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418 lines
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IS THIS AN UNTAMPERED FILE?
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Imprimis, On Line -- August 1992
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Imprimis, meaning "in the first place," is a free
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monthly publication of Hillsdale College (circulation
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360,000 worldwide). Hillsdale College is a liberal arts
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institution known for its defense of free market
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principles and Western culture and its nearly 150-year
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refusal to accept federal funds. Imprimis publishes
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lectures by such well-known figures as Ronald Reagan,
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Jeane Kirkpatrick, Tom Wolfe, Charlton Heston, and many
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more. Permission to reprint is hereby granted, provided
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credit is given to Hillsdale College. Copyright 1992.
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For more information on free print subscriptions or
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back issues, call 1-800-437-2268, or 1-517-439-1524,
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ext. 2319.
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------------------------------
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"The New Segregation"
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by Shelby Steele,
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Author, The Content of Our Character
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------------------------------
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Volume 21, Number 8
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Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan 49242
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August 1992
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------------------------------
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Preview: At Hillsdale's Center for Constructive
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Alternatives February 1992 seminar "Thought Police on
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Campus: Is Academic Freedom in Danger?" author Shelby
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Steele made an eloquent plea for a return to the ideal
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of genuine equality and an end to "the politics of
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difference," which has produced not only a divided
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campus, but a divided society.
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------------------------------
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The civil rights movement of the 1950s-1960s culminated
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in the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights
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Act--two monumental pieces of legislation that have
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dramatically altered the fabric of American life.
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During the struggle for their passage, a new source of
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power came into full force. Black Americans and their
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supporters tapped into the moral power inspired by a
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300-year history of victimization and oppression and
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used it to help transform society, to humanize it, to
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make it more tolerant and open. They realized,
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moreover, that the victimization and oppression that
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blacks had endured came from one "marriage"--a marriage
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of race and power. They had to stop those who said,
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"merely because we are white, we have the power to
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dominate, enslave, segregate and discriminate."
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Race should not be a source of power or advantage
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or disadvantage for anyone in a free society. This was
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one of the most important lessons of the original civil
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rights movement. The legislation it championed during
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the 1960s constituted a new "emancipation
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proclamation." For the first time segregation and
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discrimination were made illegal. Blacks began to enjoy
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a degree of freedom they had never experienced before.
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Delayed Anger
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This did not mean that things changed overnight for
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blacks. Nor did it ensure that their memory of past
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injustice was obliterated. I hesitate to borrow
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analogies from the psychological community, but I think
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this one does apply: Abused children do not usually
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feel anger until many years after the abuse has ended,
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that is, after they have experienced a degree of
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freedom and normalcy. Only after civil rights
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legislation had been enacted did blacks at long last
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began to feel the rage they had suppressed. I can
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remember that period myself. I had a tremendous sense
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of delayed anger at having been forced to attend
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segregated schools. (My grade school was the first
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school to be involved in a desegregation suit in the
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north.) My rage, like that of other blacks, threatened
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for a time to become all consuming.
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Anger was both inevitable and necessary. When
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suppressed, it eats you alive; it has got to come out,
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and it certainly did during the 1960s. One form was the
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black power movement in all of its many manifestations,
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some of which were violent. There is no question that
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we should condemn violence, but we should also
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understand why it occurs. You cannot oppress people for
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over three centuries and then say it is all over and
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expect them to put on suits and ties and become decent
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attache-carrying citizens and go to work on Wall
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Street.
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Once my own anger was released, my reaction was
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that I no longer had to apologize for being black. That
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was a tremendous benefit and it helped me come to terms
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with my own personal development. The problem is that
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many blacks never progressed beyond their anger.
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The Politics of Difference
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The black power movement encouraged a permanent state
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of rage and victimhood. An even greater failing was
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that it rejoined race and power--the very "marriage"
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that civil rights legislation had been designed to
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break up. The leaders of the original movement said,
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"Anytime you make race a source of power you are going
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to guarantee suffering, misery and inequity." Black
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power leaders declared: "We're going to have power
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because we're black."
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Well, is there any conceivable difference between
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black power and white power? When you demand power
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based on the color of your skin, aren't you saying that
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equality and justice are impossible? Somebody's going
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to be in, somebody's going to be out. Somebody's going
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to win, somebody's going to lose, and race is once
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again a source of advantage for some and disadvantage
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for others. Ultimately, black power was not about
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equality or justice; it was, as its name suggests,
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about power.
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And when blacks began to demand entitlements based
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on their race, feminists responded with enthusiasm,
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"We've been oppressed too!" Hispanics said, "We're not
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going to let this bus pass us by," and Asians said,
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"We're not going to let it pass us by either." Eskimos
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and American Indians quickly hopped on the bandwagon,
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as did gays, lesbians, the disabled and other self-
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defined minorities.
