Whew. Provocative titles for books are often empty of real meaning; they are meant only to shock. Occasionally, though, one will come along that is provocative for the right reasons. With the recent results of the presidential election, one such book is finding a ready and growing audience.
For years, a few researchers have sounded the alarm about the dismal situation on our college campuses. Scores of leftist professors have indoctrinated young people for years. It is only relatively recently that pushback from conservatives has begun to sound the alarm. One hopes it isn’t too late.
A new book by Scott Greer, “No Campus for White Men: The Transformation of Higher Education Into Hateful Indoctrination,“puts a white-hot spotlight on the effort to “not teach our children well.” Indeed, Greer begins his book with a stark statement:
American universities were once the cultivators of the nation’s brightest minds, the gateway to the middle class, and forums for the exchange of ideas and innovations.
Now they can’t tolerate chalk marks in support of a certain Republican presidential candidate. In March 2016, students at Emory University found themselves the victims of “chalkings” proclaiming the oh-so horrifying slogan “Trump 2016.” This unbearable sight caused some at the Atlanta-based school to fret for their safety and condemn the chalky political speech as a form of racial intimidation.
Because these students felt so threatened by fairly tame political speech, they demanded their university president condemn the act in the strongest terms possible.
Naturally, the president later caved.
Such is the state of free speech on American campuses today. “No Campus for White Men,” while politically incorrect as a title, is not a politically incorrect title, for it accurately portrays the situation now facing the country.
It will take a long time to turn things back, if it can be done.
(A caveat: Greer’s book is so fascinating and so bold, I won’t reveal much detail; but rest assured that, for example, his insights into such events as the Black Lives Matters protests at the University of Missouri in 2015 are a must-read.)
Greer’s effort with “No Campus for White Men” is pretty comprehensive, but it is the portrait he paints of campus radicalism that makes it such a great read.
While the battle rages for free speech and free thought on campuses, Greer offers some small but important options for parents and students, such as the fact that a few colleges like Hillsdale College are true safe places for students. Greer also offers practical help:
The more realistic option is for parents and children to do their research into colleges’ handling of minority identity politics and speech protection. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has an excellent rating system for how individual colleges treat free speech. It is a great resource for those who want to pick a college where they need not fear sharing their opinion. Green is for those who uphold the right, yellow is for those with some issues, and red is reserved for the outright speech suppressors.
But the larger issue remains: reforming and rescuing America’s campuses.
One of the difficulties facing decent Americans is the rise of lies designed to skew perceptions. The view that there is a “rape epidemic” on campuses is not accurate, according to Greer. In fact, a report by the Department of Justice doesn’t square with the propaganda put out by radicals: “The study also found sexual assault had gone down from the late 1990s to the early 2010s.”
Imagine that. College campuses really aren’t crawling with deranged, brutish white male rapists targeting women.
Sadly, though, national media types continue their complicity in advancing dangerous propaganda. A propaganda film, “The Hunting Ground,” was shown by CNN to millions of people who now probably do believe the barbarians are terrorizing women at universities.
Chapter 8 of “No Campus” offers a glimpse into the hoaxes perpetrated by the left. One such hoax was hatched in 2015, when it was claimed that a sorority at Yale refused to allow black students to attend a Halloween party.
No such blocked entry occurred. Do you see? The left peddles in lies, and “No Campus for White Men” illustrates this time and again. If you have children, grandchildren, friends, etc. who attend a university or college in America, please – please – get this book, educate yourself, and resolve not to stand down over this direct threat to American values.
