We Have Not Failed America
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A report entitled,"Defending Civilization," was recently published to impart upon us, as Americans and as members of academia, the egregious flaw in today’s academic society. A project of the Council of Trustees and Alumni, this report puts blame upon the faculty of America’s colleges and universities as the "weak link in America’s response to the [September 11] attack." Referencing a speech made by Lynne Cheney, the report ignorantly and disrespectfully posits that "we need to understand" that our country is being led astray by those people previously entrusted with the educations of the nations freshest and most promising minds. Unabashedly attacking the country’s educators as traitorous and un-American, the report even cites Pomona professors for having the audacity to encourage students to "learn to use courage for peace instead of war," and "break the cycle of violence." If these words can be deemed unpatriotic, then how about this critique: We’ve finally proven how obtuse we, as Americans, and our government can actually be; this report makes clear that the final and worst consequence of terrorism is wide-spread ignorance.
While America’s elected officials from both parties and media commentators from across the spectrum condemned the attacks and followed the President in calling evil by its rightful name, many faculty demurred. Some refused to make judgements. Many involked tolerance and diversity as antidotes to evil. Some even pointed accusatory fingers, not at the terrorists, but at America itself.
–"Defending Civilization"
We must wonder why the views of the nation’s professors clash with those of politicians and media figureheads who are reelected and tuned to based on exaggerations of the actual truth. Perhaps these public people and their followers are too busy "calling evil by its rightful name" to call out the American government on its heinous public and classified foreign interventions. Or perhaps, too blinded by politics and greed. And they fear that the next generation will not support their holy war–their Operation Enduring Freedom? Is this the kind of freedom we in academia must endure? The freedom that brands differing views–views that stress peace and understanding–as views that have failed our country? Of all people, who are the American Council of Trustees and Alumni to judge failure?
Rarely did professors publicly mention heroism, rarely did they discuss the difference between good and evil, the nature of Western political order or the virtue of a free society. Their public messages were short on patriotism and long on self-flagellation ... Although most faculty presumable shared America’s horror and condemnation of the terrorist attacks, many did not ... Indeed, expressions of pervasive moral relativism are a staple of academic life in this country and an apparent symptom of an educational system that has increasingly suggested that Western civilization is the primary source of the world’s ills–even though it gave us the ideals of democracy, human rights, individual liberty, and mutal tolerance.
–"Defending Civilization"
These are the same people who refuse to take responsibility for the crimes of their predecessors. The crimes of slavery and internment, and the crimes of supporting dictators and murderers on "foreign soil" go ignored. Yet these people want to take credit for democracy, liberty, and, of all things, tolerance? We are not the same America anymore! We are an America that has been corrupted by power. We are an America that, through the love of its people, should attempt to purify itself, rather than validate past misdeeds by committing more.
Until the 1960s, colleges typically required students to take surveys of Western civilization. Since then, those surveys have been supplanted by a smorgasbord of often narrow and trendy classes and incoherent requirements that do not convey the great heritage of human civilization.
– "Defending Civilization"
‘To say that it is more important now [to study Islam] implies that the events of Sept. 11 were our fault, that it was our failure ... that led to so many deaths and so much destruction.’
–Lynne V. Cheney
To Mrs. Cheney and the writers of "Defending Civilization" I express my deep sorrow, for you have failed America. By disregarding the fact that the trends of the nearing future can be seen in the schools and the institutions of learning, you have proven that you care not at all that this war is a fire being fed with fear and propaganda. After 60 years we have been burned by this fire again, and our pain has led you to condemn higher education. My question is this: If not for the learning and questioning going on in today’s colleges and universities, what is to prevent us from being altogether consumed by these biting flames–these remnants of September 11?
With sadness,
Amit Thakkar
Editor-in-Chief
