Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-34633327-20171201215836/@comment-10390252-20171205165626

ChishioKunrin wrote:

Thinking back to Volume 1, RWBY and JNPR just sat there while CRDL bullied Velvet. They talked about it but didn't do anything. Blake didn't do anything because she didn't want to draw attention to herself as a Faunus and former White Fang member, but what were the others' reasons? For Jaune it was fear of Cardin. By that point, the leader of CRDL had been tormenting him for weeks and he probably didn't feel able to stop him attacking others, no matter how much he felt utterly repulsed by that fact. Glynda deserves a lot of criticism for the way she clearly thought that Jaune should handle it himself (I've been the victim of such a 'stand up for yourself' attitude towards the targets of bullying and I can tell you that it sucks the hope out of you).

If Beacon functioned anything like a RL educational instution, I'm sure if RWBY and JNPR had stood up and whipped CRDL into four bloody blobs (which they deserved) in Velvet's defence, the first thing that Glynda would have done was insist that Ozpin suspend them for 'starting a fight in the cafeteria'. If Cardin would have got anything other than Ozpin's disapproving glare, it would have been harsh words because, in the end, he didn't do anything directly actionable. Bullies tend to be careful like that.

Additionally, Cardin wouldn't have been intimidated into backing off. It simply isn't in his nature to respond to threats like that as anything other than a challenge to his personal masculinity. It is much more likely that he would have doubled-down and even started targeting RWBY and JNPR too in order to prove his dominance.

In a broader sence, Huntsmen are not vigilantes and cannot act against the law. As satisfying as beating a little common humanity into the racists would be, the most likely result would be disciplinary action to avoid accusations of the Huntsmen 'siding with the White Fang' and to avoid the anti-Faunus forces formally organising in order to 'stand up for their rights'. As long as the authorities are not willing to put power behind equality legislation (including the disciplining of those in governmental positions to act in discriminatory ways), discrimination would remain effectively legal and state-sanctioned.