Students at a Texas university are being invited to experience verbal assaults, belittling, and other forms of abuse in what is titled a “Tunnel of Oppression.”
Student groups at Texas Tech University in Lubbock are bringing the “Tunnel” to the campus to give their fellow students the opportunity to experience oppression. It is described as a “first-hand” encounter where the attendees will experience people yelling obscenities directly in their faces about things like racism, relationship violence, body image, LGBT concerns, sexual assault, and other issues, KFYO reported.
The event will be conducted on February 6-7 at the Student Union Building on the Panhandle university’s campus. The video below illustrates how the program has been “performed” at another university.
The program was created by student groups at Western Illinois University 13 years ago, the event website states. The “Tunnel” delivers an in-your-face experience involving “interactive acting, hearing monologues and multimedia presentations.” The group states it wants other students to feel various forms on oppression including:
- Ethnocentrism (Belief in Superiority of One’s Own Culture)
- Bias
- Privilege
- LGBT Concerns
- Body Image
- Suicide and Cyber Bullying
- Relationship Violence
- Racism
- Sexual Assault and Awareness
- Mental Health
- Homelessness
The highly interactive program, which appeared in the video to cause several people to walk out of, “highlights contemporary issues of oppression by introducing participants to the concepts of oppression, privilege and power,” the event page describes. “Participants are guided through a series of scenes that educate and challenge them to think more deeply about issues of oppression.”
It is reportedly performed by local students recounting their own experiences of oppression and talking about local issues on the topics above.
Another student group, the Texas Tech University Black Students Association (Twitter @BSATXTech), delivered its own brand of oppression last summer when it tweeted out a hate-message against whites and cops the day before five Dallas-area police officers were gunned down at a Black Lives Matter protest in that city’s downtown area.
The tweet declared, “All lives don’t matter… White lives don’t matter… Blue lives don’t matter… #BlackLivesMatter.” The tweet was later taken down and an apology of sorts was issued by the group.
University officials took more than a week to respond and eventually disclaimed, but did not denounce, the tweet. Communications Managing Director Chris Cook sent out the following:
As an institution of higher learning, Texas Tech University is dedicated to an inclusive environment for all and supports our students’ rights to freedom of expression. A recent tweet sent from a student organization account is not representative of the university or the student organization.
A search on Facebook revealed the “Tunnel of Oppression” tour is vising several campuses over the next few months. Reservations are required for the event at Texas Tech, the website states.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.