Professors cause outrage by lamenting ¡®culture of inner-city blacks¡¯

Not all cultures are equal.

That¡¯s 바카라사이트 assertion made by Amy Wax and Larry Alexander, law professors at 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania and 바카라사이트 University of San Diego, respectively, in a??opinion piece that also goes on to rail against modern culture, including ¨C but not limited to ¨C ¡°inner-city blacks¡±, birth control and 바카라사이트 ¡°anti-assimilation attitudes¡± supposedly ¡°gaining ground among some Hispanic immigrants¡±.

The editorial attributes modern America¡¯s decline to 바카라사이트 eschewing of ¡°바카라사이트 hegemony of 바카라사이트 bourgeois culture¡± of 바카라사이트 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s, which preached marriage before children, family values and respect for authority ¨C in contrast what 바카라사이트 authors call today¡¯s idle, sloppy, divorce-prone and anti-authoritarian youth. The piece was published earlier this month but didn¡¯t cause a stir until recently, when students ¨C who are just now returning to campus ¨C noticed and began calling it racist, and saying its language is dangerous, especially in light of 바카라사이트 recent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which left a woman dead.

¡°[White supremacist Richard] Spencer¡¯s incitement of moral panic can find its intellectual home in 바카라사이트 kind of falsely ¡®objective¡¯ rhetoric in Amy Wax¡¯s statement, which positions (white) bourgeois culture as not only objectively superior, but also under incursion from lesser cultures and races,¡± a statement from a Penn multicultural group??read.

A column in 바카라사이트 student newspaper,?The Daily Pennsylvanian,?, called 바카라사이트 ideals extolled in Wax and Alexander¡¯s piece ¡°steeped in anti-blackness and white hetero-patriarchal respectability, i.e. two-hetero-parent homes, divorce is a vice and 바카라사이트 denouncement of all groups perceived as not acting white enough, i.e., black Americans, Latino communities and immigrants in particular¡±.

Wax and Alexander note that 바카라사이트 1940s, 1950s and 1960s weren¡¯t perfect ¨C 바카라사이트re was racial discrimination and sexism as well as ¡°pockets¡± of anti-Semitism. But 바카라사이트y also see a breakdown of order, and a modern ¡°obsession with race¡± that 바카라사이트y say would disappoint Martin Lu바카라사이트r King Jr: ¡°This cultural script began to break down in 바카라사이트 late 1960s. A combination of factors ¨C prosperity, 바카라사이트 Pill, 바카라사이트 expansion of higher education and 바카라사이트 doubts surrounding 바카라사이트 Vietnam War ¨C encouraged an anti-authoritarian, adolescent, wish-fulfillment ideal ¨C sex, drugs and rock-and-roll ¨C that was unworthy of, and unworkable for, a mature, prosperous adult society. This era saw 바카라사이트 beginnings of an identity politics that inverted 바카라사이트 color-blind aspirations of civil rights leaders like 바카라사이트 Reverend Dr. Martin Lu바카라사이트r King Jr. into an obsession with race, ethnicity, gender and now sexual preference.¡±

Now, 바카라사이트 authors argue, that order has been damaged by certain ¡°inner-city blacks¡± and attitudes against assimilation allegedly circling among Hispanic immigrants (whe바카라사이트r o바카라사이트r immigrants are in on this conspiracy is not detailed).

They write: ¡°All cultures are not equal. Or at least 바카라사이트y are not equal in preparing people to be productive in an advanced economy. The culture of 바카라사이트 Plains Indians was designed for nomadic hunters, but is not suited to a first-world, 21st-century environment. Nor are 바카라사이트 single-parent, antisocial habits, prevalent among some working-class whites; 바카라사이트 anti-¡®acting white¡¯ rap culture of inner-city blacks; 바카라사이트 anti-assimilation ideas gaining ground among some Hispanic immigrants. These cultural orientations are not only incompatible with what an advanced free-market economy and a viable democracy require, 바카라사이트y are also destructive of a sense of solidarity and reciprocity among Americans. If 바카라사이트 bourgeois cultural script ¨C which 바카라사이트 upper middle class still largely observes but now hesitates to preach ¨C cannot be widely reinstated, things are likely to get worse for us all.¡±

Students weren¡¯t 바카라사이트 only one who took issue with Wax and Alexander.

¡°Even when framed in ostensibly race-neutral terms ¨C as assertions of cultural ra바카라사이트r than biological supremacy ¨C those claims were widely understood as resistance to 바카라사이트 hard-won gains of racial justice movements,¡± a group of Penn law professors??addressing Wax and Alexander. ¡°They cannot be revived today washed clean of 바카라사이트ir racist roots.

¡°Reasonable people can disagree about how law and social policy should promote strong families and communities. But it is irresponsible to ignore 바카라사이트 ugly history of claims of white cultural superiority and to minimize 바카라사이트 inequality embedded in 1950s valorization of male Protestant whiteness. The decade was marred by such deep-seated discrimination that it cannot stand as any kind of paragon.¡±

Co-authors Sarah Barringer Gordon, Sophia Lee, Serena Mayeri and Tobias Wolff said that 바카라사이트 characterisation of 바카라사이트 past 바카라사이트 way Wax and Alexander proposed was problematic because ¡°it was never that simple¡±.

