A letter from Professor Glenn Loury, an economist, to his virtue signaling colleagues at Brown:
I must object. This is no reasoned ethical reflection. Rather, it is indoctrination, virtue-signaling, and the transparent currying of favor with our charges. The roster of Brown’s “leaders” who signed this manifesto in lockstep remind me of a Soviet Politburo making some party-line declaration. I can only assume that the point here is to forestall any student protests by declaring the university to be on the Right Side of History.
What I found most alarming, though, is that no voice was given to what one might have thought would be a university’s principal intellectual contribution to the national debate at this critical moment: namely, to affirm the primacy of reason over violence in calibrating our reactions to the supposed “oppression.” Equally troubling were our president’s promises to focus the university’s instructional and research resources on “fighting for social justice” around the world, without any mention of the problematic and ambiguous character of those movements which, over the past two centuries or more, have self-consciously defined themselves in just such terms—from the French and Russian Revolutions through the upheavals of the 1960s.
My bottom line: I’m offended by the letter. It frightens, saddens, and angers me.
Sincerely,
Glenn
Go here to read the rest.
Why can’t we assume that good white liberals who run around saying whites are racists are merely projecting?
“We write to you today…to express…deep sadness…regarding the racist incidents that continue to cut short the lives of black people every day.”
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The truly sad thing is the letter is not exactly wrong on that point. There absolutely is systemic racism in this country, especially against blacks–and the overwhelming majority of it is found on the Left. Planned Parenthood is out to exterminate their unborn children. The KKK, not much of an organization anymore I gather, was founded by Democrats. These large urban centers have been run by Democrat politicians for years. The police unions and teacher unions, like all unions, support Democratic candidates–and shield bad cops and bad teachers. I am not entirely sure, but I believe minimum wage laws, overwhelmingly supported by Democrats, were put in in part to hinder the employment opportunities of blacks and teens.
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The real Uncle Toms are Hawk Newsome, Lori Lightfoot, and Al Shaprton, not Ben Carson, Candace Owens, and Thomas Sowell.
Right on target, DJH.
Hope things are Improving for you and yours in the wake of the flooding.
Unfortunately, he just signed his pink slip. The mob will see to it and the administrations will cower and kowtow in response.
Prof. Loury’s days at Brown are numbered. Mark my words.
See, e.g., Tony Esolen, Bret Weinstein, Nicholas & Erika Christakis, etc.
Seriously. I wish for Prof. Loury’s sake that he hadn’t written that. He’s right, of course. But now he’s doomed. Again, mark my words. The next we hear of this story will be the demise of his teaching career at the hands of campus radicals (which, at Brown, is almost the entire student body).
Loury is 71 and has been a working academic for 40+ years. Unless TIAA-CREF goes tits-up, they can’t touch him anymore.
@Frank—thank you!!
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We’re not doing pretty bad here, truth be told. We do have a round of severe thunderstorms on deck though: one inch hail, 70 wind gusts, even a few tornados predicted. The authorities are asking those living at the camp grounds to please relocate to Red Cross Shelters. (Will 911 be defunded with the police???)
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Mid Michigan is a great place. Little bit of everything–and some of the best food places too!
They can “retire” him and destroy his reputation.
But, otherwise, you are likely correct that, at his age, there is very little they can do to him beyond that.
They can “retire” him and destroy his reputation.
He has a body of published work going back to 1976, and he’s published extensively in every kind of venue. They cannot destroy his reputation among the people about whose opinions he cares.
“They cannot destroy his reputation among the people about whose opinions he cares.”
I think all that will determine is whether they are likely to get him to grovel first — Drew-Brees-style — before the guillotine falls.
Here’s how I know they’ll be coming for Prof. Loury.
A professor at UCLA — who has been teaching there for 4 decades — just got suspended for replying to an email from a “white knight” asking him to excuse black students from a test by quoting Dr. King and saying it wouldn’t be fair to excuse some students based on skin color. With just shy of 40 years in at UCLA, I’m sure he’s in his 60s or 70s, as well, and has a long CV of things he’s published. Didn’t stop UCLA from giving in to the mob.
https://nypost.com/2020/06/10/ucla-suspends-professor-for-refusing-leniency-for-black-students/
I think all that will determine is whether they are likely to get him to grovel first — Drew-Brees-style — before the guillotine falls.
You’re not doing much thinking. There is no guillotine. They cannot hurt him financially. He’s continued working several years beyond the ordinary retirement age. And they cant shift him. The guy’s got a thick hide.
Right. I’m not doing much thinking. I’m just not as thoughtful as some. Give me a break.
Being mothballed for alleged “racism”, alone, carries a stigma. I pray it doesn’t happen to him, but based on how these things usually go, it probably will. Personally, he may not care. But if he has a family, they will care.
The guy who just got suspended at UCLA after 40 years of service certainly cares.
Being mothballed for alleged “racism”, alone, carries a stigma.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. He’s been through worse.
The Woke crowd will not only try to have him removed, but will discredit anyone who supports him or defend him. Then they will but anything he’s written on a banned book list, having them removed and further they will discount anyone else who uses his books as references. This is the beginning of his erasure from society and history.
The country will survive all this. After all, Rome survived Alaric though it took some time. When future scholars look back they will wonder how a country with such a tradition of progress and enlightenment could have slipped back to barbarism. Hopefully they will be studying a very brief interlude.