We recently discussed the case of Saida Grundy, an incoming assistant professor of sociology and African-American studies at Boston University who released a series of tweets denounced by many as racist and sexist, including calling white males the main problem on college campuses and admitting how she tries not to buy anything from white people. While many called for Grundy to be fired, some of us defended her racist and sexist comments as an exercise of free speech done outside of her teaching responsibilities. However at the time, I noted “a series of tweets denounced by many as racist and sexist. “White masculinity isn’t a problem for america’s colleges, white masculinity is THE problem for america’s colleges.” Now we have such a case and it does appear to confirm some of our concerns that the same standard is not applied to those with opposing views. Duke University professor Jerry Hough has reportedly been placed on leave after posting comments online that were also denounced as racist. While Grundy was allowed to apologize for “indelicate” comments about whites, Hough is facing calls for termination and has reportedly been put on leave. [UPDATE: there are some stories indicating that Hough may have been on academic leave rather than “put on” academic leave. It is not clear from various reports.]
Hough was commenting on a New York Times editorial titled “How Racism Doomed Baltimore” and included an observation that Asian Americans don’t riot because “they didn’t feel sorry for themselves, but worked doubly hard.” He also wrote that “every black has a strange new name that symbolizes their lack of desire for integration” compared to “every Asian student [who] has a very simple old American first name.” Just as with Grundy’s comments, it is not necessary to debate the merits of such comments. What is at issue is the right to voice such views outside of the classroom and off campus as a matter of free speech. As with Grundy, these views may also be part of Hough’s academic views as political science teacher. His bio states that “his current research centers on the establishment of the state, identity, markets, and democracy in the United States.”
He later defended his comments and said that “Martin Luther King was my hero” and insisting he is “strongly against the toleration of racial discrimination.”
Duke Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Affairs Michael Schoenfeld released a statement quickly that said that “The comments were noxious, offensive, and have no place in civil discourse.” Boston University was right to treat Grundy’s comments as an exercise of free speech. If Hough has been put on leave, Duke has positioned itself on the other side of the free speech divide and has decided that it will now impose disciplinary action for academics who espouse offensive or obnoxious views outside of the class room. The problem is a lack of a standard that explains where this line. It is not simply a question of what speech will be considered permissible outside of the classroom but how the school will limit principles of academic freedom and free expression under such a standard in both academic writings and classrooms. It is a dangerous and slippery slope. The greatest problem is that the uncertain standard creates a chilling effect on academics, particularly untenured academics in what views will be tolerated. In the academic world, such uncertainty can be devastating and strikes at the very heart of the academic mission.
Here are Hough’s full original comments:
“This editorial is what is wrong. The Democrats are an alliance of Westchester and Harlem, of Montgomery County and intercity Baltimore. Westchester and Montgomery get a Citigroup asset stimulus policy that triples the market. The blacks get a decline in wages after inflation.
But the blacks get symbolic recognition in an utterly incompetent mayor who handled this so badly from beginning to end that her resignation would be demanded if she were white. The blacks get awful editorials like this that tell them to feel sorry for themselves.
In 1965 the Asians were discriminated against as least as badly as blacks. That was reflected in the word “colored.” The racism against what even Eleanor Roosevelt called the yellow races was at least as bad.
So where are the editorials that say racism doomed the Asian-Americans. They didn’t feel sorry for themselves, but worked doubly hard.
I am a professor at Duke University. Every Asian student has a very simple old American first name that symbolizes their desire for integration. Virtually every black has a strange new name that symbolizes their lack of desire for integration. The amount of Asian-white dating is enormous and so surely will be the intermarriage. Black-white dating is almost non-existent because of the ostracism by blacks of anyone who dates a white.
It was appropriate that a Chinese design won the competition for the Martin Luther King state. King helped them overcome. The blacks followed Malcolm X.”
Nick:
“Dr. Ben Carson is ridiculed for having the temerity to be conservative.” What is shocking to me is that the black community regulates what other blacks are “allowed” to think or say. Black conservatives are lampooned, and receive racist slurs (“step-n-fetchit”, “Uncle Tom”, etc), that would never, ever, be allowed to stand against black Liberals. You would think that black activists or politicians would passionately defend the right of free speech of black conservatives, regardless of their political differences, but it is well documented that this is not the case. This peer pressure to mandate a party line is discomfiting.
I suppose the mantra is, for a black Conservative to be considered half as good as a black Liberal, he or she must work twice as hard. That may just raise the bar for people to fight harder.
TJustice:
MLK, Jr was against violence, and wanted blacks and whites to live together, equally, and accept each other. Malcolm X’s philosophy, in his early life was, “by any means necessary.” He was against integration with whites, whom he deemed his enemy. You may be surprised to discover that he wanted the races to be segregated. His message was hostile, the fruits of which can be seen in these riots.
https://lifeexaminations.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/mlk-vs-malcolm-x-similaritiesdifferences/
MLK was one of my personal heroes, so I am biased.