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By the 1970s, the marriage of race and power was
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once again firmly established. Equal-ity was out: the
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"politics of difference" was in. From then on, everyone
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would rally around the single quality that makes them
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different from the white male and pursue power based on
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that quality. It is a very simple formula. All you have
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to do is identify that quality, whatever it may be,
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with victimization. And victimization is itself, after
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all, a tremendous source of moral power.
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The politics of difference demanded shifting the
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entire basis of entitlement in America. Historically,
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entitlement was based on the rights of citizenship
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elaborated in the Declaration of Independence and the
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U. S. Constitution. This was the kind of entitlement
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that the original civil rights movement leaders claimed
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for blacks: recognition of their rights as American
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citizens to equal treatment under the law. They did not
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claim, "We deserve rights and entitlements because we
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are black," but, "We deserve them because we are
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citizens of the United States and like all other
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citizens are due these rights." The politics of
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difference changed all that. Blacks and other
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minorities began demanding entitlement solely based on
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their history of oppression, their race, their gender,
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their ethnicity, or whatever quality that allegedly
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made them victims.
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Grievance Identities
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By the 1980s, the politics of difference had, in turn,
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led to the establishment of "grievance identities."
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These identities are not about such things as the great
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contributions of women throughout history or the rich
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culture of black Americans. To have a strong identity
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as a woman, for example, means that you are against the
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"oppressive male patriarchy"--period. To have a strong
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identity as a black means that you are against racist
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white America--period. You have no choice but to
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fulfill a carefully defined politically correct role:
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(1) you must document the grievance of your group; (2)
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you must testify to its abiding and ongoing alienation;
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and (3) you must support its sovereignty. As a black
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who fails any of these three requirements you are not
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only politically incorrect, you are a traitor, an
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"Uncle Tom." You are blaming the victim, you are
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letting whites off the hook, and you are betraying your
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people.
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In establishing your grievance identity, you must
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turn your back on the enormous and varied fabric of
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life. There is no legacy of universal ideas or common
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human experience. There is only one dimension to your
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identity: anger against oppression. Grievance
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identities are thus "sovereignties" that compete with
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the sovereignties of the nation itself. Blacks, women,
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Hispanics and other minorities are not even American
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citizens anymore. They are citizens of sovereignties
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with their own right to autonomy.
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The New Segregation on Campus
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The marriage of race and power, the politics of
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difference, and grievance identities--these are
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nurtured by the American educational establishment.
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They have also acted on that establishment and affected
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it in significant ways. After a talk I gave recently at
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a well-known university, a woman introduced herself as
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the chairperson of the women's studies department. She
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was very proud of the fact that the university had a
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separate degree-granting program in women's studies. I
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stressed that I had always been very much in favor of
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teaching students about the contributions of women. But
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I asked her what it was that students gained from
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segregated women's studies that could not be gained
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from studying within the traditional liberal arts
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disciplines. Her background was in English, as was
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mine, so I added, "What is a female English professor
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in the English department doing that is different from
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what a female English professor in the women's studies
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department is doing? Is she going to bring a different
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methodology to bear? What is it that academically
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justifies a segregated program for women, or for
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blacks, or any other group? Why not incorporate such
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studies into the English department, the history
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department, the biology department or into any of the
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other regular departments?"
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As soon as I began to ask such questions I noticed
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a shift in her eyes and a tension in her attitude. She
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began to see me as an enemy and quickly made an excuse
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to end the conversation. This wasn't about a rational
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academic discussion of women's studies. It was about
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the sovereignty of the feminist identity, and unless I
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tipped my hat to that identity by saying, "Yes, you
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have the right to a separate department," no further
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discussion or debate was possible.
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Meanwhile, the politics of difference is
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overtaking education. Those with grievance identities
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demand separate buildings, classrooms, offices,
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clerical staff--even separate Xerox machines. They all
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want to be segregated universities within the
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universities. They want their own space--their
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sovereign territory. Metaphorically, and sometimes
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literally, they insist that not only the university but
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society at large must pay tribute to their sovereignty.
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Today there are some 500 women's studies
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departments. There are black studies departments,
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Hispanic studies departments, Jewish studies
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departments, Asian studies departments. They all have
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to have space, staff, and budgets. What are they
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studying that can't be studied in other departments?
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They don't have to answer this question, of course, but
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when political entitlement shifted away from
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citizenship to race, class and gender, a shift in
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cultural entitlement was made inevitable.
