dear Office of Civil Rights . . .

What if the harasser threatens to retaliate against the victim if he or she reports the incident?

Title IX also protects students from retaliation. The school must take steps to prevent the alleged harasser or anybody else at the school from retaliating against the victim. Such steps include informing students that Title IX protects them from retaliation, making sure that victims know how to report any future problems, and making follow-up inquiries to see if there have been any new incidents. It also may be appropriate to counsel the harasser to ensure that he or she understands that retaliation is prohibited. If retaliation occurs, the school should take strong responsive actions. 

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/ocrshpam.html#_t3c

6-18-10

Dear office of civil rights,

Los Angeles City College in Los Angeles protects sexist language in the classroom.  because i made an official report, i was retaliated against.

#1 i received a crude and hostile letter from the teacher about the word "tit"

#2 i was threatened with being kicked out of anthropology.

#3 i was forced into a coercive and verbally abusive meeting which they recorded

#4 i had to get an attorney on my behalf to call the chair of social sciences to address why wendell eckford thought he could kick me out of a class. on may 25 1010.

#5 i was denied the right to present my final presentation on May 25, for which i spent hours of preparation and wrote almost 100 pages of notes.

#6 i was graded a "C" despite receiving an "A" in biological anthropology and getting a high score on my first test, working very hard on my project which was denied presentation, and doing well on my final, despite having to get an attorney to defend my right to take the final.  the final grades came out in june.  i checked them june 16 2010.

it is my belief that my teacher brian bartelt of anthropology unfairly graded me down in retaliation  for complaining about his use of the words "tits" and "tits and ass" "shitty" "bitching" "asshole" and saying  "margaret thatcher is a man" and that "transvestities teach real women how to be real women" and that he has "absolutely no sympathy for anorexia or bulimia."  He graded me down to punish me for asking for a respectful epithet-free atmosphere. he also addressed me as "woman!" in a loud and rude voice, and shouted (tits and ass) at me when i asked for more respect.  he also said to me "we don't want to wig anyone out" to discredit me when i spoke about women's rights internationally.  this slang is the equivalent of telling someone:"you are on drugs."

i persisted in the class despite threat of expulsion after making complaint of the sexist language.

the teacher also wrote me an email about the word "tit."

this all made me very uncomfortable and i wrote to him that his sexism in the classroom was igniting my post traumatic stress syndrom after a sexual assault and that slurs and epithets were against the CA and federal education code.

the chair of the department wendell eckford who threatened me with expulsion from anthropology (two class days before the final exam) told my lawyer, keith fink, to "jump in a stream" and that he would "hang up on your dumb ass."

my lawyer wrote a letter in my defense, alluding to the coercive nature of the two on one "mandatory" meeting in which i was berated and threatened with suspension from the class.

in evidence i have emails, an audio recording of wendell eckford using and defending the words "bitch" and "tits" and "ass" and "vagina" and "asshole" and "shitty" and "bitching"in the private meeting with me.

i do not have a recording of him saying he would "hang up on your dumb ass" to keith fink, my lawyer.

i would like to have my grade restored to at least a "B" and to find out what other remedies are available to me for retaliation and the denial of equality in the classroom, the right to give my presentation, and learn in an atmosphere free of epithet and slur.

this behavior while egregiously offensive fits into a larger pattern of abuse i experienced and heard other students discuss.  other tachers habitually use words like "slut" and "hooker" and other sexist epithets unrelated to course material and harass students.

please let me know what you can do to investigate this situation and ensure that other young women do not have to listen to verbal abuse or be retaliated against for asking for a more respectful learning atmosphere.

sincerely, 

(you know who.)

dan diamond . . . re my OCR complaint for retaliation

just like lacc everybody not doing their job but only trying to protect their job one big game . . .

revolutionaries like you just like artist bohos cant expect not to be crucified

(double negative) . . .

idealistic laws up in smoke . . . retaliation . . . women marginalized at LACC

hey dearest fink---

i hate to bother you with petty stuff----

my "cultural anthropology" class score came out at a "C" for this spring term 

despite the winter term's biological anthropology score reflecting an "A" (back when teacher liked me and when i was more quiet and submissive) despite being a much harder course with lots of science and memorization.

clearly teacher could not kick me out of the class for blogging his trashy language.

my final exam i thought went exceedingly well---my globalization test essay was wonderful.

it is clearly a case of retaliation as i can see.

i think he would have been smarter to give me a "B"

the term paper---which was on islam in los angeles--i interviewed over 20 people for and wrote a complimentary blog summing over 70 printed pages.  it was weighted as 20% of the grade.

i worked so hard on this project and it was my primary motive for staying in the class other than financial aid.

he then denied me the oral report which i wanted to give.  it was to be for extra credit.  i volunteered for thursday may 27 but then changed it to may 25 to be more flexible for the class.  no other student offerred to do this.  i was supposed to be allotted 10 minutes.  may 25 (the day of the coercive meeting and my trip to your office and eckford's rudeness on the phone) i was denied first, and then may 27 denied oral report again. all the male teachers pets were allowed to present.

it was odd to (want to)talk about women in islam---marginalized---in relation to women in the west marginalized---and be marginalized myself---into total silence---and censorship--and being pushed out of the class--and denied the report and then punished with a "C" for asking teacher to be more respectful about breasts, to which he screamed at me "tits and ass" 

other words i griped with

shitty

bitching

asshole

"margaret thatcher is a man"

"transvestites show real women how to be women"

blah!!!!

i participated frequently and attended with only one absence for the dentist, and one for my landlord legal dispute, both with emails sent to notify the teacher.

bartelt was the teacher, and eckford his immediate (cursing)head of social sciences, as you may recall.

my final paper was about women in the east and west and various types of verbal or cultural treatment of women.

in the paper, i spoke of the unequal treatment and hostile tone in the classroom as an impediment to learning, and an example of how our culture still restricts women despite the typical islamophobic resituation of the misogynist demarker.

to me it seems extra odd---that in addition to having to get your legal help to even complete the class---he obviously graded my paper down---or my test down---as his last swipe in addition to the humiliating verbal abuse in the classroom and email.

i mean i guess that is the least he could do to hurt me.

i am in portland oregon about to take classes at portland state university---a far better school.

i hope the financial aid holds me through---

if you have any time to comment, or assess possible action, the entire matter makes me sick, and the sheer fact of finishing the term was a miracle.

also the depression i experienced was very severe when all this occurred.

trying to find an apt

and settle in---and hope the aid covers classes and that magically i will be able to be in school for some time---law or grad school eventually

hope you are well

classes look amazing

another prof--my property law teacher--approached me the day of the final to ask if the blogosphere is permanent, etc.

he never responded to my email despite asking for future consultation with me regarding things i wrote about his sexist comments as well . . .

i really never care about grades, but for this case, it seemed important to see what kind of petty vengeance they were seeking.

is anything actionable??? notable???

i hope you are very well indeed and still prize the learning experience.

in a sense---putting my head on the wrong block is my own problem unless really

this were anything but writing on the sand

CA EDUCATION CODE 201 (A-C)

201. (a) All pupils have the right to participate fully in the educational process, free from discrimination and harassment. (b) California's public schools have an affirmative obligation to combat racism, sexism, and other forms of bias, and a responsibility to provide equal educational opportunity. (c) Harassment on school grounds directed at an individual on the basis of personal characteristics or status creates a hostile environment and jeopardizes equal educational opportunity as guaranteed by the California Constitution and the United States Constitution.

?