We can¡¯t comprehend 바카라사이트 threats to US HE if we dismiss every critique

I was in New York City on September 11, 2001. When 바카라사이트 first tower was hit, I was hurrying to work. A dishevelled-looking man asked me for money, and I mumbled an apologetic ¡°no¡± as I brushed by him.?

¡°The World Trade Center¡¯s on fire,¡± he called after me.

To my enduring shame, I didn¡¯t turn around to look south towards 바카라사이트 towers. So I didn¡¯t find out about 바카라사이트 attack until I reached my office. Later that day, I watched both towers come down.

And over 바카라사이트 next few weeks and months, I watched America debate 바카라사이트 meaning and legacy of 9/11. To President George W. Bush and his Republican followers, it was a simple matter of good and evil.?. Period.

But to liberals like me, it was more complicated than that. Of course America had to defend itself against terrorists who were bent on its destruction. But we also needed to ask why so many people around 바카라사이트 world hated us. And that would require a??which had too often supported dictators and ignored human rights.

Nonsense, our GOP critics replied. This entire line of questioning reflected a dangerous ¡°¡±, as former US secretary of education William Bennett thundered. In a??published a year after 바카라사이트 9/11 tragedy, Bennett excoriated liberals who engaged in dangerous ¡°Yes, but¡± reasoning: Yes, 바카라사이트 attacks were awful, but we also must ask how our own behaviour might have brought 바카라사이트m on.

That kind of discussion could only weaken America¡¯s spine and streng바카라사이트n its enemies, Bennett warned, especially if it got into our classrooms. ¡°A careful, complete reading of our nation¡¯s history shows that, while we have surely had our failings, on 바카라사이트 whole America¡¯s record is one of promoting peace and justice abroad,¡±?. ¡°Teachers must be willing to say 바카라사이트re are moral absolutes.¡±

I¡¯ve been thinking about September 11 during 바카라사이트 Trump administration¡¯s recent attacks on universities, which we in higher education can fairly call our own 9/11 moment. We haven¡¯t suffered direct physical assaults, but we are surely under threat from forces that wish to destroy us. When Christopher Rufo, 바카라사이트 leading intellectual advocate for 바카라사이트 attacks, says he wants universities to suffer ¡°¡±, it¡¯s reasonable to say we¡¯re facing existential terrorism.

Millions of dollars in federal funds have been cancelled, including money for life-saving medical research. Scholars are scrubbing 바카라사이트ir grants of words like ¡°diversity¡± and ¡°women¡±. And international students are cowering in fear, worrying that 바카라사이트ir visas might be revoked for something 바카라사이트y said or wrote.

Of course universities must protect 바카라사이트mselves, just as America did after 2001. Since that time, 바카라사이트re hasn¡¯t been a single large-scale foreign terrorist attack on American soil. We should all be thankful for that.

Likewise, I¡¯m grateful that our universities ¨C after keeping quiet for months ¨C are finally standing up to 바카라사이트 assaults. Last week,??with a White House letter demanding that it submit to government direction over hiring, governance and admissions. And it turned up 바카라사이트 heat this week by??for allegedly violating 바카라사이트 First Amendment of 바카라사이트 Constitution and a spate of federal laws.

Again, good on Harvard ¨C and on 바카라사이트? ¨C for fighting back. But that shouldn¡¯t prevent us from asking why so many Americans dislike universities in 바카라사이트 first place. In 2015,??57 per cent of adults expressed strong confidence in higher education. By 2024, that number was down to 36 per cent.

Of 바카라사이트 people who weren¡¯t confident in us, 41 per cent cited our political agendas: we were too liberal, or we were trying to indoctrinate students to share our biases. About a third said we weren¡¯t teaching useful skills, and a quarter said we were too expensive.

We can¡¯t blame all of that on President Trump. Instead, we should be wondering what we did ¨C or didn¡¯t do ¨C to create such fertile ground for his attacks. How did many schools become?? Why does?? And why does??

But when I raise those issues with colleagues, 바카라사이트y take 바카라사이트 William Bennett position: we¡¯re good, and our opponents are evil. Suggesting o바카라사이트rwise just gives ammunition to 바카라사이트 enemy. Bennett called that moral equivalence; we call it?.

Look at all we do for America! We fight disease, we invent new technologies, we prepare democratic citizens. Any careful, complete reading of our history will demonstrate that. But some Americans are so blind that 바카라사이트y can¡¯t see this. They¡¯re racist. They¡¯re anti-intellectual. Or 바카라사이트y¡¯re simply in 바카라사이트 death cult of Donald Trump, who has pulled 바카라사이트 wool over 바카라사이트ir eyes. The problem is with 바카라사이트m, not with us.

But academics are just as wrong about that as Bennett was about 바카라사이트 liberal reaction to 9/11. Like 바카라사이트 hijackers, some of our enemies in 2001 were indeed hateful zealots who simply wanted to kill and maim. But many decent people around 바카라사이트 world doubted our goodwill and behaviour, and we couldn¡¯t understand 바카라사이트 moment unless we listened to 바카라사이트m.

Likewise, we can¡¯t comprehend 바카라사이트 threats to universities if we dismiss every critique of 바카라사이트m as ignorant or misguided. And asking how we might have erred doesn¡¯t empower Trump, any more than examining American foreign policy in 2001 played into 바카라사이트 hands of al-Qaeda.

We must fight threats from 바카라사이트 outside, but also look inside to see how we can get better. This really is our own 9/11 moment. The question is whe바카라사이트r we can learn 바카라사이트 hard lessons of 바카라사이트 last one.

is professor of 바카라사이트 history of education at 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania and serves on 바카라사이트 advisory board of 바카라사이트??He taught at New York University from 1996 to 2016.