Academia Bigotry

The Philadelphia Inquirer posted an opinion piece on Sunday 14 September written by the chair of the History Department at Connecticut College, Catherine McNicol Stock . This piece was a total smear of an entire region of our country, the Pacific Northwest. It begins as a diatribe of attacks against Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, but proceeds, through inuendo, to link the governor to famed racists and terrorists from the northwest. The article slams the northwest as racist, throwing even such 'blue' states as Washington and Oregon under the bigoted bus:

"But the region also must be defined by its history of intolerance, resentment, antistatism and violence. Appearing in the region in the 1980s and 1990s were some of the most notorious "hate radicals" of our time: militia groups, survivalists, Identity Christians, secessionists, white supremacists and others."

Listing hate groups, militias, and individuals such as Terry Nichols and Ted Kaczynski, Stock reminds us that "we should never forget that in the late 20th century, ultra-Christian, antistatist and white-supremacist groups flourished in the states of the Pacific Northwest - called by many the "Great White Northwest" - the very region that Sarah Palin and her family call home."

To smear an entire region of the country just to make stabs at a politician is hideous, and that a highly educated individual would sink to such outright bigotry and guilt-by-association tactics is breathtaking.

Stock also makes the point that Sarah Palin's political views are "ardently pro-gun, pro-censorship, antichoice and antigay - make John McCain's conservative credentials pale in comparison. What few observers have said, however, is these beliefs are not just extreme - they are radical, and even bear a comparison with some of the most notorious "rural radicals" of our time."

So being ardently pro-gun makes you sympatico to the Unibomber and Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh? Being against gay marriage is radical extremism? Being pro-life equates you to home-grown terrorists? As one person noted, Barack Obama shares two of those radical beliefs, and the pro-censorship charge is a fabrication.

As some others have noted, does the fact that Connecticut has 4929 sex-offenders mean that we have to wonder if Professor Stock is also one? We could certainly turn her own final words against her: Thus it is high time to review the cultural ideals and models of the radical rurals from the Great White Northwest and find out for sure where Gov. Palin stands. So does this mean we should find out for sure where Professor Stock stands on sexual offenders, and to see if she is one? Of course not; that would be as absurd as her own inuendos against Governor Palin.

This form of fear-mongering is supposed to come from right-wing, extremist conservatives. I guess the professor has embraced diversity, and joined the club.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080914_Intolerance_thrives_in_Palin_s_Pacific_Northwest.html?viewAllLatest=y&text=#comments