghan.html

 

[DJ Spanky]

Well these kids have certainly accomplished their purpose, which was to attract attention to themselves.

 

[Graduatedayear2early]

sorry about that, i'm still getting used to the new board. clicked on the wrong button.

 

[R1776U]

or just not change it and kick these morons out of RU on reasons of stupidity

 

[Ole Cabbagehead]

Part of the issue is that people are incredibly concerned right now with being perceived as intolerant. It used to be that you were entitled to your opinion on matters, regardless of whether some found it offensive. Now, social media and faux outrage have resulted in damage to a lot of people's lives. Its easier to go along with anything seen as PC then to risk being branded a rascist. So whenever one of these kind of ideas gets floated, no one wants to disagree in a public setting, regardless of whether the idea is actually coherent or not.

All of that said, I am not sure why this issue is drawing outrage. I honestly couldn't careless if the student body wants to have a black knight or an hispanic knight. I was far more annoyed when they officially changed the words of the alma mater, simply because that was something traditional. IMHO, the felt knight is stupid looking anyway. They really couldn't make it any more lame by changing its race.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

while clearly a rarity, there are discussions of the existence or Moorish Knights -

Knights on the Frontier: The Moorish Guard of the Kings of Castile (1410-1467)
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cat/summary/v096/96.4.o-callaghan.html

Add in Japanese feudal society and "knights" and the Ottomans and so on and you can easily see how a teacher COULD teach about diversity when it came to knights and feudal combat.

Wasn't Othello a Knight leading troops in.. Cypress? Was Shakespeare just being politically correct and inclusive?

I understand that US History is English History is European History and the History of Western Civilization... but to suggest that the concept of "knight" needs to be so limited is naive.

Surely the word "knight" is European derived and basically is a title bestowed upon someone deemed to "serve" the monarch. Since we are speaking English here, it is not surprising that the concept of one who serves as a warrior is called "knight" to us. The Rutgers version of a knight would seem to be of the high middle ages, and thus we see the armor and so on. But there is no reason we cannot use "knight" and expand its representation.

Example:

 

[JPhoboken]

I don't really care what color the knights face is either, but we shouldn't have to change history and traditions because people are afraid of appearing intolerant.

My issue is not what color, its there is no reason to change. The knights face color doesn't represent ethnic diversity at Rutgers, having a diverse cultural student body that reflects the ethnic diversity of NJ and the United States is what's important.

 

[geurdsy]

Let's Go Chanticleers!