Law Professors Celebrate Marriage and Work Ethic, Immediately Attacked as Racists

George W. Dent

George W. Dent, Jr.'s article originally appeared in The Federalist on September 6, 2017. We posted an excerpt below; read the full article here

Penn Law Dean Ted Ruger responded in a column that tied the Wax-Alexander item to the events in Charlottesville. This was ethically troubling in itself, since it associates a Nazi rally with a totally unrelated social analysis. Much worse, however, he said, “I reject emphatically any claim that a single cultural tradition is better than all others.”

Wax and Alexander made no such claim. What they said is: “All cultures are not equal.” That statement seems not only defensible but axiomatic; would anyone claim that China during the Cultural Revolution is morally equal to China today? If all cultures are equal, then nothing we do can make our culture either better or worse. Is that what Dean Ruger believes?

Wax and Alexander then questioned the rejection of “bourgeois” norms by several subcultures in America, including “the single-parent, antisocial habits prevalent among some working-class whites; the anti-‘acting white’ rap culture on inner-city blacks; and the anti-assimilation ideas gaining ground among some Hispanic immigrants.” Dean Ruger’s distortion of what they said is despicable cowardice since he is Professor Wax’s boss; she would risk retaliation in many ways if she called him out for distorting what she said.

Image: Family Walk by www.GlynLowe.comCC BY 2.0 

  • Share

Most Commented

January 24, 2024

1.

After Claudine

The idea has caught on that the radical left overplayed its hand in DEI and is now vulnerable to those of us who seek major reforms. This is not, however, the first time that the a......

February 13, 2024

2.

The Great Academic Divorce with China

All signs show that American education is beginning a long and painful divorce with the People’s Republic of China. But will academia go through with it?...

December 9, 2023

3.

The Presidents and Academic Freedom

What are the boundaries of “free speech?” They are pretty much the same as the boundaries of civilization. Savages need not apply....

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

September 21, 2010

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Does YHWH Elohim Mean?

A reader asks, "If Elohim refers to multiple 'gods,' then Yhwh Elohim really means Lord of Gods...the one of many, right?" A Hebrew expert answers....