By George Runner
A friend of mine recently told me about a troubling experience his daughter had at a California community college. She had to endure a political rant from one of her professors, who compared Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler and claimed Trump’s election was worse than 9/11.
I wasn’t a diehard Trump supporter. For me, the election came down to the Supreme Court and the economy, and many others felt the same. But no student should be forced to endure such nonsense, and to her credit, this student courageously walked out of that classroom in protest.
Students in such situations face an unenviable challenge: they’re forced to balance their beliefs, the opinions of their peers, and the prospect of maintaining a passing grade. Within that balance, liberal educators rarely have their opinions challenged. They become blinded by their own biases, while perceiving themselves to be “enlightened” and open-minded.
Young and impressionable students emulate their professors’ intolerance, believing oppression to be an acceptable form of communication.
Those students synthesize the information they’ve received, and choose media sources that affirm, rather than challenge, their predetermined opinions and worldview, simply because they’ve been taught dissent is for rubes.
Liberal instructors and administrators provide these students with “safe spaces” on campus, to be free from any remaining conservative intellectual resistance that causes them “pain.” This cycle repeats over and over again, and our tax dollars are paying for it.
This is a sure sign that free thought is on the decline. Our academic institutions are supposed to be beacons of enlightenment, not indoctrination.
Healthy and robust discussions regarding any issues that divide us along political lines were once welcomed at our public colleges and universities.
However, since the early 90’s, liberals have doubled down on their attempts to monopolize academia and have labeled anyone in opposition to their beliefs to be dullards.
Instead of trying to understand differing worldviews, many liberals have threatened to leave our country, because their candidate wasn’t elected. Anyone who disagrees with them is deemed a racist xenophobe or worse.
On Facebook, some people assert that Trump’s election is the worst decision America has made. Professors should remind students that America once thought slavery was okay, and that interning Japanese-Americans was the right thing to do.
These misguided declarations, at best, are premature, given Trump hasn’t even assumed office. There used to be a time in our country where we’d give people a chance before judging them.
Indoctrination and close-minded political propaganda on college campuses should come to an end. Some people will ask, “What about the hyperbole used by politicians?” You’re right, it’s not good either.
It is expected of politicians to use a little emphasis to get their points across; we know not to take things too literally. The classroom, however, isn’t the same setting and should be above reproach.
We need a serious discussion about how to improve political discourse in our nation. This dialogue could be led by our academic leaders, if they weren’t so busy throwing temper tantrums like two-year-old children.
At our academic institutions, we deserve a better return for our tax dollars. More importantly, students deserve better. Let’s put an end to this modern McCarthyism while we still can.
George Runner is an elected member of the State Board of Equalization and taxpayer advocate.