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Those with grievance identities also demand extra
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entitlements far beyond what should come to us as
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citizens. As a black, I am said to "deserve" this or
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that special entitlement. No longer is it enough just
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to have the right to attend a college or university on
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an equal basis with others or to be treated like anyone
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else. Schools must set aside special money and special
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academic departments just for me, based on my
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grievance. Some campuses now have segregated dorms for
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black students who demand to live together with people
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of their "own kind." Students have lobbied for separate
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black student unions, black yearbooks, black Homecoming
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dances, black graduation ceremonies--again, all so that
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they can be comfortable with their "own kind."
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One representative study at the University of
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Michigan indicates that 70 percent of the school's
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black undergraduates have never had a white
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acquaintance. Yet, across the country, colleges and
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universities like Michigan readily and even eagerly
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continue to encourage more segregation by granting the
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demands of every vocal grievance identity.
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White Guilt
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A great contributing factor is, of course, white guilt-
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-specifically a knowledge of ill-gotten advantage.
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Ignorance is innocence, knowledge is guilt. Whites in
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America generally know that there is at least a slight
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advantage in being white. If a white person walks into
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a department store, chances are he or she is not going
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to be followed by the security guard as I am. This kind
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of knowledge makes whites vulnerable. (Incidentally, I
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do not mean to deride all forms of guilt. Guilt can be
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a wonderful thing, a truly civilized emotion. Prisons
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are full of people incapable of feeling guilt.)
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A member of a grievance identity points a finger
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and says, "Hey whitey, you've oppressed my people! You
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have had generations to build up wealth and opportunity
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while I've had nothing." Almost automatically, the
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white person's first reaction is: "Am I guilty? Am I a
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racist?"
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The second reaction is escapism: "All right, what
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do you want? What is it going to take to prove to you
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that I am not racist?" White college and university
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administrators say, "You want a black student lounge?
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You got it. We have a little extra money, so we can pay
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for a black yearbook. We can hold a separate graduation
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just for you. What else do you want?"
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The third reaction is blindness. Obviously, when
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you are preoccupied with escaping your own feelings of
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guilt, you are utterly blind to the people causing it.
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So college and university administrators blindly grant
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black students extra entitlements, from dorms to
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yearbooks, and build an entire machinery of segregation
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on campus while ignoring the fact that 72 percent of
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black American college students are dropping out.
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Black students have the lowest grade point average
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of any student group. If whites were not so preoccupied
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with escaping their own guilt, they would see that the
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real problem is not racism; it is that black students
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are failing in tragic numbers. They don't need separate
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dorms and yearbooks. They need basic academic skills.
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But instead they are taught that extra entitlements are
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their due and that the greatest power of all is the
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power that comes to them as victims. If they want to
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get anywhere in American life, they had better wear
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their victimization on their sleeve, they had better
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tap into white guilt, making whites want to escape by
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offering money, status, racial preferences--something,
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anything--in return. Is this the way for a race that
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has been oppressed to come into its own? Is this the
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way to achieve independence?
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A Return to a Common Culture
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Colleges and universities are not only segregating
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their campuses, they are segregating learning. If only
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for the sake of historical accuracy, we should teach
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all students--black, white, female, male--about many
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broad and diverse cultures. But those with grievance
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identities use the multicultural approach as an all-out
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assault on the liberal arts curriculum, on the American
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heritage, and on Western culture. They have made our
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differences, rather than our common bonds, sacred.
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Often they do so in the name of building the "self-
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esteem" of minorities. But they are not going to build
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anyone's self-esteem by condemning our culture as the
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product of "dead white males."
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We do share a common history and a common culture,
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and that must be the central premise of education. If
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we are to end the new segregation on campus, and
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everywhere else it exists, we need to recall the spirit
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of the original civil rights movement, which was
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dedicated to the "self evident truth" that all men are
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created equal.
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Even the most humble experiences unite us. We have
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all grown up on the same sitcoms, eaten the same fast
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food, and laughed at the same jokes. We have practiced
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the same religions, lived under the same political
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system, read the same books, and worked in the same
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marketplace. We have the same dreams and aspirations as
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well as fears and doubts for ourselves and for our
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children. How, then, can our differences be so
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overwhelming?
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------------------------------
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Shelby Steele, the author of the widely acclaimed book,
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The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in
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America (St. Martin's Press, 1990), is a professor of
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English at San Jose State University. His work has also
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appeared in Harper's, the New York Times Magazine,
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Commentary, the Washington Post, and the American
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Scholar. He is a recipient of a National Magazine
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Award, and one of his essays was chosen for The Best
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American Essays 1989. Dr. Steele is currently at work
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on a second book.
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###
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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End of this issue of Imprimis, On Line; Information
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about the electronic publisher, Applied Foresight,
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Inc., is in the file, IMPR_BY.TXT
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