Our Hockey-Playing Friend points out the recent decision by the University of Washington student senate to reject a memorial statue for Washington graduate and World War II hero Gregory 'Pappy' Boyington. It appears some of the student senators had a problem with Boyington killing people and being a 'rich white man.' Ralph Bennett is not amused. Here is a more sympathetic editorial. Our reader recommends the video from Fox News, but I could not find it.
Of course it is ridiculous. I suppose War Historian could add this to the pile of evidence in the discussion of the state of military history in the academy. And some on the right have blamed professors for filling their students' heads with this type of dreck, which I don't really buy (why is it that high school teachers always get a pass on these types of things?).
The answer, I have come to decide, is that we as a society do not expect college kids to act like adults (except sexually), and yet we want them to make mature decisions on issues like this. As someone who was on a student senate and saw the herd mentality that leads to stampedes of moral indignation over misunderstood causes, trust me, it is a great sign that the vote on the Boyington memorial was split so evenly. Heck, I'll even say the whole affair is a net positive--especially if they have another vote and decide to do the right thing.
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2 comments:
it's not you professor types. It's the grade schools. America is racist and we are destroying the environment with our capitalism. For most of them, that's what I have to work with by the time I get them.
We're not innocent, either. Most of that 'dreck' continues in the high schools.
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