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The Daily Signal
A Conservative
Student’s Take On the Recent College Protests
Julius Kairey
November 19, 2015
Can liberalism defend itself from its progeny?
This question is rarely considered by liberals themselves. But after
seeing the disturbances on America’s campuses over the last couple of
weeks, they would be well-advised to start.
Universities are supposed to be bastions of liberalism. Liberal
administrators have insisted for decades that they know how to craft an
environment free of hatred and bigotry.
Under their beneficent control, America’s campuses would nurture a
belief in universal human dignity that undergirds the traditional
liberal worldview. Multiculturalism and affirmative action were
stepping stones aimed at vindicating the most important value of all:
tolerance.
The Definition of Intolerance
Of course, tolerance that proceeds in only one direction – “tolerance
for me, but not for thee” – is the very definition of intolerance.
Yet that intolerant conception is now accepted as correct by some
leftist students nationwide.
The results have been predictably disastrous.
The left has perverted the liberal idea of tolerance by combining it
with the perverse politics of identity and power. Too afraid of being
labeled racists by campus radicals, the liberals have largely given up
fighting for their own professed principles: democracy, equality under
the law, equality of political rights, and the rule of law.
The drive to reduce “inequalities” in pursuit of “social justice” on
campuses now takes precedence over every long-standing right cherished
by liberals, most especially the freedom of speech.
Today’s students are willing to trade freedom for comfort. They will
end up with neither.
How Did Things Get so Bad?
Identity politics, which is diametrically opposed to individualism and
freedom, is now ingrained in the fabric of our universities. The
sorting of students into “oppressors” and “oppressed” starts at the
beginning of the contemporary college experience.
Those sorted into the “oppressed” category are exhorted to bring up
their “marginalization” at every opportunity. Most of them cannot
describe how they have personally faced substantial racial, ethnic or
other discrimination (because few have).
So instead, they dutifully recite talking points about the “structural
oppression,” “white supremacy,” and “systemic racism” allegedly faced
by their identity group.
When conflict erupts, the “oppressed” are entitled to do as they
please. If they behave well, they are praised for restraint in the face
of injustice. If they behave badly, even violently, the “system” is
blamed, and they are absolved of all responsibility.
Those sorted into the “oppressor” category usually consist of people
who are some combination of white, heterosexual, Christian, and male.
Their highest calling is self-flagellation. They are required to
condemn their own “privilege” and denounce the accomplishments of
themselves and their families as unearned and unjust. They are to
apologize for their identity group at every opportunity.
Those who try to think for themselves are denounced for their heresy as
traitors to the cause of collective liberation. Those who insist on
following any kind of moral principle or precept – which will
necessarily offend some people – are deemed intolerant and demonized.
A Culture Of Hypersensitivity
We are now viewing the utter inability of liberalism to stand up for
its own values. Modern American universities are no longer liberal
models, but due to their restrictive and Orwellian environments, foster
hypersensitivity and conformity.
The sense of victimization that these students feel is used to justify
their nasty tactics. If you are on the wrong side of the social justice
war, they will not stop at attacking your arguments. They will go after
you personally – your job, your reputation, and your livelihood – to
intimidate.
Not realizing that capitulation welcomes contempt rather than respect,
liberal college administrators have capitulated and accommodated the
radicals.
The radical left wants power, not justice. Liberals betray their own
principles of freedom and equality under the law when they acquiesce to
policies of racial quotas in the classroom and political censorship on
the campus.
University of Missouri students demand a faculty that is a minimum of
10 percent black, and demand the addition of a mandatory “awareness and
inclusion” curriculum developed by non-white students and faculty. They
want to dictate the academic offerings of a university, with special
treatment for their own racial groups. That is not equality.
Leftists are destroying liberalism. Universities are quickly gaining a
well-deserved reputation as some of the least free institutions in
American life.
The task is for conservatives, and true liberals, to stand up for
America’s moral, legal, and political foundation.
Establishing classical liberal values in America required tremendous
sacrifice on the part our forefathers. We are not about to see that
legacy damaged by students who have no understanding of the source of
their own freedom and prosperity.
Read this and other articles at The Daily Signal
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