What Mona omits to mention is the asymmetry of the argument, "refrain from doing x, lest x be done to you when the worm turns." Anyone who imagines that tenure will amount to even so much as a thimblefull of evaporated spit after DeSantis (or Trump or any of the rest) finish their project of transforming the republic into a combination o…
What Mona omits to mention is the asymmetry of the argument, "refrain from doing x, lest x be done to you when the worm turns."
Anyone who imagines that tenure will amount to even so much as a thimblefull of evaporated spit after DeSantis (or Trump or any of the rest) finish their project of transforming the republic into a combination one-party version of the post-reconstruction American South and modern Hungarian illiberal "democracy"-- they are fooling themselves.
The future of tenure, and academic freedom generally, is written in the declarations of Florida's New College President and Board of Trustees.
There must be a limit somewhere. Mona has about three fifths of it right -- if academic freedom doesn't extend quite a bit farther than decency and courtesy, it only extends to those we agree with. And we can pretty much expect that the limits will not be set by the best people. But I'm afraid that this value has pretty much dried up and blown away on both sides of the spectrum. The difference is that when we withdraw protection from academic freedom, and each side turns to inflicting pain and retribution upon its foes, the Left's outrages amount to pillorying people on Facebook and squeezing a few professors out of certain departments, where the Right's ambitions extend to having armed brownshirts running school board meetings and closing down libraries.
I for one don't like how lots of places are trying to roll back tenure. Places like Texas and Florida, for example. I think tenure is important, and I think that by and large, lots of people deserve academic freedom.
And I would be with Mona on this, were the views being expressed in any way associated with any kind of academic arguement. But they're not. She's not saying anything that's at all relevant to any kind of legal question. This isn't like having a radical opinion on abortion or something, where even if you have a strong belief there's legal questions that can be argued. She's just spewing bigotry!
Furthermore, said bigotry goes against her ability to do her job correctly. A professor should be expected to teach every student equally; they should be expected to teach many different races and nationalities. The very hope of academic study is that regardless of one's origins, that if you can do the work you can be heard.
But her views are not academic in nature, she's not expressing any opinion about the law. She's just saying that black people aren't equal to white people. And that goes against her very ability to teach people fairly. Why should any person of color believe that they will be treated fairly as a student of hers?
What Mona omits to mention is the asymmetry of the argument, "refrain from doing x, lest x be done to you when the worm turns."
Anyone who imagines that tenure will amount to even so much as a thimblefull of evaporated spit after DeSantis (or Trump or any of the rest) finish their project of transforming the republic into a combination one-party version of the post-reconstruction American South and modern Hungarian illiberal "democracy"-- they are fooling themselves.
The future of tenure, and academic freedom generally, is written in the declarations of Florida's New College President and Board of Trustees.
There must be a limit somewhere. Mona has about three fifths of it right -- if academic freedom doesn't extend quite a bit farther than decency and courtesy, it only extends to those we agree with. And we can pretty much expect that the limits will not be set by the best people. But I'm afraid that this value has pretty much dried up and blown away on both sides of the spectrum. The difference is that when we withdraw protection from academic freedom, and each side turns to inflicting pain and retribution upon its foes, the Left's outrages amount to pillorying people on Facebook and squeezing a few professors out of certain departments, where the Right's ambitions extend to having armed brownshirts running school board meetings and closing down libraries.
I read once that tenure--in California, anyway,--was in reaction to a professor being fired for advocating public ownership of a trolley car system
I for one don't like how lots of places are trying to roll back tenure. Places like Texas and Florida, for example. I think tenure is important, and I think that by and large, lots of people deserve academic freedom.
And I would be with Mona on this, were the views being expressed in any way associated with any kind of academic arguement. But they're not. She's not saying anything that's at all relevant to any kind of legal question. This isn't like having a radical opinion on abortion or something, where even if you have a strong belief there's legal questions that can be argued. She's just spewing bigotry!
Furthermore, said bigotry goes against her ability to do her job correctly. A professor should be expected to teach every student equally; they should be expected to teach many different races and nationalities. The very hope of academic study is that regardless of one's origins, that if you can do the work you can be heard.
But her views are not academic in nature, she's not expressing any opinion about the law. She's just saying that black people aren't equal to white people. And that goes against her very ability to teach people fairly. Why should any person of color believe that they will be treated fairly as a student of hers?