The Diversity Myth Multiculturalism and Political Intolerance on Campus

by Sacks, David O.; Thiel, Peter A.; Fox-Genovese, Elizabeth

• ISBN13: 9780945999768
• ISBN10: 0945999763
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-01-01
• Publisher: Independent Institute

Summary

This is a powerful exploration of the debilitating impact that politically correct "multiculturalism" has had upon higher education and academic freedom in the United States. In the name of diversity, many leading academic and cultural institutions are working to silence dissent and stifle intellectual life. This book exposes the real impact of multiculturalism on the institution most closely identified with the politically correct decline of higher educationStanford University. Authored by two Stanford graduates, this book is a compelling insider's tour of a world of speech codes, "dumbed-down" admissions standards and curricula, campus witch hunts, and anti-Western zealotry that masquerades as legitimate scholarly inquiry. Sacks and Thiel use numerous primary sourcestheStanford Daily, class readings, official university publicationsto reveal a pattern of politicized classes, housing, budget priorities, and more. They trace the connections between such disparate trends as political correctness, the gender wars, Generation X nihilism, and culture wars, showing how these have played a role in shaping multiculturalism at institutions like Stanford. The authors convincingly show that multiculturalism is not about learning more; it is actually about learning less. They end their comprehensive study by detailing the changes necessary to reverse the tragic disintegration of American universities and restore true academic excellence.

Author Biography

David O. Sacks is a research fellow at The Independent Institute and is vice president of product strategy at PayPal, Inc. He has worked as a legislative aide to U. S. Representative Christopher Cox and received his A.B. in economics (1994) from Stanford University. His articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, National Review, Policy Review, and Academic Questions. Peter A. Thiel is a research fellow at The Independent Institute and is chairman andCEO at PayPal, Inc. He has worked as a derivatives trader at Credit Suisse Financial Products, a securities lawyer for Sullivan & Cromwell, and a speechwriter for former Education Secretary William J. Bennett. He received his A.B. in philosophy (1989) and J.D. (1992) from Stanford University. They both live in Palo Alto, California.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese
Preface to the Second Edition	xv
Acknowledgments	xxiii
Introduction: Christopher Columbus, The First Multiculturalist	xxv
Part I: The New Academy
The West Rejected	1	(22)
The New Classics
A Tempest Over The Tempest
Rhetoric and Reality
Multiculturalism: A New Word for a New World	23	(28)
Multiculturalism as Diversity
Multiculturalism as Relativism
Multiculturalism as Ideology
Multiculturalism as Conformity
Educating Generation X	51	(42)
The Therapeutic Curriculum
The Trendy Curriculum
The Victims' Curriculum
The Radical Curriculum
The Empty Curriculum
The Engineering of Souls	93	(34)
Liberation Theology
The New Puritanism
The Multiculture
Part II: The New Culture
Stages of Oppression	127	(36)
Creating Difference
Creating Identity
Race and ``Institutional Racism''
Homosexuality and ``Homophobia''
Gender and ``Sexism''
The Double Bind
``Welcome to Salem''	163	(34)
Enforcing Orthodoxy: The Speech Code
Otero II: The Empire Strikes Back
``Retributive Justice or Vengeance or Whatever''
``Militant Action''
Enemies Within
Moral Luck
Busy Doing Nothing
The Egalitarian Elite	197	(24)
One Man vs. The Multiculture
Duping and Doling
The Great Experimenters
Metamorphosis
Caliban's Kingdom	221	(34)
Beyond the Wasteland
The Culture of Blame
The Problem and the Solution
About the Authors	255	(2)
Index	257