Isaac – here is a really interesting op-ed by an African American about Affirmative Action.
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article1944834.html
“Because ultimately, you do not fix education by lowering the bar. You do it by lifting the kids.” This tidily sums up my attitude towards Affirmative Action. It is anathema to justice to treat anyone differently because of their skin color.
And here is an article about the modest attempts of the Supreme Court to reign in Affirmative Action lowering the bar:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/24/19115041-supreme-court-raises-bar-for-affirmative-action-in-college-admissions
“Justice Clarence Thomas, joining the majority but writing his own opinion, argued that considering race in college admissions is categorically prohibited by the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.”
ALL protected class rewards go out the window if you wander off the liberal plantation. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
Karen,
Now, a black, award winning surgeon, from a poor single parent household, can still be vilified and lampooned. Dr. Ben Carson is ridiculed for having the temerity to be conservative. “You bes not be runnin’ of da plantation dere boy!”
More on the problems of the Affirmative Action Crown Jewel, MLK Hospital:
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-kingdrew-sg-storygallery.html
However, on the plus side, being in a gang infested neighborhood, they got a lot of experience in gunshot wounds, stabbings, and drug overdoses. I believe at some point many years ago the military sent doctors there to get some experience in gunshot wounds.
Isaac:
“A black becoming a doctor is a greater achievement than a white becoming a doctor, regardless of their abilities. There is a sweeter victory for the African American in the same reward offered to all.”
This reminds me of a quote I heard years ago when I was in college: “For a woman to be considered half as good as a man, she has to work twice as hard.” I considered that motivation to work harder rather than to just give up.
Whose “fault” is it that African Americans have such a high rate of single motherhood and absentee fathers? Because that’s the reason behind why so many kids do so poorly in school, drop out, and torpedo their best chances at life. Who helps them with their homework? And the more people get into crime and drugs when they grow up, the more adults there are trying to get kids to go into crime and drugs. Why do young kids idolize their neighborhood drug dealer or gang member? Why is being a violent criminal cool? When an African American kid drops out of his free high school and joins a gang, is that a white man’s fault? The biggest threat to an African American child’s success isn’t the “white man”, and it isn’t the police. It’s the neighborhood drug dealer, the gangs, and his friends who drop out of school or make fun of him for studying. It’s the peer pressure and the dangerous neighborhood he has to walk through alone every day. It’s graduating from high school speaking so much slang that he can’t look professional at a job interview. It’s not going to college or a trade school because he dropped out of high school or got failing grades.
It is a huge disservice to preach a message of lethargic, helpless victimhood to poor minorities. The more politicians court constituents by telling them all of their problems are someone else’s responsibility, there’s nothing they can do to better themselves because they are oppressed, and promise “free stuff”, the more those same people will be stuck in poverty.
Tell someone from birth they can, and should, conquer their obstacles, and they will give their all.
It’s not the race that’s the problem; it’s the environment, because you don’t see these pressures in African American families in the suburbs.
And as for Affirmative Action, if all it did was combat racism in hiring and college admissions practices, I would support it. However, and this is well documented, all it ended up accomplishing was lowering the bar, and devaluing the accomplishments as unearned. My college professors told me they were forced to teach the same undergrad classes for two completely separate audiences – one group of students that earned their place, and one group who was given it because of their skin color but who were utterly unqualified to be there. Police and fire were so hard pressed to get African Americans in that they lowered the requirements based solely on skin color. People who tried for years to get in, with stellar test results, were overlooked for those who had a modest interest one day in becoming an officer or fireman. They used Affirmative Action at the MLK hospital in CA. In order to be employed, you had to be African American. They had the highest rate of workplace injuries from people “falling out of chairs” and going on disability ever documented. Doctors were caught charging for more than 24 hours of work in a day. There were so many medical mistakes and prescription mistakes, in many cases causing the deaths of patients, that the hospital lost its accreditation. And what did the community do? Did they demand that everyone get fired and they start from scratch so they could have a safe, quality hospital to go to in an emergency? Why, no. The Al Sharptons of the world converged and cried “racism.” They told the community that the only reason MLK was closing was because it was a minority majority hospital and it was the oppression of the white man keeping them down. That was Affirmative Action at its finest hour.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-kingdrew-gallery-storygallery.html
Justice should be blind to skin color. Hiring and college admissions practices should be just, and therefor blind, to something as superficial as melanin. It should be on qualifications.
The best intervention we can do is early. Emulate successful programs that give kids a safe place to play and study after school, help with homework, tutoring, and other means to help them get the best education possible so they can leave a high crime neighborhood. And then ramp up police efforts against the criminals threatening the safety of those kids every day. Keep them safe and educate a child to give him or her their best chance.
