Photo Courtesy of Phyllis Breland
Editor’s note: the views expressed on the Opinion pages are those of our writers and are not necessarily representative of the Editorial Board.
On October 25, Paul Gottfried spoke in two classes, an upper-level government course called “Modern Conservative Politics” and a history course called “Nazi Germany.” Tomorrow evening, there will be a reception and dinner in his honor at the Alexander Hamilton Institute (AHI).
For those who are not aware, Paul Gottfried has been called the “Godfather of the Alt Right,” and has said and written many heinous things that live up to this nickname. In an article published in
American Renaissance
on July 7, 2008, Gottfried wrote, “Genetics does matter, and I suspect that at some future time if we do emerge from the government — and media-created — miasma of PC, we may be willing to look honestly at all of the reasons that some groups behave less productively and less peacefully than others […] The violence in our cities, the dysfunctional nature of American education, the venting of racial bigotry, and the poisoning of academic discourse have all accelerated with the triumph of the civil rights movement. In fact, I cannot think of any group that has used its equality — which has in this case led to special privileges — more abusively than have American blacks.”
He also wrote, “One would have to be blind or struck insane by the gods not to notice that some races and ethnic groups have a greater capacity to produce culture, science, and civility than do others. Moreover, blacks almost always are found at the bottom of this list in terms of their real cultural accomplishments and their performance in building peaceful societies.”
These views are incredibly dangerous, and have no place on our campus. White nationalism and scientific racism are not opinions — they are wrong and hateful, and they should not be given a platform on the Hill.
Another issue is that the events Gottfried spoke at were not public. The student body received an email of his looming appearance just two days before he was scheduled to come. He spoke only in closed classrooms, in which he lectured in front of small groups of students.
According to Samatha Benevelli, AHI fellow, “…the event was organized by faculty for Dr. Gottfried to appear on campus. I was not privy to student engagement with the event beyond being told about it a few weeks ago…. there was little to no student initiative to bring him to campus, the event was not widely publicized beyond three days in advance…” This strategic planning on the part of Professor Paquette and the AHI stifled any discourse to be had as a student body surrounding the speaker and his ideas.
The central issue here is not freedom of speech, rather, it is an issue of getting racism out of academia. It is an issue of whether or not marginalized students have a true support system here.
What is taught in our classes matters; the students here will go on to become leaders, bosses, educators, etc. Exposure to the types of hateful opinions espoused by those like Paul Gottfried, especially with no opportunity for real academic resistance to them, is dangerous.
There is a difference between providing diverse opinions to the campus and pushing an agenda of hate onto students. We cannot find common ground with people who do not value the humanity and accomplishments of entire groups of people. Students should have a say in who the administration supports and allows to speak here.
These are our classrooms too.
