Paula McClain, Professional Black Person: An Open Letter to Dr. McClain at Duke

I’m writing to you because you are part of the Gang of 88, the Professors at Duke University who took out a full-page ad in the Duke newspaper to condemn the three students who were charged with various sexual crimes. You asserted they were guilty, and condemned them in many ways, before any open evidence had been presented, or any trial held.

Now, as you well know, all charges have been dismissed. The North Carolina Attorney General has dismissed all charges and has stated that there is no credible evidence that any crime was committed. Furthermore, States Attorney Nifong who brought the charges, is now under investigation.

One of the Gang of 88 has recognized that the ad he signed was improper, and has apologized. You have not apologized. You have dug the hole deeper by your own errors. Hence, this letter is addressed only to you, though the other 86 faculty who have not apologized are cordially invited to read this over your shoulder.

A friend of mine, who is a veteran, and a black man, sent two e-mails to all 88 of the Professors. He received a response only from you. I’ll quote his e-mails, and your response. But first, I’ll tell readers the titles you have at Duke.

You are the Co-Director, Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Gender in the Social Sciences at Duke. You are also a Professor of Political Science, Public Policy and African and African American Studies at Duke University. Your most recent book, "Can We All Get Along?" like the rest of your career, is focused on racial matters.

My friend wrote to you about the “historical reality such as the marginalization of innocent blacks within a once overtly racist criminal justice system or the past subjugation of women or any number of other offenses and attempts to apply that to a contemporary situation wherein the objective facts don’t apply.” He noted perversion of the facts in the Tawana Brawley case, and in the Duke case.

My friend reached the same conclusion that the Attorney General did later, that an “an unscrupulous DA ... [chose] to exploit racial identity politics.” How did you respond to this rational and correct description of the situation? Your reply said, “Your continued messages have now moved into the realm of harassment and I have reported you to your service provider for using abusive and inappropriate language in your email which was sent through their servers.”

Not only was your reply irrational and emotional, it also contained a threat against the correspondent. No one who is, as you signed yourself, a Professor of Political Science at Duke University, should think or write in this manner.

For additional proof that your only concern is who is the black person in any situation, and therefore is on the correct side of the matter, look at a newest instance of rape charges at Duke. This time the woman who says she was attacked, is white. The people charged are black. Not one word has been said about this by you, or any other member of the Gang of 88.

Your correspondent said that he thought “universities are about the exchange of ideas.” He decried “political correctness” at Duke, or at any other university, as both wrong and an attack on the whole reason that universities exist in our society. As a former Professor of Political Science, I thoroughly agree.

The first night of class, when I taught American Political Theory, I told my students, “Do not trust pre-chewed conclusions, from anyone including me. Research the facts, read the documents, reach your own conclusions.” Why is it I get the distinct impression that you would never dare say that to your own students?

If you do not apologize to the unjustly charged Duke students, you indicate that your politics and teaching are driven by blackness, by being an Afro-American, and nothing else. It is the opposite of being a Professor, and you should not remain one long.

There’s no need to reply to this letter. It will be sufficient reply when I hear that you’ve had the integrity to resign from Duke, or the university has had the gumption to fire you.

About the Author: John Armor practiced in the US Supreme Court for 33 years. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu He lives in the 11th District of North Carolina.

Her reply was frightening, as it smacks of totalitarianism.

We have a lot of work ahead of us, as the Leftists may have lost in the real world of running economies, but they have won the hearts and minds of those who style themselves the intelligentsia.

My take is that "the intelligentia" is simply part of the critic class. As Theodore Roosevelt pointed out,
There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement. A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life's realities - all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. They mark the men unfit to bear their part painfully in the stern strife of living, who seek, in the affection of contempt for the achievements of others, to hide from others and from themselves in their own weakness. The rôle is easy; there is none easier, save only the rôle of the man who sneers alike at both criticism and performance.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds . . .
When we consider that ownership (of money or property) is simply credit for past useful success, socialism is simply the effort to withdraw credit from those who created businesses and, effectively, aggrandize that credit to themselves by gaining popularity at the ballot box or influence over those who do gain popularity at the ballot box. Thus socialism is simply second guessing for fun and profit.

Conservatives need to continue to create alternative institutions, as we have done for media, and move on to challenge the predominance of the Leftist academics.

Whether we do this by challenging those institutions or create new ones is the question, but I think we will hit a wall soon if we don't tackle this problem.

Of course talk radio and FR are just such new institutions, and homeschooling is another. And if things like the "Gang of 88" continue to reveal corruption of academia at the college level, web-based college instruction could become another - which would just be an extension of homeschooling to the next level.
Indeed, IMHO FR itself is in reality an academic institution - a think tank, a sort of one-room schoolhouse at the undergraduate to the postdoctoral level. I hadn't previously known that Congressman Billybob was a professor as well as a lawyer - and here we've been reading and critiqueing his dissertations for years here on FR.

21 posted on 05/04/2007 9:12:57 PM EDT by happygrl (Dunderhead for HONOR)

To: happygrl

Duke could end up under new ownership this summer. I expect to see billion-dollar lawsuits against Duke and the city of Durham and a hundred or so million-dollar suits against individuals. Duke is there for the taking; the potential for the basic annihilation of the leftwing power structure at a major university is there.

23 posted on 05/04/2007 11:24:27 PM EDT by rickdylan

A consumation devoutly to be wished. I myself have long advocated a lawsuit against broadcast journalism and the FCC for the torts of tendentious reporting which continuously sustains the Democratic Party, in contravention of the charter of the FCC to promote broadcasting which does not merely interest the public but which is actually in the public interest - a different matter entirely.

"Great letter - this woman works for a major university ...."

I suspect that unless VAST changes in the administration and faculty occur over the next several month -- DUKE's reputation, standing and draw will diminish VASTLY....

To have so many certifiable racist or biased quacks on staff - does not speak well of a University of Duke's former reputation....

In the meantime - let the CIVIL "financial extractions" commence - and may Durham, Duke, faculty members, Police Dept., and D.A. lose a freaking fortune to the families of these three boys and their diligent LAWYERS...

YES - in this instance I support giving the lawyers a VERY healthy payday at the expense of Duke, Durham, Nifong, Faculty, etc. etc.......

Your posts are ALWAYS enlightening, informative and entertaining.... I’ve always loved reading your comments....

I have been following the Duke zoo parade, to assist in making a personal decision involving a family member.

Having a few alumni in the family and my oldest grandson looking longingly at following in footsteps — we, the financiers of “higher education” are having serious concerns about the risks/value of sending our loved ones to the Duke of today...

We’re torn between a love for what Duke once was, and the shocking “in your face” evidence of what Duke has become..... 88 professors incapable of teaching by example the meaning of our societal laws, methods and reason — is not an insignificant number! In fact, 88 of these dangerously incompetent boobs on one campus is horrifying.

The transformation at Duke borders on criminal negligence at ALL levels of University oversight and all levels of University administration to have allowed such a large scale invasion of incompetence and P.C. driven drivel...

In the event you haven’t yet discovered one of the best sites to follow the daily events and “twisting in the wind” of the truly guilty of Durham and Duke — go here, it’s extensive and concise:

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/

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