The following is my review of
David Horowitz's book 101 Dangerous Professors
::Originally published at www.ypsl.org ::
Not to be outdone by Bernard Goldman's 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America, David Horowitz offers up 101 "dangerous academics," in alphabetical order. Perhaps Horowitz thought Howard Zinn would make for a happy ending.
I couldn't shake the feeling the book would appeal to conservatives with a thirst for exoticism. Rather than academically condemn these professors for actual transgressions in the classroom, most of the attacks deal with either outside activism or professor's support for minority groups and opinions.
Before reading this book, I did not have the grasp on the reality of institutions of higher learning that I do now. I had not known that radicals had "created new institutional frameworks and fields of study, ousting old standards and disciplines aside." Oddly, of the over 900 numbered notes in the book, he provides no explanation of what disciplines have been ousted. He continues, "New departments began to appear with objectives that were frankly political and maintained no pretense of including intellectually diverse viewpoints . . . Names like "Black studies" and "women's studies" had political subtexts and were really devoted to Black nationalism, feminism, and similar ideological programs." His attack on minorities' studies is a major theme of the book, and often professors are black listed for being "feminists" or "anti-Israel."
The book is really just a joke, albeit in bad taste. I did laugh out loud while reading it, earning me odd stares of other store patrons (yes, I read this book at the store - I wasn't going to pay for it). Horowitz says things like "neo-liberalism is a neo-Marxist term for `capitalist'." Every page is filled to the edge with quotation marks. They help to reinforce the idea that something like "women's studies" isn't really an "academic" field of "study.
To expend too much energy debunking it would be a waste of my time and yours, but we can at least have some fun at its expense.
Horowitz shoots two or three bullet points at each professor, outlining major dysfunctions with each, followed by a page or two or three. An incredible amount are listed solely as "Marxists." Prof. Mary Berry had the audacity to be Chairman of the Civil Rights Commission. Michael Berube is a "progressive educator." Many professors dissent from the majority view - one protests the celebration of Columbus Day. There are plenty of "anti-war activists." One professor is "author of a book about the sixties." Amiri Baraka was poet Laureate of New Jersey. And Mark Levine is a Marxist and "rock musician." Truly a dangerous bunch.
Despite everything, the book does offer two positives. Horowitz goes to great lengths to provide damning quotes from these radicals. There are some truly wonderful quotes:
It is difficult to not hear in Standard English always the sound of slaughter and conquest.
-bell hooks
Slavery is, as an example of what white America has done, a constant reminder of what white America might do.
- Derrick Bell
We're limited to a choice between the party of the rich and the party of the wealthy. We have the only industrialized capitalist country in the world that does not have a labor party.
- Marvin Berlowitz
The second positive of reading the book is making that personal connection. Perhaps you attended a school that is mentioned, or even have had opinions forced onto you by one of these dangerous professors. Maybe you read their books or articles, or subscribe to the magazines they edit. Maybe you can just empathize with someone who considers critical thought a key aspect of their education. The reader is almost sure to make some form of personal connection given some of the bigger names - Howard Zinn, bell hooks, Victor Navasky, M. Shahid Alam, Amiri Baraka, Robert McChesney, and of course, Ward Churchill.
And if you thought Noam Chomsky was getting out of this, think again - his was the longest entry.