Internationally known journalist Larry Pinkney received a Trespass Warning on April 11, 2013\u00a0(banning him from the University of Minnesota – Minneapolis campus) after writing and sending the following email on April 7, 2013 titled “Arbitrary\u00a0Treatment Or Standard Operating Procedure?” to several University of Minnesota staff and faculty:<\/p>\n
April 7, 2013
\nTO: Karen Hanson, Senior Vice President\/Provost, University of Minnesota<\/p>\nPamela Wheelock, Vice President, University Services, University of Minnesota
\nJason Rohloff, Special Assistant, Gov’t & Community Relations, University of Minnesota
\nUniversity Relations, University of Minnesota<\/p>\nDear Ms. Hanson, Ms. Wheelock, Mr. Rohloff, and members of the university relations department:<\/p>\n
As the eight links (contained in the bottom portion of this email)\u00a0amply demonstrate, I am a nationally and internationally recognized author\/journalist, activist, researcher,\u00a0and lecturer in the areas of\u00a0civil and political rights, political science,\u00a0and\u00a0international law.<\/p>\n
I am writing to you out of an abiding and deeply disturbing\u00a0concern, based upon\u00a0my experience with two upper level\u00a0staff members of the Institute for Global Studies, on the afternoon of Friday, April 5, 2013, on the 2nd floor of the Social Sciences building at the University of Minnesota.<\/p>\n
Pursuant to\u00a0my\u00a0objectives as a journalist, I was seeking out and attempting to speak with and\/or interview persons with respect to their knowledge and perspectives on international law as it pertains to its application inside\u00a0the United States. As I was in the process of listening to and interviewing a University of Minnesota student in an open\u00a0conference room on the second floor, I was abruptly interrupted by the above-mentioned two staff persons, who among other things, and without adequate explanation,\u00a0condescendingly\u00a0insisted that I stop my interview and leave immediately. I stated my first and last name and\u00a0showed them\u00a0my Press ID (which includes the name & logo\u00a0of the national publication for whom I write, my photo, and also includes\u00a0my first and last name, etc<\/span>.), and I\u00a0indicated that I desired to complete my conversation \/ interview. Rather than allowing me another two or\u00a0three minutes to\u00a0complete the interview \/ conversation, the two staff persons belligerently insisted that I leave immediately. I then asked the two staff persons to give me their last\u00a0names – which they\u00a0refused<\/em>\u00a0to do,\u00a0acidly<\/em> replying to me,\u00a0“You’re the investigative journalist. YOU find out!”<\/strong> This afore-quoted acidic reply was a clear\u00a0manifestation of the smugly arrogant ivory-tower snobbery,\u00a0contempt, and hostility<\/em>\u00a0for the greater community, on the part of these two staff persons.\u00a0It also indicates an\u00a0active, pervasive, and deep-cover racism<\/em>\u00a0on the part of these two\u00a0Institute for Global Studies staff persons. This\u00a0should be\u00a0deeply troubling to the faculty, staff, and students at this Land-Grant institution.<\/p>\n
My research indicates that\u00a0their first and last\u00a0names, in fact\u00a0are, [names omitted]. Is this hostile, condescending, and\u00a0community-unfriendly\u00a0environment, as represented by the above-mentioned two staff persons, really representative<\/em>\u00a0of the University of Minnesota? One would think, that of all places, the Social Sciences building,\u00a0which houses (among other entities) the Global Studies\u00a0Institute and the Human Rights Project, would be especially sensitive and open\u00a0to\u00a0journalists, researchers,\u00a0lecturers, and\/or scholars from the community-at-large.\u00a0One must wonder:<\/strong>\u00a0Is this the kind of atmosphere that\u00a0permeates<\/em>\u00a0the University of Minnesota as a whole?\u00a0In such an atmosphere,\u00a0it is no wonder<\/em>\u00a0that Black American and\u00a0Indigenous Native, etc.,\u00a0(so called “minority”) student enrollment is so deplorably low at the University of Minnesota.<\/p>\n
The behavior of\u00a0[name omitted] and [name omitted] was extremely reprehensible, provocative, inexcusable, and absolutely\u00a0contrary<\/em>\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0self-description by the Institute for Global Studies (IGS), which states the following\u00a0on its University of Minnesota\u00a0web site:<\/p>\n
“The Institute for Global Studies (IGS) creates an environment for students and scholars at the University of Minnesota to investigate the sets of interrelated processes forming today’s increasingly interdependent world. IGS provides a vibrant curriculum for students,\u00a0brings together scholars from diverse disciplines, and works with the community to create partnerships examining global issues.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
IGS is designated as a comprehensive National Resource Center in International Studies by the United States Department of Education.”<\/p>\n
I am requesting from the University of Minnesota, at its earliest possible opportunity,\u00a0the specific prescribed written guidelines<\/em> as they pertain to the treatment of,\u00a0and\/or accessibility by, visiting journalists, researchers, scholars, and\/or community persons at-large, with respect to the University of Minnesota,\u00a0as a Land-Grant institution.<\/em><\/p>\n
The eight\u00a0links referred to in paragraph one of this email\u00a0communication, are directly below:<\/p>\n
\n
- Click on\u00a0Larry Pinkney Speaks at Syracuse University College of Law | Larry Pinkney Arc<\/a><\/li>\n
- Click on\u00a0World Prout Assembly Voice of Justice Award | Larry Pinkney Archives<\/a><\/li>\n
- Click on\u00a0Book Review: Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medi<\/a><\/li>\n
- Click on\u00a0Guest Larry Pinkney on The Corbett Report | Larry Pinkney Archives –<\/a><\/li>\n
- Click on\u00a0Guest Larry Pinkney on Civil R\u00e1d\u00edo FM98, Budapest, Hungary | Larry Pinkney Arc<\/a><\/li>\n
- Click on\u00a0Black Activist Writers Guild –<\/a><\/li>\n
- Click on\u00a0German Yearbook of International Law | Larry Pinkney Archives<\/a><\/li>\n
- Click on\u00a0Textbook on International Human Rights | Larry Pinkney Archives<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
I look forward to your expeditious reply in this most serious\u00a0matter.<\/p>\n
Sincerely,<\/p>\n
Larry Pinkney<\/p>\n
bcc: Black Activist Writers Guild
\nUnited Nations Office At Geneva, et al
\ncc:\u00a0 File copies<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
His email request for “the\u00a0specific prescribed written guidelines<\/em>\u00a0as they pertain to the treatment of,\u00a0and\/or accessibility by, visiting journalists, researchers, scholars, and\/or community persons at-large, with respect to the University of Minnesota,\u00a0as a Land-Grant institution” <\/em>remains unanswered by University of Minnesota officials as of April 11, 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Internationally known journalist Larry Pinkney received a Trespass Warning on April 11, 2013\u00a0(banning him from the University of Minnesota – Minneapolis campus) after writing and sending the following email on April 7, 2013 titled “Arbitrary\u00a0Treatment Or Standard Operating Procedure?” to several University of Minnesota staff and faculty:<\/p>\n
April 7, 2013
TO: Karen Hanson, Senior […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2078"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2087,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078\/revisions\/2087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackactivistwg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}