Thread: Academic freedom questioned

Dalhousie cancels talk by 'racial nationalist'

Chris Wattie, National Post
Published: Friday, December 22, 2006

A Canadian university yesterday cancelled a debate on racial diversity between the head of its black studies program and a American "racial nationalist," for fear that the topic would be too controversial.

But the cancellation of the debate has raised concerns about academic freedom, with the executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers arguing that it sends the wrong message to call off the debate at Dalhousie University next month between Professor David Divine and Jared Taylor, of American Renaissance magazine, on the topic of "Racial Diversity: North America's Strength or Weakness?"

"The way you deal with speech some may find objectionable or even abhorrent is not with silence," said James Turk. "It's with more speech -- with criticism and debate.

"We're always concerned when a university shuts down debate like this, especially around controversial subjects."

Officials of the Halifax university cited "the controversy surrounding the issue" in deciding to cancel the event, which was to be held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The university said in a statement yesterday that while "the topic is an important one ... the university has learned more about the background and standpoint of the others involved in the proposed debate and has concluded a debate with people who held such views would not be a useful way to explore the topic."

Instead, Professor Divine will deliver a lecture on the topic by himself, the statement said.

Mr. Taylor, who describes himself as a "race realist," said he was shocked by the university's about-face on the debate and said it showed "academic cowardice."

"I'm absolutely astounded by this," he said in an interview from his Virginia office. "In effect, he's ejected me from the debate and taken the floor for himself ... They've turned a debate into a monologue."

Prof. Divine was not available for comment yesterday and it was not clear who decided to cancel the debate.

But Tom Traves, the Dalhousie University president told the Halifax Chronical-Herald one day before the event was cancelled that he was surprised to hear of the potential controversy and promised: "I'll have to look into this."

And in an e-mail to the National Post, university spokesman Charles Crosby wrote: "The powers that be have just informed me the event will now not take place."

Posters had already been printed for the event, and Mr. Taylor said he had already booked his flight and hotel room. "I'm very disappointed and I think this speaks very ill of Dalhousie University's commitment to freedom of speech," he said. "They don't want to hear dissenting points of view on this topic."

Mr. Turk, whose association represents 55,000 teachers, librarians, researchers and other academic staff, said that regardless of what university officials thought of Mr. Taylor's views, they should be protecting professors who raise controversy.

He gave as one example a political scientist from St. Francis Xavier University who attended a Holocaust denial conference in Iran earlier this month. Shiraz Dossa was chastized by the university's academic vice-president this week, but has apparently not been disciplined for attending the two-day conference in Tehran.

The president of the university expressed "shock and regret" when he learned that the professor had presented a paper on how the Holocaust plays into the war on terror.

Mr. Turk insists that the "role of a university administrator is to protect their faculty's academic freedom -- not to discipline them for exercising it."

Mr. Taylor has rejected charges that he is a closet white supremacist.

However, the Southern Poverty Law Center has called Mr. Taylor's New Century Foundation a hate group and the U.S. Anti-Defamation League says his magazine "promotes 'genteel' racism: pseudoscientific, questionably researched and argued articles that validate the genetic and moral inferiority of non-whites."

Writing last year in a magazine article, Mr. Taylor said the chaos in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina showed: "When blacks are left entirely to their own devices, western civilization -- any kind of civilization -- disappears.''

Mr. Taylor debated a University of Texas professor over illegal immigrants without incident last April, although the 375 people who arrived to watch the debate were scanned by police with metal-detecting wands.

University spokesmen said the extra security was because campus police had received reports of threats against Mr. Taylor's opponent, Professor Jose Angel Gutierrez, founder of the university's Center for Mexican-American Studies.

Cwattie@nationalpost.com

© National Post 2006

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/stor ... =36381&p=1

This does not surprise me as I am originally from Canada. They pretend to be politically correct but discriminate against people big time. If you are not French Canadian or White Anglo Saxon then you cannot get many top level government positions. To get bilingual governement jobs you have to be of French Canadian Background preferably from Quebec. In Ontario I saw that hospitals CEOs and V.P.s were 95% White Anglo Saxons. The Ontario Provincial Police which would be the combination of the State Police and Highway Patrol, is the same way with the exception of some visible minorities as they can claim racism. I have better chances of working my way up in a police department here in Miami even though I am not Hispanic, than in Toronto. Earlier this year they promoted 4 officers to assistant chief; 3 white anglo saxons and one black (that is what they call them up there). Yet when the city advertises for officers or for tourism they claim to be a culturally diverse city. The department has lots of cultural diversity but not when it comes to the higher ranks. It is sad to think that many women keep both names when they get married just for that reason. Why should someone that is very competent to be higher ranking be denied due to their last name?
As for blacks going to university in Canada it is almost impossible. The universities in Canada don't allow you to work in the day and get your Bachelor's degree by attending classes in the evenings and weekends as you can in the United States. If you don't go to university right after high school the odds are high that you won't go at all. Many blacks in Canada are in the same position as in the United States and cannot afford to go and it doesn't help that they are fewer scholarships availible to them in Canada.

swatchick - Don't mean to be dense but I'm not real clear on what you wrote - are you supporting the actions of the school?

I don't agre with any type of racism and that is why its a tough call. The guy has a right to voice an opinion even though I may not agree with him. I think its up to people to decide if they would go or not. Personally I would not go.
It reminds me of the speech that Tancredo was suppose to give in Miami and then was cancelled because of threats due to his statements on Miami being a third world country.
What I was saying is that the government and the universities claim to be non racist and politically correct but yet in reality there is discrimination.

Originally Posted by swatchick

I don't agre with any type of racism and that is why its a tough call. The guy has a right to voice an opinion even though I may not agree with him. I think its up to people to decide if they would go or not. Personally I would not go.
It reminds me of the speech that Tancredo was suppose to give in Miami and then was cancelled because of threats due to his statements on Miami being a third world country.
What I was saying is that the government and the universities claim to be non racist and politically correct but yet in reality there is discrimination.

Yes, there is ethnic discrimination. If you are a Caucasian Republican on a modern US campus, it's tough to get a fair shake.

Originally Posted by CrocketsGhost

Originally Posted by swatchick

I don't agre with any type of racism and that is why its a tough call. The guy has a right to voice an opinion even though I may not agree with him. I think its up to people to decide if they would go or not. Personally I would not go.
It reminds me of the speech that Tancredo was suppose to give in Miami and then was cancelled because of threats due to his statements on Miami being a third world country.
What I was saying is that the government and the universities claim to be non racist and politically correct but yet in reality there is discrimination.

Yes, there is ethnic discrimination. If you are a Caucasian Republican on a modern US campus, it's tough to get a fair shake.

Michigan State University will also discard applicants for University job positions filled out by White anglo-saxons.

The guy has a right to voice an opinion even though I may not agree with him. I think its up to people to decide if they would go or not. Personally I would not go.

Yes. The people can make up their own minds. This is not much different then what happen at Columbia or MSU. The end result is the same. Shutting down a difference of opinion. If what the man says is truly outrages the public can decide without these "intellectuals" deciding for us.