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  • With the benefit of hindsight this house as South Africa would establish TRC that excludes the influence of Christianity

    Infoslide

    Truth and Reconciliation Commission South Africa (TRC) is a courtlike body established by South African government in 1995 to help heal the country and bring about a reconciliation of its people after the period of apartheid. In many ways Christianity has been infused in the TRC processes.

    Nusantara Overland Varsity English Debate 2021 · Open Quarters · 2021-11-01

  • This house believes that it is justified for black and Asian Britons to accept symbolic titles from the British state.

    Infoslide

    A century ago the eminent Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore returned his knighthood to the viceroy of India. The “time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in their incongruous context of humiliation”, Tagore wrote in outrage as scores of peaceful protesters were massacred in Jallianwala Bagh. He would now “stand, shorn of all special distinctions, by the side of my countrymen”. The 1919 atrocities in Amritsar jolted the Nobel laureate into accepting that that his Knight Commander of the British Empire could not be treated as unconnected to the bloodied realities of that empire’s operations. David Olusoga is a British Nigerian popular historian, writer, broadcaster, presenter and film-maker. He is Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester. He was awarded an OBE for his services to history and community integration. Accepting his Order of the British Empire, the public historian David Olusoga, has insisted that while “the empire was an extractive, exploitative, racist and violent institution”, the fact that “there isn’t an empire any more” changes things completely. Olusoga suggests that, by acknowledging the “incredible achievements of black and Asian Britons”, OBEs can be seen as a defeat of racism

    The DCAC Fundraiser Open 2021 · 5 · 2021-10-29

  • This house opposes Gage’s decision to change Sojourner Truth’s dialect

    Infoslide

    "Ain't I a Woman?' is a speech, delivered extemporaneously, by Sojourner TruThis house, (1797–1883), born into slavery in New York State. Sometime after gaining her freedom in 1827, she became a well-known anti-slavery speaker. Her speech was delivered at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio, on May 29, 1851. If there is a canon of African-American women’s rhetoric, Sojourner Truth’s speech “Ain’t I a Woman?” is a central text in that collection. It was an aptly chosen name, as illustrated by her speech, in which she at once refutes the prevailing myth that women are weaker than men while challenging social definitions of womanhood—which relies upon ideas about white women’s femininity and purity. Most people are familiar with the 1863 popular version of Sojourner Truth's famous, “Ain’t I a woman” speech but they have no idea that this popular version, while based off of Sojourner’s original 1851 speech, is not Sojourner's speech and is vastly different from Sojourner’s original 1851 speech. this popular but inaccurate version was written and published in 1863, (12 years after Sojourner gave the 'Ain't I a woman' speech), by a white abolitionist named Frances Dana Barker Gage. Curiously, Gage chose to represent Sojourner speaking in a stereotypical 'southern black slave accent', rather than in Sojourner’s distinct upper New York State low-Dutch accent. In an issue of the Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph, an article states that Truth prided herself on “fairly correct English, which is in all senses a foreign tongue to her. . . . People who report her often exaggerate her expressions, putting in to her mouth the most marked southern dialect.” For comparison, this is an excerpt from the text: “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me!” Gage’s version: “Dat man ober dar say dat women needs to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have de best place eberywhar. Nobody eber helps me into carriages or ober mud-puddles, or gives me any best place. - And ar’n’t I a woman? Look at me. Look at my arm. I have plowed and planted and gathered into barns, and no man could head me.”

    The DCAC Fundraiser Open 2021 · 3 · 2021-10-29

  • This house supports the school board’s decision to paint over “The Life of George Washington

    Infoslide

    The Life of George Washington” (1934) is a San Francisco school mural painted by Victor Arnautoff; it was one of countless artworks created by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) initiative under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration to visualize a new roadmap toward national excellence under the adage, “Search for a usable American past.” Now, 85 years after its creation, administrators at the school where the painting resides have decided that there is nothing “usable” in Arnautoff’s images. George Washington High School has decided to paint over the 1,600-square-foot mural.The city’s school board voted unanimously to approve the repaint. Why? Because of its blunt retelling of history. Across 13 frescos, the painter renders an unvarnished portrait of Washington as a slave owner who incentivized settlers and troops to destroy Native American populations and land. One landscape includes a pack of soldiers painted in greyscale walking by the fallen corpse of an Indigenous person.Reactions to this gruesome scene have been mixed. Opponents of the mural have described it as a symbol of racial animus. In voting for its destruction, the school described their decision as a form of reparations for historic racial injustices against African Americans and Native Americans. While they recognize the need to keep history complicated, the anti-muralists also see the Arnautoff painting as a decontextualized daily problem for marginalized students and staff. The Reflection and Action Working Group, a committee of activists, students, artists, and others put together by the district, concluded in February that Arnautoff’s work “glorifies slavery, genocide, colonization, white supremacy, oppression, etc.” Black people and Native Americans in the school district have asked for the mural’s removal as a way to address continuing racial inequality.But according to a report by the New York Times, many other students favor the fresco. One student wrote, “The fresco shows us exactly how brutal colonization and genocide really were and are. The fresco is a warning and reminder of the fallibility of our hallowed leaders.” Art historians and alumni have also come to the painting’s defense, saying that it must be preserved as an example of WPA art and a frank representation of how cruel early America’s leading figures could be.

