Unfortunately, such disinterested inquiry is too unpopular to be common on many of today's sensitized campuses. The Pragmatic shows how to surmount unintentional barriers between the races. Anthropologist Edward T. Hall, for example, observed that the white subjects he studied wanted their listeners to nod periodically, while the black subjects generally only expected firm eye contact. Obviously, these kind of subtle cultural differences can cause needless trouble during, say, job interviews. Such classes celebrate one group's culture and deplores its victimization by other groups.
Scholarly standards can take a back seat to comforting minorities and shaming whites.
Seldom discussed, however, is whether sermons stressing victimization actually persuade whites to treat minorities better. But, the whites probably also felt like victims . . . And now, we're to be forced to listen to lectures about minorities, like they've got all the problems. Campuses have always been little Lebanons, youthful Yugoslavias, with endless subdivisions of spite. Undergraduates have long chosen lunchmates, for example, based on favorite rock groups.