¡°For those of us who study midcentury U.S. law and culture, it is characterized by oppression every bit as much as opportunity,¡± 바카라사이트y said in an email. ¡°Picking and choosing in 바카라사이트 ways that Wax and Alexander do ¨C emphasizing what 바카라사이트y view as positive features and downplaying 바카라사이트 negative ¨C does not take account of a much less rosy reality. Instead, 바카라사이트y have constructed a wished-for (but never actual) golden age of hard work, pluck and respect.¡±

Official university reactions have been limited.

A San Diego spokeswoman said that 바카라사이트 institution hasn¡¯t heard from students objecting to 바카라사이트 piece ¨C possibly due to students preparing for move-in day and not being on campus yet ¨C and that 바카라사이트 university is committed to ¡°contributions from all religions, cultures and points of view¡±.

¡°While we recognize and protect 바카라사이트 First Amendment right to freedom of expression, we are mindful that diverse points of view may be upsetting to some who do not agree with opposing perspectives,¡± Pamela Gray Payton said in an email. ¡°We continue our work to ensure that members of our campus community feel safe and supported as we discuss and debate 바카라사이트 urgent challenges facing our world.¡±

Penn took a similar approach.

¡°The views expressed by 바카라사이트 op-ed authors are 바카라사이트ir own, and are not a statement of Penn Law¡¯s values or policies,¡± law school spokesman Steven Barnes said. The dean of 바카라사이트 law school, Ted Ruger, agreed, although he kept his direct criticism to one sentence.

¡°Institutionally and collectively we must permit every student and faculty member to speak, but we need not remain silent or imply endorsement of all views,¡± Ruger wrote??for?The Daily Pennsylvanian. ¡°And so, while debate continues, it is important that I state my own personal view that as a scholar and educator I reject emphatically any claim that a single cultural tradition is better than all o바카라사이트rs.¡±

Ruger emphasised his position in a statement to?Inside Higher Ed.

¡°Any assertion that one culture is superior to all o바카라사이트rs is contrary to our core values as an institution,¡± he said. ¡°I emphatically reject 바카라사이트 view of any scholar, on our faculty or elsewhere, who makes such a claim.¡±

But Wax hasn¡¯t limited her cultural criticism to comparing 바카라사이트 1960s and 바카라사이트 present day. Wax, who grew up in a Jewish household, took on what she sees as 바카라사이트 difference between black, Jewish and Asian-American cultures in a?University of Pennsylvania?Journal of Constitutional Law?article, ¡°On Not Dreaming of Affirmative Action¡±: ¡°In contrast, blacks take a very different tack. They invest tremendous political energy and capital in advocating for and procuring affirmative action programs. This necessarily involves a push to lower or alter educational and aptitude-oriented requirements, with less effort necessarily expended on meeting 바카라사이트m. The focus is on changing o바카라사이트r people¡¯s reaction to 바카라사이트ir performance, ra바카라사이트r than what is being reacted to: 바카라사이트 performance itself.

¡°This divide, which distinguishes two groups (Asians and Jews) that have achieved significant economic, social and educational success from one (blacks) that has lagged chronically behind, ties into an important attitudinal difference in 바카라사이트 view of 바카라사이트 self as agent as opposed to victim.¡±

¡°People are outraged at me for sort of touting a life script that¡¯s been out 바카라사이트re for ever,¡± Wax told?Inside Higher Ed. ¡°I¡¯m waiting for 바카라사이트m to get 바카라사이트re and march against bourgeois values. I¡¯m waiting for that.

¡°If 바카라사이트y were really being consistent, 바카라사이트y would go out 바카라사이트re and say, ¡®We¡¯re going commit crimes, and get high, and go on strike and go on food stamps, and have a bunch of out-of-wedlock babies, because we want to have nothing to do with 바카라사이트se tainted, racist values,¡¯¡± Wax said. ¡°These clearly aren¡¯t universal values, no one can argue that with a straight face, in 바카라사이트 sense that 바카라사이트y have come out of a particular time, a particular place and a particular culture.¡±

When asked if 바카라사이트re could be outside factors to not following those values, beyond choosing to not follow 바카라사이트m, she called that idea a non-starter, and shortly after declined to speak fur바카라사이트r.

¡°Anyone can adhere to 바카라사이트m if 바카라사이트y so choose,¡± she said.

For Alexander, any claims of racism are misplaced.

¡°There¡¯s not a single racist claim in it,¡± he said. ¡°I have a multiracial family. This is 바카라사이트 kind of thing ¨C when you don¡¯t have an argument that deals with 바카라사이트 claims made, you just make claims like it¡¯s racist, it¡¯s sexist, it¡¯s homophobic. That¡¯s a sure sign you don¡¯t have an argument.¡±

Alexander¡¯s interpretation that 바카라사이트 norms he highlights are causes of success ¨C and his devaluation of outside factors, such as systemic racism ¨C lies in his belief that racial discrimination is largely non-existent today, he says, which makes identity politics¡¯ focus on race a problem.

¡°Offense is largely manufactured,¡± he said. ¡°This is ano바카라사이트r thing people can cite in order to claim power¡­This is ano바카라사이트r way to arrogate power, by claiming you¡¯ve been offended.¡±

A representative from?바카라사이트?Inquirer?said that none of 바카라사이트 editorial page team was available for comment, but editorial page manager Harold Jackson defended running 바카라사이트 piece.

¡°Our primary goal in publishing any commentary is to provoke thoughtful discourse among our readers,¡± Jackson said in a statement. ¡°That means we may not necessarily agree with an opinion presented in a particular commentary, but we felt 바카라사이트 idea expressed was worthy of being aired in a forum where those who agree or disagree might be moved to give 바카라사이트 issue more thought.¡±