On Race and Academia

The New York Times ^ | July 4, 2023 | John McWhorter

[proxy_user]

"But things got different later. When I was a grad student in linguistics going on the market for jobs, I was told that I needn’t worry whether I would get bids for tenure track positions because I was Black and would therefore be in great demand. Deep down, to me, it felt I was on my way to being tokenized, which I was, especially given that my academic chops at the time did not justify my being hired for a top job at all

I was hired straight out of my doctoral program for a tenure-track job at an Ivy League university in its august linguistics department. It became increasingly clear to me that my skin color was not just one more thing taken into account but the main reason for my hire. It surely didn’t hurt that, owing to the color of my skin, I could apparently be paid with special funds I was told the university had set aside for minority hires. But more to the point, I was vastly less qualified by any standard than the other three people who made it onto the list of finalists. Plus, I was brought on to represent a subfield within linguistics — sociolinguistics — that has never been my actual specialty. My interest then, as now, was in how languages change over time and what happens when they come together. My dissertation had made this quite clear.

...

But the decision to stop taking race into account in admissions, assuming it is accompanied by other efforts to assist the truly disadvantaged, is, I believe, the right one to make.

[proxy_user]

I've always liked McWhorter, and this is a great article. I'm sorry I couldn't post the whole thing - the part about giving lectures that he knew weren't that great and being praised to the skies anyway are really revealing. As an honest guy who takes his job seriously, McWhorter worked to improve and catch up on what he didn't know - after he was hired and given tenure! So sometimes AA does work out, particularly with guys from upper-middle-class backgrounds who are willing to really push themselves.

I urge everyone to read the whole piece,

[KingofZion]

you beat me to it.

as the decision is debated we are going to see all the facts come out. we have all known for years that racial preferences do not favor the inner city kids but rather just give a boost to middle and upper class blacks, regardless of country of origin.

[A_perfect_lady]

I used to know him, somewhat. I copy-edited several of his papers for publication as a grad student, and got to chat with him often, several times in person. He’s being a little modest here... he is really one of the more brilliant people I’ve known in my life.

[Signalman]

Amazing the NYT published this.

[JimRed]

The problem with academia...it’s full of Academics.

ACADEMIC (ak-uh-DEM-ik): An individual educated beyond his intelligence who is unwilling or unable to create or provide anything of value to others, who while hiding out in a think-tank, college or university pontificates and expects to be paid for it, usually from public funds.

[Albion Wilde]

I read some of his writings 25 years ago for my own grad work and enjoyed it. I think every talented person has moments of impostor syndrome early in their career; and for some it persists forever. I once read that Barbara Streisand had paralyzing stage fright well into her third decade of performing. Can't stand the woman's politics, but she certainly can sing.

[sauropod]

McWhorter outed himself awhile back.

I no longer trust him or what he writes.

[sauropod]

The biggest idiots are usually brilliant people.

[A_perfect_lady]

Definitely. But McWhorter isn’t one of the idiots.