Another Critical Race Theory thread

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

@DemonTree

But CaNcEl CuLtUrE iSn’T rEaL.

I’ve never seen someone eyeroll their own silly post, but it’s an apt use of the emoji.

If by “Cancel Culture,” you mean, “People in positions of power, mostly white, using financial pressure to mute academic pursuits they find objectionable or to advance Ayn Rand,” then several things are true.

1. You’re using “Cancel Culture” in a way that’s very different from how the Tucker Carlsons or the DemonTrees in previous threads have used it.
2. It’s definitely a real thing.
3. Focusing on the people in power who are stifling academic freedom doesn’t happen as often as focusing on undergrads and other, relatively powerless individuals, because the people in power don’t like to be focused on.
4. We leftists have been pointing at this problem for years.

@Me from 2015

Third, this is how it almost always goes. On the one hand, we have people in positions of real power saying nasty things about black people (or about women or gay people or whatever). On the other hand, we have college students wanting to change funding for college papers. Which of these situations gives conservatives the vapors? Over and over they freak out over what teenagers are saying on campus instead of paying attention to what happens in the halls of power.

Take another campus controversy: choosing the president for North Carolina’s highly-regarded university system. The Republican legislature, apparently unhappy with the bastion of liberalism at Chapel Hill, packed the UNC board with campaign donors and other Republican activists, who demanded the resignation of the currently, highly-respected president, and installed a Republican activist in his place. This is after they closed several campus centers that engaged in research and activities the legislature didn’t like, such as African studies.

Which is more damaging to academic freedom: teenagers complaining about editorials, or legislators enforcing political compliance on campus? Which do conservatives complain more about?