Former NC Gov.: DEI efforts at Davidson College go too far | Opinion
As our nation reflects upon February’s Black History Month, we celebrate men and women whose proud achievements should inspire generations of bright young Americans. Apply yourself, study your lessons, work hard, treat others as you want to be treated, and you, too, can live a rewarding, productive life. We’ve got your back.
We remember when Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke to America in 1963 from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. His prophetic message was one of the great, iconic speeches on liberty and justice. Among its profound passages, this sentence speaks volumes:
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Sixty years later, a curious denial of Dr. King’s dream has become fashionable. Some progressive influencers now want students to learn and accept that they are either “oppressed” or “oppressors,” based on nothing but “the color of their skin.”
Recently, all Davidson College student-athletes were required to watch a film entitled, “I’m Not Racist, Am I?” Its provocative message disavows “The Dream.” Regardless of what you think, say or do, it insists that if you’re white, you are racist. If you’re of color, you cannot be racist. In their lexicon, “racist” is just a synonym for “white.”
Oddly, some activists believe this fiction. They want to indoctrinate America’s youth for the noble goal of eliminating racism. Great. Then why insist upon bogus definitions that evoke only insult and injury? How can racism be eliminated if some of us remain melanin challenged? Their Cynical Race Theory is malicious and unworkable.
How did this mischief creep into our colleges? Partly, it’s a distortion of any valid ideals of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) movement, replacing religion as the guiding light for many American institutions. Diversity, equality and inclusion... these are the moral trinity of higher education.
We’re told no decent person could object to diversity, equality or inclusion. What if diversity required conformity of thought? What if equality meant not just opportunity but equal outcomes? What if inclusion did not apply to “privileged” students.
Davidsonians for Freedom of Thought and Discourse, an unofficial alumni group on whose board I serve, recently learned of some startling excesses by a cluster of professors. In an effort to attract students from those they considered victimized minorities, they chose to demonize everyone else. For example, one course description demands that students “identify and confront oppressive behaviors.” It also said they must commit to “understanding how white supremacy, patriarchy, classism, heterosexism, cisgenderism, ableism, and all other systems of oppression affect each of us.”
In classes like Spanish, biology and math, this inclusive shaming told students to “understand and embrace that you will feel discomfort and pain as you face your part in oppression, and realize that this is a necessary part of the process of liberation and growth.” You should set personal “anti-oppression goals and continually evaluate whether or not you are meeting them.”
Hopefully, similar unofficial alumni groups across the land are challenging this foolishness, demanding that colleges follow the Academic Freedom guidelines from the American Association of University Professors. Formulated originally in 1940 to protect faculty communist sympathizers, the AAUP affirms: “Teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject.”
Whether you approve or not, check out DEI efforts at your own alma mater. Yes, these questions should be discussed freely by any respected academic community. But they should never be compulsory or irrelevant to the course, or a test for admission. Controversial notions should never be mandated with partisan interpretations. I am confident that Davidson can get it right.
Jim Martin, a Republican, was North Carolina governor from 1985-93 and is a regular contributor to our pages.
