![]() ![]() As always, the ultimate conversation stopper-“racist”-was at the top of the list, this time aimed at a woman with a black husband and children of mixed race. #Your chronicle academic city freeThere was little reasoned argument, almost no attempt at factual refutation from these supposed defenders of free thought and the lively exchange of ideas, but mainly name calling. To learn that over 6,000 of those shaping young minds at America’s colleges and universities signed a petition demanding Riley’s dismissal-and, even more, to read the comments in response to the posting they found so objectionable-is to despair anew for the nation’s future. For she challenged the assumption at the heart of almost all such programs that, as she put it, “nothing much has changed in this country in the past half century when it comes to race.” To the average person, such a notion is so clearly absurd it is hardly worth the breath to say so but to innumerable academics, especially those in the various departments specializing in racial and ethnic grievance, to challenge it is sacrilege. “If ever there were a case for eliminating the discipline of black studies,” she wrote, “some of the dissertations being offered by the best and the brightest of black-studies graduate students has made it.” She went on to cite particulars, commenting acidly on a number of dubious-sounding dissertations written by young stars in the field.īut it wasn’t so much the specifics of her piece that raised the ire of her critics-tellingly, her attackers rarely even bothered to dispute those in any but the most general terms-but her gall in questioning the value of black studies at all. And challenge it is precisely what Riley did in her blog post, doing what she’d been hired to do by engaging in a fact-based analysis of an educational issue of vital importance. The racial spoils system in American higher education has by now become so entrenched that to challenge it is to commit an unpardonable sin. ![]() While the firing of Naomi Schaefer Riley by the Chronicle of Higher Education is a disgrace, the greater shame is that it can’t be called a surprise. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |