An editorial comment found in National Review's Feb.12, 2007 print edition. (not available on line)
When the Duke lacrosse story broke, it immediately became a rallying cry for “social justice.” The rape of a poor black woman by three privileged white men was a perfect propaganda piece for the Left: a jarring metaphor of racial, social, and economic exploitation.Thanks go to NR staffer Russ Jenkins and the editors at NR for permission to republish their bang-on editorial.
But now the case has crumbled. The prosecutor has been removed, forced to hire his own lawyers in the face of misconduct charges. Across the country, social critics have been left to cradle a dying scandal in their arms.
At Duke, however, a faculty group is working desperately to keep the corpse from growing cold. In the early days of the story, they took out a newspaper ad lamenting the “social disaster” of “what happened to this young woman.” The ad contained a collection of dramatic quotes from Duke students, “objects of racism and sexism, who see illuminated in this moment’s extraordinary spotlight what they live with every day.”
Instead of backing off from the ad, the professors have now posted an open letter defending it. They write, “We stand by the claim that issues of race and sexual violence on campus are real, and we join the ad’s call to all of us at Duke to do something about this.”
The methods to be used, apparently, do not exclude publicly declaring the guilt of three innocent men and then refusing to apologize for it.
BTW - NR is one of my favorite magazines. I've subscribed for close to 30 years.
3 comments:
John,
Appreciate your work, but NR used to be a great magazine. There are 0 cutting-edge conservatives at NR today.
I mentioned this at a D-i-W thread today. Perhaps relevant here as well.
On enountering the Group of 88, many people think, "Well, these are decent folk, and most are college profs. These tweedy types might have gotten caught up in the heat of the moment--but surely they have Duke's best interests at heart. They'll come around."
This probably does describe a plurality of the signers (except for the looming absence of any public apologies for the rush-to-judgment to proclaim student guilt).
But the heart of the Group's actions isn't bumbling incompetence or pridefulness. It is a witting implementation of the ideas of Italian political theorist Antonio Gramsci. Via GNXP, text from a 'dead' link written by J. Cantrell. See if you think it provides any insight.
----begin excerpt----
[Gramsci] understood that progressive causes would become hegemonic in the West only after its advocates made the long march through the institutions.
[Thinking about weaving is] the best way to grasp the picture. A weaver uses a loom to spin threads that crisscross and thus connect and tighten the entire cloth... Gramsci’s long march through the institutions [is] cultural weaving. The progressive cultural warrior... was to weave into existing institutions, slowly exposing their members to progressive ideas and language. When the more repressive members... catch on and cause a ruckus, the progressive cultural warrior should deny, preferably without lying outright, and slowly weave back to make peace... Eventually, the weaving in and out, with each re-weaving going deeper into the whole cloth, will mean that progressives will be so deeply entrenched in institutions that even if they announce their intentions to use those institutions to remake society totally, they could be removed from the cloth only by ripping it and leaving it incapable of being repaired.
----end excerpt----
One word and one question.
The question first. What the Hell is considered a "social disaster" for an exposed liar with a criminal record and a current hoax in progress and an ever changing story? Ok, two questions. Do they mean that she will be dropped from the Durham social calendar and will get no more invitations to the cotillion? No problem, I understand that when she can, stand that is, she has plenty of invitations to dance. So there NYAAH,NYAAH, all you people worried about her "social disaster".
Now the one word re: Duke 88:: Despicable.
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