Who Can We Trust?
“Now if we stipulate that for 340 years of our national history, there has been an uber-violent, brutal, rapacious repressing of the majority of people of color in this society by the white majority. For 340 years, lets stipulate that’s the case… if that’s the case lets take the last fifty years or the period from when Lyndon Johnson made his statements, from 1968 to the present, we can squeeze two generations of people… into our analysis, one generation being the group of students in this room and undergraduates in the United States more broadly and the other generation being their parents…” This quote brings forth quite strong racially motivated language, as anyone can clearly see, and one may be wondering, in what context this quote was said and by whom? Dr. John Aden, an Assistant Professor of history at Wabash College, used these words in response to a talk given by nationally renowned activist Mr. Ward Connerly. Mr. Connerly came to speak at Wabash last fall on his views and role in working to end racially motivated affirmative action practices in government and government funded programs such as education.
In his talk Mr. Connerly spoke about his work as a member of the California Board of Regents and his activism in getting laws passed that seek to end race-based college admission preferences in California, Michigan and Washington, as well as ending racially motivated affirmative action in the California public university system. This issue is one that clearly transcends political boundaries as these typically leftist states have voted in favor of Mr. Connerly’s legislation. More importantly, however, was the main point outlined by Mr. Connerly that affirmative action as an idea is great but when based on inappropriate ideology, like racial stereotypes, it can be harmful. Mr. Connerly also stated that he believed in and would support certain affirmative action practices that were based on economic status rather than race.
In the question and answer period of the lecture, the floor was opened to questions from students and professors alike, and it was during this period that the above quote came from Dr. Aden. The question and answer period went very smoothly with professors and students asking very pertinent and intelligent questions until Dr. Aden, in reference to a point brought up by Visiting Owen Duston Assistant Professor of English, Dr. Ravyn Wilson-Bernard, began to rant for nearly 5 minutes during which he did not bother to even ask a question. This act alone was very rude to the students and professors who had legitimate questions to ask Mr. Connerly. As Mr. Connerly stood patiently during Aden’s emotional rant he was clearly bored by the unintelligible tirade of Dr. Aden. Yet, it was the contents of Dr. Aden’s rant that was most alarming.
During this rant, Dr. Aden repeatedly referred to “whites” as brutal, violent, and rapacious. He also stated that, “So what you are asking people of color to do is to trust the descendents [undergraduate students, as defined by Dr. Aden] of the same white majority that engaged in these rapacious, brutal, violent tactics, to administer a system fairly.” This statement shows a fundamental flaw in the ideology by Dr. Aden. First of all, it displays an assumption that the majority of white students are direct descendents of racists, which I would argue is not only a flawed assumption but one that is clearly incorrect. Secondly, it assumes that if the first assumption is correct, then racism is something that is inherent by birth and that the current generation of undergraduate students is inherently racist.
Another severely problematic notion that this implies is that Dr. Aden does not trust “whites” or the current generation of undergraduate students as a whole, since according to Dr. Aden undergraduates students are a majority of “whites.” Basically, the students who are passing through Aden’s teaching and guidance, as a respected professor, are being exposed to a man who either does not trust them, solely on the basis of their race, or is instilling in students who are not “white” a defeatist ideology that pits them against their fellow students and colleagues.
In continuation of this severely flawed ideology Dr. Aden stated to Mr. Connerly that, “However well intentioned your argument… that argument works in the service of white privilege, of extending it and maintaining it, of telling majority students, white kids, ‘hey you don’t have to worry about the historical benefits you’ve accrued through this society or your parents or your grandparents, through this brutal, violent, rapacious, system…. You can’t convince people of color that we should trust the descendents of these people when they don’t want us necessarily to be included.” Not only does this statement work to diminish the accomplishments of “white” students or “kids” by attributing their intelligence and achievements to white privilege and not to their hard work or level of scholarship, but it goes so far as to further the notion of Dr. Aden’s mistrust in “whites.” Dr Aden continues to make general assumptions, as he clearly does throughout his rant, to further his ideology. He also assumes that the current generation of white students does not want to include “people of color” in society, which is also a statement that has no factual basis.
Most of Dr. Aden’s ideology, in his statements, assumes that there is a wide ranging conspiracy and hatred for blacks that exists especially in the current generation of white undergraduate students. This also has no factual basis. Every “fact” that would need to be true for Dr. Aden’s logic to work exists solely in theory and, as you saw by reading his quotes, has not a shred of factual information other than the obvious historical truths.
Mr. Connerly showed, in his response to Aden’s rant, what is the most pertinent problem with Dr. Aden’s logic, which is that by operating under this mistrust of whites, Dr. Aden is only furthering the inability to make progress in the area of race relations. The more supposed differences between races that are highlighted, the more race issues become a problem. If we as a society and community can reach the point where race is not an issue then we will be able to truly make progress towards greater equality. What Mr. Connerly spoke of during his initial talk was the idea that by ending practices of racial preference in government, we are working towards that goal of a color blind society. We as a society are clearly not to that point as of yet, but it is of no help to achieving this lofty and laudable goal when people like Dr. Aden exacerbate racial problems by attempting to set himself and other people of color apart from everyone else. If we all assume that the supposed other is against us, then no progress will ever be made. It is when we can assume and hope for the best in others that we may make progress in becoming a more equal society.
One of the biggest concerns this situation brings forth is the fact that Dr. Aden is on the path to almost certainly be granted tenure. Although he is a well studied historian and scholar, this does not qualify his political views as anymore intelligent or righteous. Also, presenting his notions in such an emotional and unintelligible fashion was clearly inappropriate for the situation. What needs to be taken into account is the fact that professors, especially those who have been granted tenure, are representatives and dignitaries of Wabash College and must act accordingly. For someone who represents the College to speak to a guest of the College in such a way, conveying severely flawed and racially motivated ideology, is unacceptable. Furthermore to communicate an idea that is very insulting and assuming of an entire race of students is extremely offensive. Many students (including myself) heard these remarks and were astounded that our ethnicity and genealogy was being attacked openly in such a fashion, especially in a way that was completely incorrect.
The lack of reaction from the College, the student body, and the faculty is one of the most difficult aspects of this occurrence to fathom. Many students, faculty, and members of the Wabash community were present to hear Dr. Aden’s remarks and yet nothing was said in response to them and no actions were taken. If a professor were to make similar remarks, within a public forum at any institution in the nation, that belittled and degraded any other race, it is safe to assume that there would have been some level of outrage within the community. That any member of the Wabash community, especially a highly respected professor who will almost undoubtedly soon have tenure, would openly speak against and berate a racial group is an extremely frightening idea, but that the community at large would not respond to such brutal comments and divisive claims tells a great deal about the current state of Wabash College.
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