--- "Brenda J. Walker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 24 Oct 2001, at 23:57, Kakki wrote: > > > > I knew nothing of any anti-PC movement until you > mentioned it. > > Really? D'Souza was on just about every major news > program when "Illiberal > Education" was published.
And Allan Bloom's _The Closing of the American Mind_, advancing a very similar argument, was a HUGE, high-profile bestseller. I agree with Kakki that many attempts to deal with very real racism and sexism on college campuses has taken the form of clumsy speech codes that are not only repressive, but forbear the possibility of honest discussion about race, etc., which is to my mind a CRUCIAL step in dealing with undemocratic attitudes. And yes, many espousing such speech codes look to '60s campus activism for inspiration, and some believe in socialist or even Marxist ideals. What I disagree about is the extent and directness of this influence. The initial claim was that the U.S. academic system has "long been either dominated or heavily influenced by" Marxist ideologies. As I read the thread--and correct me if I'm wrong--Kakki later amended this to say that Marxist ideology was subtly influential in today's American educational system. Based on my very recent experience of a rarefied part of the American educational system, my take is that Marxist thought is very much alive and well on campuses, but it certainly is not "dominant." Subtle influence seems closer to the truth, but lots of ideologies exert their subtle influence in our academic halls, from fundamentalist Christianity to secular humanism to multiculturalism to, as we now know, libertarianism. And well they should. The academy *should* be a marketplace of ideas. We should fight the speech codes but not give up trying to solve the persistent institutionalized prejudice these codes clumsily attempt to address. On that I suspect Kakki and I would agree. :-) --Michael NP: Yahzarah, _Hear Me_ ===== ___________________________________________________________________________ "[Naipaul] is devoutly read wherever literacy in English prevails, as well as in parts of America." --Gavin McNett, "The Black Sheep." http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2001/10/14/naipaul/index.html Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com
