Civil War on the Left, Part 54: Campus Cannibalism

Today’s installment of our Civil War on the Left series notes two recent incidents on campus that should fuel a big bump in popcorn futures prices in the commodity pits. First, at the University of Texas at Austin, a leftist professor who checks all the right boxes is nonetheless in hot water because he stumbled over one of the advanced feminist borders. From The American Spectator:

An Antifa group at the University of Texas at Austin is calling for “revolutionary violence” against assistant professor Robert L. Reece after he wrote a column running afoul of feminist dogma.

Reece isn’t the kind of academic that radical leftists typically attack.

Reece checks so many politically correct boxes that he’d normally be immune from criticism. He’s a young black sociologist from a poor community in Mississippi cotton country, deeply involved in issues of intense interest to the Left. He writes for a publication of the race-obsessed, far-left Southern Poverty Law Center. His academic research “revolves around the question ‘What is race?’ as well as inquiries into the historical origins of racial inequality, colorism/skin tone stratification, and racial fluidity.”

Reece’s problems began when he wrote a March 20 article for Vox, “How men are adjusting to the #MeToo era: ‘This is going to take a really long time.’” The piece is subtitled, “Men discuss the gray areas of intimate encounters.” . . .

The story goes on to explain how a student in one of Reece’s classes, who is now fully “woke,” is reflecting on some of his past sexual encounters that may not have fully lived up to the new standards. And naturally the campus left wants Reece to report this student to be prosecuted for rape.

Meanwhile, up at Columbia University, a distinguished professor is in trouble for remarking in the classroom that the general term for black in the 1960s and 1970s was “negro.” This bit of historical accuracy upset some students. (Aside: I checked the Census Bureau once to see when it stopped using “Negro” in its racial classifications; if memory serves, they changed to “black” in 1977.)  As the Columbia Spectator reported:

Maria Fernanda Martinez, CC ’18, was one of two nonwhite students in an American studies seminar last year. Her professor told the class that, when studying the 1960s, it was fine to use the word “Negroes” to refer to African Americans, as it was the term used at the time.

Martinez, troubled by these comments, sent her professor an email after class, including links to resources about why using the term is offensive, but said she saw no real change in her professor’s approach to teaching the material.

“I didn’t pay attention in class after that,” said Martinez.

Here’s the punchline: the professor in question is Todd Gitlin, a far-left veteran of the SDS and the protest movement of the 1960s. I hope he’s enjoying the fruits of a campus culture that he helped to create.

Where’d I put down my bag of popcorn?

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