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Saturday, December 04, 2004
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TURNING THE TABLES.
Ellen Goodman, whose main claim to fame as far as UD is concerned is that her sister, Jane Holtz Kay, wrote a book attacking the car (Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America, and How We Can Take It Back), writes in today’s Washington Post (thanks to Ryan Cordell for the link) about ye olde “libs in the academy” controversy. Goodman’s column confirms that the most popular defensive maneuver so far against the conservatives' attack involves turning the tables on them -- “What is fascinating, however, is to see how the campus-watchers have usurped the language of liberalism for their own. It reminds me of the arguments in favor of teaching creationism in the name of open-mindedness. The conversation about liberal bias on campus is chock full of words such as diversity and pluralism. There is even the hint that universities may need a touch of affirmative action for conservative academics. What next? Quotas for Republican anthropologists? The Independent Women's Forum has repeatedly claimed that the reason women don't rise to the corner office has nothing to do with discrimination. It's really because, as the IWF president said, 'women often make different choices than men.' Conservatives also like to talk disparagingly about 'victim politics.' But now it appears that the activists on the right are claiming to be victims of discrimination rather than personal choice. No one is suggesting that Republican PhDs might rather work in the free market than teach the free market. Nor are they suggesting that ExxonMobil would profit from a gallon of ideological pluralism.” Not a bad maneuver. |