    The DCAC Fundraiser Open 2021 · Open Quarters · 2021-10-29

  • This house opposes the decision of the Tamil Political Alliances in Sri Lanka to limit the expression of a a Trans-national, pan Tamil consciousness

    Infoslide

    Context-1: In the past, the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) had explicitly articulated a sense of pan-Tamil, trans-national consciousness, which would allow Sri Lankan Tamilians to lay claim to a culture which was seemingly being hegemonised by their Indian and other non-Sri Lankan counterparts. The symbols used to represent their struggle were explicitly derived from a semi-mythologised “golden age” of Tamil civilisation (Sangam era) and significant attempts were made at emphasising a notion of transnational solidarity. After the defeat of the LTTE in 2009, the leaders of the Tamil political alliances of Sri Lanka have actively limited their demands for an independent nation state. Instead, alliances like the TNA (Tamil National Alliance) and TNPF (Tamil National People’s Front) have rallied with the intention of securing greater levels of autonomy by supporting a federal structure that accommodates their demand for “regional self-rule"". The leaders of the political alliances have also limited their expression of trans-national solidarity, fearing that doing so would further legitimise the claims of the majoritarian Sinhala nationalists, who sought to characterise them as outsiders without a legitimate claim in Sri Lanka. Instead, they have decided to assert their distinctiveness as a community with a historic Tamil presence and heritage within Sri Lanka itself. Context-2: On several occasions, the Sri Lankan government has arrested various members of the political alliances for actively memorialising historic Sri Lankan Tamil activists like Lt. Col. Thileepan. The government has also limited any attempts at commemorating the Tamilians who had lost their lives at the hands of the Sri Lankan government during their struggle with the LTTE. Such acts of repression by the Sri Lankan government have significantly hampered the ability of Tamil leaders and activists at emphasising their distinctive sense of self as a community within the nation. While many believe that the claim to a trans-national, pan-Tamil identity allows for a greater visibility of the Sri Lankan Tamil cause by encouraging international expressions of solidarity, others believe that this approach would allow several non-Sri Lankan Tamils to misunderstand, dilute and appropriate their struggle within the Nation. As of today, Palermo City, Italy has recognised the “genocide of Eelam Tamils perpetrated by the Sri Lankan state” and a few months ago, the British foreign secretary had expressed his desire to secure a level of funding that would allow a thorough investigation of the war crimes in Sri Lanka.

    The DCAC Fundraiser Open 2021 · 1 · 2021-10-29

  • This house as Lord Giustiniani would accept the offer from the Sultan rather than continue to defend Constantinople

    Infoslide

    You are Lord Giustiniani who leads a group of Catholic mercenaries (soldiers who fight for money). You have agreed to defend Constantinople capital of the Orthodox Christian Byzantine empire. The Byzantine emperor has promised you the island of Lemnos if you successfully defend the city. While in Constantinople you have fallen in love with the emperor’s daughter and have promised to flee the city together after the battle. The city is under attack from Sultan Mehmed II of the Muslim Ottoman Empire. The city is defended by walls and a moat that have survived previous attacks. However the Ottoman’s have early cannons that are capable of significantly damaging the walls but are unreliable. The Ottomans have the land around the city surrounded by well trained soldiers. The only possible relief is by sea. The Byzantine’s have promised you that relief ships carrying soldiers and supplies have been sent by the Pope. You don’t know when or if the ships will arrive. After the opening exchanges of battle the Sultan invites you to a secret meeting. He makes you an offer: betray the Byzantines and allow the Ottoman’s to take Constantinople and he will match their offer and also promises you the island of Lemnos.

    Imperial Novices 2021 · Gold Final · 2021-10-16

  • This house regrets the culture of attributing the success of a social movement (such as the civil rights movement the Indian Independence movement etc.) to it's 'diplomacy' and 'peacefulness'

    Infoslide

    Civil rights movement: Martin Luther King VS Black PanthersIndian movement: Mahatma Gandhi VS Bhagat SinghHong Kong: 2014 Umbrella revolution VS 2019 Extradition protests

    Hong Kong Online WSDC International · Open Final · 2021-10-07

  • This house regrets the dominance of the 'evil west' narrative in academic circles

    Infoslide

    According to the narrative of the 'Evil West', the West has a self-proclaimed sense of civilizing superiority achieved by its scientific, cultural and religious self-glorification. In academia, the concept of the 'Evil West' is used to portray racist and imperial practices as unparalleled evil committed against the rest of the world, and these practices are considered unique causes of global inequalities.

    CMDLP 2021 · 2 · 2021-09-03