An ultimately creepy look at intolerance on campus and how it
should be countered. Like many of the good-hearted, Marcus, a
professor in the Educational Administration Department of Rowan
College, is captivated by the fallacy that if you can somehow cure
the smallest symptoms, you have rooted out the disease. While there
is little doubt that hate speech - and the racism from which it
stems - is a serious societal problem, hate speech on American
campuses always seems to boil down anecdotally to a few dozen
frequently told and retold incidents (which Marcus makes sure we go
over one more time). Yet he seems to believe that quieting the
misled few among the educated, enlightened mass of college students
is an important issue. And he gives it both barrels. An extended
history of racism is followed by an analysis of the affirmative
action debate; other chapters deal at length with such issues as
college speech codes. The analysis is rarely original, but it is
certainly extensive: Marcus strings together endless pages of
quotes and statistics, occasionally pausing for interpolations.
Using as his model the disruption caused at Kean College in 1993 by
a speech by Nation of Islam's Khalid Abdul Muhamad, Marcus then
looks at what colleges should and should not do to reduce hate
speech. His solution is a legalistic reinterpretation of the First
Amendment that - no matter how Marcus glosses over it - would allow
censorship. He also champions classes in intergroup relations and a
series of kindly coercive measures to make certain that everyone
gets along. Regular "human relations audits" will then ensure that
everything is working as planned. Occasionally, universities have
acted in loco parentis. With these measures in place, they would
add another member to the family - Big Brother. (Kirkus Reviews)
This intriguing book reflects on the conditions on college
campuses that give rise to words and acts of hate, on the
consequences of these episodes, and on strategies intended to
improve intergroup harmony. Using the speech given by Nation of
Islam spokesperson Khalid Abdul Muhammad at Kean College in 1993,
the book begins with a consideration of the societal trends
affecting today's college student, including the increasing
economic uncertainty that characterizes their future and the
hostility and fragmentation that characterizes their present.
Attitudinal changes have proven to be widespread, as more Americans
have begun to view the world through the lenses of political,
social, and economic self-interest, calling prevailing equity
policy into question and giving new life to identity politics.
Since issues of affirmative action, multiculturalism, and political
correctness are at the core of the national debate and command the
attention of college students, each is addressed in detail. A
discussion of what prompted Kean students to invite Muhammad
follows a consideration of the current status of intergroup
relations on campuses across the nation. This examination covers
the inescapable conclusion that, despite the desires of most
students for positive relations with people of other groups, there
are serious gaps to be bridged.
General
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