Bam, Isaac often can’t seem to make a cogent point and then condescends w/ “It went over your head.” He’s from France. ‘Nuff said. Lot’s of condescension in them Frogs.
We need Pol Pot Re-education camps to help get all these un-indoctrinated professors minds right. This Duke prof obviously needs to attend the classes of the august BU professor’s classes to get his mind right. It seems nothing was learned by the Duke politburo from the lacrosse team fiasco. If only Nifong were still DA, he could have come up w/ some creative criminal charges as well.
Karen S.
What failures of Malcolm X’s program?
The Malcolm X Grassroots movement helped get the most radical Mayor in America elected in Mississippi…
Malcolm X was the first civil rights leader to condemn Vietnam. History tells us that was more honest that almost any “brilliant” professor JT could cite.
As with Grundy, the salient point is whether both professors treat students fairly, regardless of race or creed, or if their classroom creates a hostile environment.
Bam Bam – great post at 11:32. I agree that this professor’s comments are not the same at all with Grundy’s who claimed that an entire race was the problem, rather than Hough’s observation on the failure of political programs and Malcom X, compared with the positive efforts of MLK, Jr. One blames a race while the other blames a political message.
isaac
No need for a pillow. Your statements never make the point you wished to address. Better luck next time.
Meantime:
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski received a big pay raise this year to $7.2 million making him the highest-paid coach in college basketball and all of college sports.
No problem with black players here. Just put points on score board.
Doesn’t this professor know that only the only “indelicate” comments allowed are against Caucasians? You would think he would have learned such a lesson, given his experience in academia.
Indelicate, cutting comments about personal responsibility or anything against the Democratic Party are grounds for termination. Only comedians are allowed dark humor or irreverent observations.
“They embraced the American dream.”
Mr. Schulte,
Hahahaha and its been EXCEPTIONAL ever since.
Bam Bam
It went over your head, I guess. I did agree. Take a pillow, stuff your head into it, and scream. Then read.
issac – they did not p**s and moan about being victimized. My two nephews and my niece all have masters degrees. However, when my brother-in-law came to this country he could barely speak English at age 15.
Anyway, Professor, I told you and told you.
There is no free speech on campus.
Hasn’t been in years.
Paul
Read more carefully, ‘regardless of their abilities’. The point I was making is that it is a higher achievement given the obstacles. Also, regarding entrance to medical school, I have two very close friends who are doctors, sisters who went through med school in the early 80’s when the entrance qualifications were based on criteria that has since been adjusted. Then there were many more applicants than positions and only those 95% and above got in. Both sisters had friends who they felt would have made much better doctors but didn’t get in, below 95%. In times of lows application levels the bar drops. These sisters had private school educations with undergraduate degrees from Rutgers. Neither went on to become doctors. One is a research scientist and the other married rich. They both criticize the system as not being broad enough in ascertaining what makes a good or great doctor. I have known those who were brilliant enough to become doctors but whom I don’t respect at all and others that had to work doubly hard at it and have, through ‘heart’ become great doctors.
Affirmative action doesn’t let people who shouldn’t be professional get to become professional. It allows some who would have been filtered out to approach a profession and succeed or fail based on other qualities. They might get in but if they don’t have it they won’t get through. It was and remains a worthwhile program to establish the fact that minorities can make it to the top. Before there were simply not enough examples. It’s a strategy thing.
isaac
Knowing that you disagree with me, on any topic, warms the cockles of my heart and clearly identifies that I am, once again, on the correct side of the matter at hand. If we ever did agree, I would be very disappointed in myself.
Perhaps you should use some of your energy and vitriol to just, for once, read and examine what these two individuals wrote. It’s called compare and contrast, boys and girls. Grundy’s sense of victimhood, which she openly and flagrantly displays by calling white men on campus the problem, will surely interfere with her job at the university, where she has an obligation and a duty to grade and judge students objectively and with fairness, regardless of race. The blacks are not going to be victims in her classroom, as she will personally even the score and penalize anyone her unstable mind deems to be at the root of black victimhood, namely, white students. Her open desire to shun white-owned establishments is further proof of her blatant and proud racism, which will no doubt negatively impact any white student unfortunate enough to take one of her courses.
Contrast that with Hough’s remarks, which called upon those who have been oppressed and victimized to persevere through hard work, diligence and fortitude. He never says that anyone is a problem on campus; he never calls for boycotting perceived victimizers of any race or ethnicity; he, instead, implores minorities to succeed, despite the obstacles, and to stop the cries of victimhood, which are detrimental to success.
I never said that he was right on the money, as you claimed that I stated. I do, however, see a vast difference between the two individuals.
Learn to read and comprehend. It’s fundamental. Your hatred blinds you. Unfortunate.