Didn’t see this one coming

students walking on Princeton campus

Ok, the DoE’s investigation into Princeton’s confession of racism is a canny move, whether or not you support the motives behind it. On reading about it, I have that feeling one gets from reading a surprising haiku. We’ll be discussing this in class Thursday for sure. Coverage at City Journal, an organ of the conservative Manhattan Institute: “Show Us Your Systemic Racism, Princeton. The Department of Education calls the university’s bluff.”

Post-election violence in the streets

supporters at a Trump rally

I always look forward to Thomas Edsel’s careful, well-referenced New York Times columns. This week’s was downright harrowing, as the author cited expert after expert who thinks there is a good likelihood of unrest and public violence in the wake of November’s presidential election, regardless of who wins. Read it here: “Whose America Is It? ‘Apocalyptic terms’ have taken over the 2020 election, with potentially dangerous implications.”

 

Identity and anti-racism in the news

Roosevelt statue in front of American Natural History Museum

Here are three timely items relevant to our week’s topic. All three point to a lack of nuance in some current debates.

First, an essay in Commentary by an art historian about the recent efforts to remove monuments deemed racist: “Destroying the Past to Purify the Present: The Frenzy Against the Monuments.”

Second, an analysis in the New York Times of President Trump’s comments in the last week directed against critical race theory and related ideas: “More Than Ever, Trump Casts Himself as the Defender of White America.”

Third, from Reason, a brief interview with Steven Pinker about a recent effort to revoke his distinguished fellow status in the Linguistics Society of America: “Steven Pinker Survives Attempted Cancellation.”