I present to you, Saida Grundy, an assistant professor of sociology and African American studies at Boston University - and apparently quite the piece of work insofar as she wants more open discussion about what a gigantic problem white males are on college campuses. But I also rise in defense of Assistant Prof. Grundy, because I believe she should suffer no consequence and pay no price for saying what she said.
“I take seriously my responsibility to create an inclusive learning environment for all of my students," she added. "Both professionally and ethically, I am unequivocally committed to ensuring that my classroom is a space where all students are welcomed.”
The university president expressed the obligatory disapproval, but added that Grundy will pay no price for this because it's free speech.
Now I know what you're going to say about that, and you're not wrong. If someone had made a similar comment about blacks and/or women, they would have been forced - if not by the university then certainly by public pressure from students, alumni, the media etc. - to resign. That is absolutely the truth.
But that doesn't mean that would have been right, and it wouldn't be right if it happened to Grundy either.
I would like to see conservatives embrace the following principle in response to the recent behavior of the left:
Anyone can say whatever they want without having to apologize or lose their jobs.
And we should apply that to everyone. There are several reasons I think this is necessary:
No one does any harm by telling you what they think. They just let you know who and what you're dealing with.
Establishing blanket amnesty for the expression of ideas and attitudes would disarm the speech police left, which wants to criminalize thought and use this as a way of marginalizing everyone they don't like. If speech can never be a cause for offense or recrimination, they have nothing to work with.
It would save us a lot of time that we now waste wringing our hands over words that really don't have any impact on anything.
It would spare people with good hearts from being treated like monsters because something ill-advised slipped from their lips.
If people can openly say what they really believe, we can keep an eye on their biases. Assistant Prof. Grundy insists that she can grade white males in her class fairly. Now that we know her attitudes, we can watch closely to see that she does. Before she said this, there would have been no warning sign that a given student's D or F might not be justified. That's where openness is a win for everyone.
And as for the complaint that such statements are offensive, I say buck up, buttercup. You only take offense if you want to. Otherwise her statement can and should bounce right off you.
The right regularly criticizes the left for being easily offended and hypersensitive, and rightly so. So let's leave those distasteful traits to them. Saida Grundy, you can say whatever you want and it's not going to send us storming off in tears. And now that we know how you think, we'll be watching what you do.
By the way, demanding apologies is also idiotic because a) a person who apologizes under pressure never really means it; and b) you get nothing of value if someone apologizes to you, aside from the satisfaction of seeing them brought low. And you don't need that.
No apologies, no firings, no hand-wringing. Everybody say what you want.
Who's with me?
