Posted on 10/09/2001 6:33:56 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
Following the horrific attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, more than 100 campuses in America have held anti-war demonstrations. Candlelight vigils and protests with banners reading "No Military Action," "Don't create more terrorists," "Stop scapegoating" and "Resist the racist war," are part of the anti-American culture on today's college campuses.
At Florida Gulf Coast University, faculty members were told to take down "Proud to be an American" stickers because they might offend international students.
San Francisco State University's "Students for Peace" was "formed in response to the reactionary war supportive position being taken by the US government and corporate media." Their slogan - "Fight War, Not Wars."
At Wittenberg University, a Lutheran private school in Ohio, students are displaying the peace sign rather than the American flag because the flag is a "symbol of the military and male oppression." One student explained that the peace sign is better because its circular shape "promotes a more inclusive atmosphere."
But, why the students are taking up these views should be no surprise.
The anti-war protestors of the 1960s and 1970s are now the tenured professors at America's colleges and universities. They have traded their placards and sit-ins for chalkboards and classrooms. More than 70 professors at Berkeley, along with 100 other academics, signed on to a New York Times ad calling military action "unacceptable."
Professor Clement Henry of the University of Texas-Austin is teaching a class called "American Under Attack: A Search for Meaning." Said Professor Henry, "The United States policies toward the region, especially over the past 10 years [have] engendered serious grievances. Our actions were looking to much of Arab and Muslim public opinion like a re-edition of 19th century imperialism."
On today's college campuses, this anti-American, politically correct attitude is the prevailing doctrine. Gone from course curriculums are the writings from American patriots like Daniel Webster, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Karl Marx and Andrea Dworkin have replaced them.
Students are being taught that Western Civilization has been oppressive and imperialistic. Said one student in the Indiana State Student, "[America's] economic system has hurt a lot of people."
Fortunately, many students are reclaiming their campus and their First Amendment rights. Taylor West of Harvard University organized a Rally for Patriotism and American Unity. One rally participant said it was needed because of the overwhelming "distaste of the government" and "inappropriate distrust and second-guessing of our government" throughout the campus.
Students like Taylor really are rebels in the fight for free speech on college campuses. While the anti-war march at Harvard had more than 300 participants, the unity rally only had about 50. These freethinking students aren't afraid of standing up for their beliefs in an environment that is so hegemonically leftist.
These campuses were once a haven for the exchange of ideas. But today flags are being torn down, ROTC offices are being closed and students are being silenced. Anti-American sentiments are tolerated under the protection of free speech while ideas on unity and patriotism are called "intolerant" and "oppressive."
The number of young people going to college rises exponentially every year. It is important and wholly American that these students have the opportunity that so many crave - the freedom to explore a wide range of ideas without fear of being silenced and to have pride in the country that allows them the freedoms and opportunities that so many countries do not.
(Lisa De Pasquale is program director for the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute.)
Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute
The rantings of an isolated few leftist loonies are only a minor annoyance. It is the stories of college administrations joining their side by banning the flag, etc., that is really bothersome. A list of these "anti-American" colleges needs to be started, and some sort of organized punitive boycott needs to get underway. Their present non-leftist students need to be encouraged to transfer elsewhere, prospective students need to be persuaded not to attend, current and prospective donors need to be persuaded to discontinue giving, people need to be persuaded to stop attending their athletic events or to buy or wear merchandise with their team logo, and employers need to be encouraged to not hire their graduates. These leftist, "hate America" college administrations need to learn that they are going to pay big time for what they are doing.
I would also encourage patriotic students to take photographs and names of students participating in these anti-American demonstrations, and to forward these to the FBI. We cannot be absolutely certain that some of those who are merely guilty of sedition today might not cross the line into active treason and sabotage at some point in the near future.
This bears repeating. David Horowitz documented it extensively in his book. It's what made him rethink liberalism, among other things!
People seem to understand the very real difference between "imperialism" as practiced by the European powers in the nineteenth century and the need to defend oneself after being brutally attacked.
You and LLAN must hang out at the same cappuccino club.
Me neither. I have, however, met people who were interested in world wide justice long before it was "infinite".
Oh Please! If the international students are offended about people proud of being American (no hyphens...) maybe they should just leave the country. The patriotic resurgence is going to be around awhile (hopefully).
Quote of the Day
Jonathan Alter on the "antiwar" intelligentsia: "Talk about ironic: the same people always urging us to not blame the victim in rape cases are now saying Uncle Sam wore a short skirt and asked for it."
opinionjournal.com
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