Dear Friends,
Postmodern philosopher Jacques Derrida was a prominent figure in a movement called “Deconstruction.” One of the features of that philosophy is the idea that there is no fixed meaning in language and that, therefore, authors do not really have any “ownership” over their works. A claim to ownership is just a raw exercise of power—for deconstructionists, everything, including language itself, is an exercise of power, someone seeking domination and mastery over someone else. Therefore, the philosopher must undertake a “deconstruction” of all truth claims to expose the real truth (never mind that niggling contradiction) that behind all logical arguments or persuasive rhetoric is simple power dynamics.
This should sound familiar to you, because this is what “Critical Race Theory” is all about. Power dynamics; the “ins” versus the “outs,” the “haves” versus the “have nots,” “oppressor” versus “oppressed,” and so forth. It’s an intellectual hammer that thinks everything is a nail.
In my opinion, one of the greatest things to ever happen in the history of philosophy is the time an Argentinian philosopher named Horacio Potel decided to test Derrida’s theory. Authors have no ownership over their works, eh? He started publishing unauthorized translations of Derrida’s books. That is some A+ trolling. He was threatened with prison time, but was eventually exonerated.
Then there was the time that Rice University professor Richard Wolin published a book that contained an interview with Derrida (in which the latter downplayed Heidegger’s love of the Nazis). The problem? Wolin didn’t ask the philosopher for permission to print the interview. Derrida was outraged:
“Do I not have the right to protest when a text of mine is published without my authorization, in a bad translation, and in what I think is a bad book?”
Yes, Jacques Derrida wrote the words “a text of mine.” His own life’s work in philosophy deconstructed in a single phrase. This kind of poetic justice got a lovely line from Shakespeare in Hamlet: “Hoist by his own petard.”
I bring all this up because this week an even better and even more delicious—nay, glorious—petard-hoisting took place.
Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber sent an official letter to the academic community regarding systemic racism in his own institution. Exhibiting all the appropriate levels of white guilt, he claimed that “Racism and the damage it does to people of color nevertheless persist at Princeton…” and that “[r]acist assumptions from the past also remain embedded in structures of the University itself.”
Pretty standard self-flagellation stuff, followed by all the ways he is working to make Princeton a more inclusive place. (I, for one, cannot imagine but that Princeton is in the top 1% of Wokest Places on Earth.)
Here’s the hilarious punch line: The Department of Education noticed President Eisgruber openly claiming that his own institution is systemically racist. They sent a letter informing him that Princeton University is now under official investigation for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race. It took me a while to stop laughing at this turn of events.
Oops. Now what? Is Eisgruber now going to backtrack? “Oh, no! We don’t have a problem with systemic racism!” That would surely draw the ire of the Woke crowd because, remember, everything is “systemically” racist. But sticking with his story means that the University is violating Federal law and stands to lose tens of millions of taxpayer dollars.
Call it hoisting by one’s own petard, or being caught between a rock and a hard place, or being damned if you do and damned if you don’t. If that Argentinian professor got an A+ for trolling, then Education Secretary Betsy DeVos needs to create a higher grade than that because she deserves it.
On Systemic Racism
I want to point you to a couple of helpful resources if you’re trying to get your mind around this notion of “systemic” racism. Matthew Franck, a rare Twitter friend whom I’ve actually met in real life (and who, ironically, lectures at Princeton!) wrote an essay for Newsweek entitled “Racism is Real: But is ‘Systemic Racism’?” And guess what? Newsweek took it down only two hours after publishing it. It’s just too controversial.
Thankfully, you can read the whole story of how that went down, along with Matt’s really excellent article, by clicking on this link to the Public Discourse. He has many razor-sharp points, but I most liked his argument that the idea of systemic racism has the ironic and unintentional result of letting real racists off the hook. Make sure to give it a read.
I also found this newsletter from David French to be very straightforward, balanced, and sober-minded. David gets a lot of flack from both the left and the right for a variety of reasons, and I sometimes disagree with him, but one thing remains true: I always find him immensely profitable to read.
Okay, maybe you don’t care about these cultural debates about systemic racism and critical race theory. But they care about you, and they are coming to a neighborhood or church near you. You will be made to care. Someday soon your pastor might start saying things like this:
“Longest-standing white supremacist social orders in history.” That’s a pretty eye-opening description of a nation that has for centuries strived (and in many, many ways succeeded after bloody upheavals) to live up to its foundational creed that “All men are created equal.” This guy also said that “Right now we live in one of the most dehumanizing cultures in the history of the world.” He certainly likes his hyperbole.
Anyway, that’s Greg Thompson, a pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America.
Nothing to be concerned about, I’m sure.
Miscellany
A good time to give another plug to pre-order this book, which I believe is going to be the single-most helpful resource on our cultural convulsions to date.
You know something took a wrong turn in the civil rights movement when a university’s “Center For Social Justice & Inclusion” holds separate, segregated seminars for People of Color. Pretty sure that’s the kind of thing MLK and others were trying to get rid of. But that’s what’s become of their legacy at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
This is Josh Donaldson. He’s the third baseman for the Minnesota Twins Baseball Club. I don’t condone disrespect for authorities, really, but I’ll confess that this time I was emotionally on-board. I have made known my contempt for the actual job the umpires are doing this season, and it appears I am not alone. On the prior pitch, the home plate umpire called a strike on a ball four inches outside, prompting a stoppage of play as Donaldson turned around and gave him a piece of his mind, and the manager coming out of the dugout to try to keep his player from being tossed. Donaldson stepped back into the box, and…
… got himself tossed after his trip around the bases. In entertaining fashion, you’ve got to admit. Anyway, as much as I hate to say it, it’s time for an electronic strike zone. The umps themselves have convinced me.
I imagine only a small segment of you will appreciate my closing song this week, mostly because of the genre. Yes, believe it or not, I was a huge Stryper fan back in the day. The outlandish heavy-metal-for-Jesus group was never fully embraced by the music industry because of their Christian lyrics, and never fully embraced by Christians because of their music. Yet Michael, Rob, Oz, and (now) Perry have persevered for THIRTY-SEVEN years and they released another album last week, “Even The Devil Believes.” These guys have proven over a very long career that they are simply the real deal. If you like some good shredding, enjoy the new track, “Do Unto Others.”