STOMP ON JESUS: Top Florida Democrat exposed for hate speech forced on Christian college student

Deandre Poole, Vice Chair, Palm Beach County Democratic Party

Meet Deandre Javaris Poole, Ph.D, age 32,  the Vice Chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party — and the County’s second top official to come under scrutiny in the past year for anti-Christian hate speech. The former Chair, attorney Mark Alan Siegel, resigned in September, 2012, after a video surfaced of Siegel saying that because he’s Jewish, he’s “not a fan of Christianity” — and accusing Christians of being eager to see Jews die:  “The Christians just want us to be there [in Israel] so we can all be slaughtered and converted and bring on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.”

(More on that from David Martosko here, and from Jason Howerton here. According to Siegel, despite his damage-control-oriented “resignation,” behind the scenes he continued doing “just about everything” he’d previously been doing.)

Dr. Poole earned his doctorate by writing a dissertation even more politically slanted, and even more devoid of useful information, than the dissertation of his fellow Ph.D leftist Erik Loomis, whose epic work on homosexual lumberjacks and castrated Marxists in the early 1900s was unearthed at the prompting of polymath journalist Robert Stacy McCain.

As summarized in his biography on the Palm Beach Democratic Party website, it appears Dr. Poole satisfied the scholarship requirement for a Ph.D in Communication and Culture from Howard University by:  (1) reading various magazine articles about the 2008 presidential campaign; and (2) doing a “content analysis” of how the articles tended to portray Sen. Barack Obama as some sort of “mythical hero.” Most sentient beings would question the novelty of this observation, but apparently not the experts on “communication and culture” at Howard University.

(It appears Dr. Poole may be part of the controversial new field of “Hate Studies“: in an academic bio he reports that his “research focuses on the role mediated messages play in shaping individual attitudes and beliefs concerning issues of justice and inequality, and examines how leaders, organizations, and other influential authorities dominate and oppress marginalized groups of people.”)

Apparently Dr. Poole teaches college students at both Broward College (bio and course list here) and Florida Atlantic University  (bio here) where he teaches courses (in the School of Communication & Multimedia Studies) covering “American multicultural discourse,” “intercultural theory,” and “intercultural communication,” the last of which has landed him in the news. The three-hour course, which he teaches Monday nights to 24 students, carries this description in the university catalog:  “Examination of the intracultural and intercultural communication differences within and between culturally diverse groups in the United States.”

One of Dr. Poole’s methods for examining “intracultural” communication differences  reportedly involves using his students as human guinea pigs by trying to force them to commit physical acts denigrating their own religion. One of the 24 students, Ryan Rotela, has publicly complained that about three weeks ago, Dr. Poole instructed all 24 students to write “JESUS” in bold letters on a piece of paper, put the paper on the floor,  and stand next to it.  Then he said:  “STOMP ON IT.”  Mr. Rotela refused to do so, telling Dr. Poole that “with all due respect to your authority as a professor,” the instruction was not appropriate and unprofessional, and as a devout Christian it “deeply offended” him, as stomping on something connotes it has no value.   (Mr. Rotela is a Mormon, and crediting the LDS church’s own explanation of doctrine, Mormons are clearly Christians, so Mr. Rotela’s reaction is quite understandable.)

Apparently the disrespect for religion ordered by Dr. Poole was reserved for Christianity — there are no reports that he directed students to stomp on the Prophet Muhammad; or to stomp on Abraham or Moses; or to stomp on Buddha.

Even though Dr. Poole was teaching a class emphasizing the importance of cultural diversity, and as a high-level Democrat official ostensibly stands for tolerance and civility toward all, Mr. Rotela reports that Dr. Poole showed “no remorse” for his action. Mr. Rotella says that Dr. Poole expelled him from the class, and that Dr. Poole refused to back down even after Mr. Roela appealed to Dr. Poole’s supervisor, Dr. Noemi Marin, who reportedly upheld the permanent suspension — a draconian sanction which led Mr. Rotela to grant an interview to a local television station.  Further background, and video, from Eric Owens at the Daily Caller (video also embedded below).

Fair warning to Christians in Democrat-controlled Palm Beach County:  even though Mark Alan Siegel had to step down due to his anti-Christian comments, you’re still not safe, because there’s a new sheriff in town:  Palm Beach County Democratic Party Vice Chair Deandre Javaris Poole, Ph.D.