Perks Now! For Poor, Underprivileged Princeton Professors
So many of the "social justice" initiatives are affirmative action on steroids, and really, through that, what might be called "benevolent racism."
Quillette piece by Joshua T. Katz takes on some of the demands in a "Faculty Letter" to the president and other senior administrators at Princeton University:
There are dozens of proposals that, if implemented, would lead to civil war on campus and erode even further public confidence in how elite institutions of higher education operate. Some examples: "Reward the invisible work done by faculty of color with course relief and summer salary" and "Faculty of color hired at the junior level should be guaranteed one additional semester of sabbatical" and "Provide additional human resources for the support of junior faculty of color." Let's leave aside who qualifies as "of color," though this is not a trivial point. It boggles my mind that anyone would advocate giving people--extraordinarily privileged people already, let me point out: Princeton professors--extra perks for no reason other than their pigmentation.
..."Acknowledge, credit, and incentivize anti-racist student activism. Such acknowledgment should, at a minimum, take the form of reparative action, beginning with a formal public University apology to the members of the Black Justice League and their allies." The Black Justice League, which was active on campus from 2014 until 2016, was a small local terrorist organization that made life miserable for the many (including the many black students) who did not agree with its members' demands. Recently I watched an "Instagram Live" of one of its alumni leaders, who--emboldened by recent events and egged on by over 200 supporters who were baying for blood--presided over what was effectively a Struggle Session against one of his former classmates. It was one of the most evil things I have ever witnessed, and I do not say this lightly.
"Constitute a committee composed entirely of faculty that would oversee the investigation and discipline of racist behaviors, incidents, research, and publication on the part of faculty... Guidelines on what counts as racist behavior, incidents, research, and publication will be authored by a faculty committee for incorporation into the [usual] set of rules and procedures." This scares me more than anything else: For colleagues to police one another's research and publications in this way would be outrageous. Let me be clear: Racist slurs and clear and documentable bias against someone because of skin color are reprehensible and should lead to disciplinary action, for which there is already a process. But is there anyone who doesn't believe that this committee would be a star chamber with a low bar for cancellation, punishment, suspension, even dismissal?
He also notes four possible reasons why colleagues might have signed the letter.
(1) They believe in every word. I suppose this is true for a few, including, presumably, those members of the faculty who were the initial drafters.(2) They signed without reading it. I would not ordinarily believe this, but I am aware of a similar petition, not at Princeton, that people were asked to sign--and did so!--before knowing what they were putting their name to.
(3) They felt peer pressure to sign. This is entirely believable.
(4) They agree with some of the demands and felt it was good to act as "allies" and bring up the numbers even though they do not assent to everything themselves.
It's the research and publishing bit that worries me.
What if the research/experiments/etc DO show some inherent differences, be they cultural, physical or other? Will the faculty now be disciplined for reporting something true?
Obviously if your experiment involves torturing black people or something it's one thing... but if the results of some research, (And I'm thinking of Fryor for example, though he is not at Princeton) shows results contrary to what is expected, are they gonna be Galileo-ed?
NicoleK at July 9, 2020 10:23 PM
I'm not going to read the Quillette piece, because I've had a couple of glasses of wine and I'm afraid of mixing sleeping aids with the vino — but I am amused by the current state of the word "demands."
Not "requests." Not "suggestions."
"Demands."
In other news, attendance at Princeton is strictly voluntary and expensive, not unlike many cults (you did see Harvard intends to charge full freight for online learning this fall?). They can rename the chapel the Doo-Doo Head Worship Center for all I care; I'm not paying them $50K a year to have a say.
Kevin at July 9, 2020 11:39 PM
“ They can rename the chapel the Doo-Doo Head Worship Center for all I care; I'm not paying them $50K a year to have a say.“ Kevin
Except that through taxes, going toward grants and loans which might get defaulted/forgiven, you are paying them indirectly.
Joe j at July 10, 2020 6:26 AM
What if the research/experiments/etc DO show some inherent differences, be they cultural, physical or other?
That's racist. Comrade Lysenko has the answer: Lysenkoism.
Keep this in mind when similar demands filter into engineering and architecture, and your car blows up, the bridge it's on collapses, and the newish building across the river falls over into the river.
Also, Joe j I bet they're tax exempt in the state of New Jersey, so both property taxes and paying sales tax when they buy stuff.
I R A Darth Aggie at July 10, 2020 6:55 AM
The races differ in which diseases they suffer from. For example, blacks are more likely to get diabetes. Differences can be found for glaucoma, schizophrenia, depression, heart disease, etc. They also can differ in response to meds. I see this letter as potentially labeling research on these things as racist.
Incentivize anti-racist student activism? They are already too active. This is blatant support of one political party. Republicans favor helping minorities by increasing opportunities for small business, assisting the overall economy, lowering taxes, etc. Would these count? hahahaha no.
cc at July 10, 2020 12:51 PM
Except that through taxes, going toward grants and loans which might get defaulted/forgiven, you are paying them indirectly.
You're right. I'm not in favor of the unbechilded paying for public schools, and I suppose I shouldn't be in this case either.
Kevin at July 10, 2020 2:06 PM
A lot of universities and colleges are in for a rude surprise when it finally dawns on consumers of education that these institutions are a bad deal. The internet now had the technology to basically eliminate the need for most lectures in non-STEM fields.
Most of the academics in Western culture could go fishing for the rest of their lives and not be missed in the least. The universities are still living off the sunburst of respectability that research and development got from WW II.
And giving academics "of color" special treatment immediately puts an asterisk on their accomplishments and does the good ones a great disservice.
Hamsta at July 10, 2020 4:08 PM
He left out a fifth reason people might sign:
(5) They think this will not do them any harm because they are allies and this would only impact those who are not.
charles at July 10, 2020 6:46 PM
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