Intellectual Sleight of Hand

You will find a link to ASU’s diversity philosophy below. It affirms two important values with which I agree: representation and inclusion. A state university should be a place where people of all backgrounds can study and be represented. It also lists examples of diversity that are consistent with state and federal laws, including religious and intellectual perspectives. These are protected and cannot be discriminated against or subject to harassment.

But you will find that secular professors engaged in DEIB advocacy are involved in an intellectual sleight of hand on this point. They will tell you that their programs are just intended to help further the values of representation and inclusion. But when you look into the kind of training materials they use (I have posts giving samples if you’d like to see them), they rely on thinkers like Kimberlé Crenshaw, who teach that all oppression shares in common the “whiteness.” This “whiteness” is the intersection of all the other problems that humans face. And the entire system is structurally racist.

You will even find ASU professors writing that intellectual diversity is a trick of the right wing. They compare having conservative thinkers speak on campus to inviting a flat-earther into an astronomy class. That is what they really think about diversity. Diversity means their view replaces the conservative, Christian, or Jewish belief system with which they disagree. Whereas a liberal education used to emphasize the equality of humans and what we all share in common, today you will more likely find events and classes dividing humans into groups and teaching them to look for oppression and someone to blame.

A legitimate interest in seeing intellectual diversity thrive on campuse is replaced with race blaming. Shelby Steele says that the use of race to get power over others is America’s original problem. We still see these “advocates” using race blame to get power over others today. Don’t be fooled by this sleight of hand. Parents, students, legislators, donors, and pastors, be aware when a professor is using their platform as a state employee to push a race blame agenda.

https://inclusion.asu.edu/diversity