Carol Swain

[[File:Swain Carol.jpg|165px|thumb|right|Carol Swain]]{{uspolitics}}
{{cquote| This book raises important and prescient questions about the origins and nature of [[white nationalism]], but is too weighed down by [[ideology]] to be illuminating.|||Mark Q. Sawyer's review by Carol Swain's book ''The New White Nationalism in America''<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/3687970 Reviewed Work: ''The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration'' Carol M. Swain] by Mark Q. Sawyer (2003) ''Perspectives on Politics'' 1(4):792-793.</ref>}}
 
'''Carol Miller Swain''' {{lived|1954}} is a [[right-wing]] political activist most famous for her declaration that "[[Democrats]] are the real racists."

==The (ironically named) inconvenient truth==
Swain has done multiple videos for [[PragerU]] on the topic discussing race in the United States, examples including "The Inconvenient Truth About the Democratic Party"<ref name=Democratic>[https://www.prageru.com/video/the-inconvenient-truth-about-the-democratic-party The Inconvenient Truth About the Democratic Party]</ref> which argues Democrats are the real racists, "The Inconvenient Truth About the Republican Party"<ref>[https://www.prageru.com/video/the-inconvenient-truth-about-the-republican-party The Inconvenient Truth About the Republican Party]</ref> which claims that Republicans are the real fighters against racism, and "Why Did the Democratic South Become Republican?"<ref>[https://www.prageru.com/video/why-did-the-democratic-south-become-republican Why Did the Democratic South Become Republican?]</ref> which tries to claim that [[The South]] switching from primarily Democrat to primarily Republican was due to factors other than race.

The videos in question are full of [[pseudohistory]], primarily through simplification. For example, the first video she did says "The Democratic Party defended slavery,"<ref name=Democratic/> however, although many Democrats did defend slavery, this is a massive oversimplification of the truth. Slavery was actually rather controversial within the Democratic Party during its time, with the party dividing into multiple factions specifically over said topic.<ref>[https://libraries.psu.edu/about/collections/unearthing-past-student-research-pennsylvania-history/democratic-party-and-its Democratic Party and Its Factions]</ref> It got so bad that during the 1860 Presidential Election the Democratic Party was forced to have two conventions and ended up with two different candidates running as the nomination, one nominated by the Northern wing of the party and another nominated by the Southern wing.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1860 United States presidential election of 1860]</ref> The difference between the two candidates being that the candidate of the North, Stephen A. Douglas, supported "popular sovereignty" or allowing states to choose if they had slavery or not, while the southern nomination, John C. Breckinridge, actively wanted federal intervention to protect slavery.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-C-Breckinridge John C. Breckinridge]</ref>

Swain goes on to say, "John Wilkes Booth, a Democrat, assassinated President [[Lincoln]]."<ref name=Democratic/> No evidence exists which says John Wilkes Booth was a Democrat.<ref>[https://www.factcheck.org/2022/04/posts-make-unfounded-claims-about-political-affiliation-of-john-wilkes-booth/ Posts Make Unfounded Claims About Political Affiliation of John Wilkes Booth]</ref> She also adds that "after Reconstruction ended, when the federal troops went home, Democrats roared back into power in the South. They quickly reestablished white supremacy across the region with measures like black codes,"<ref name=Democratic/> even though black code laws in the South predate the end of reconstruction by a dozen years.<ref>[https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-codes Black Codes] History</ref>

In the same regard, she mentions [[Lyndon Johnson]] saying that he'll have black people (although he did not use that term, instead saying a far more offensive word starting with an "[[nigger|n]]") "voting Democrat for 200 years"<ref name=Democratic/> despite historians agreeing no evidence exists that Johnson actually said this.<ref>[https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/lbj-voting-democratic/ Did LBJ Say 'I'll Have Those N*****s Voting Democratic for 200 Years'?]</ref>

The second video is mainly Swain explaining why the [[Southern Strategy]] is a [[hoax]] made up by Democrats to [[Race card|smear Republicans as racist]].

==Vanderbilt University protests==
In 2015, a petition sprung up asking Vanderbilt University to suspend Swain from her position as a professor due to her comments on topics like [[Islam]] and the [[LGBT]] community, which ended up getting over eleven hundred signatures.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20151113000055/http://wkrn.com/2015/11/09/student-petition-asks-vanderbilt-to-suspend-conservative-professor/ Student petition asks Vanderbilt to suspend conservative professor]</ref> The petition in question listed three major issues with her, those being:

{{quotebox|*Firstly, Professor Carol Swain has failed to clearly separate her role on her Facebook page as a “Public Figure” from the Vanderbilt name, creating a situation in which the public may misconstrue her as speaking on behalf of the University. We want to make it clear that Carol Swain in no way represents our alma mater, regardless of the fact that she teaches here.

*Secondly, there have been several instances in which students have contacted Professor Swain to hold an intellectual debate with her, and in return, she has resorted to name-calling and posting their personal contact information on her public page. In many cases, students claimed this led to public shaming, intimidation, and/or harassment by her followers.

*Additionally, several students who claim to have taken Professor Swain’s class(es) have expressed concerns that minority students enrolled in her class(es) – especially those who are LGBTQIA+ and/or non-Christians – expose themselves to unfair assessment in-class and may receive lower grades than their peers simply because of their identities. At a University that prides itself on fairness, diversity and inclusion, these allegations are entirely unacceptable if true.<ref name=petition>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160107032200/https://www.change.org/p/vanderbilt-university-suspend-professor-carol-swain Suspend Professor Carol Swain] Change.org</ref>}}

The petition goes on to ask the university for the following regarding her position:

1) To give Prof. Swain diversity training

2) To conduct an investigation into student allegations of "doxxing," or posting a student's personal information publicly in attempts to intimidate them

3) To conduct a thorough review of Prof. Swain's Facebook page to ensure it implies no affiliation with the views of Vanderbilt University.<ref name=petition/>

Of specific note is also two pieces of writing of Swain's the petition felt the need to mention: Those being the 2015 articles "Charlie Hebdo attacks prove critics were right about Islam"<ref name=Islam>[https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/contributors/2015/01/15/charlie-hebdo-attacks-prove-critics-right-islam/21809599/ Charlie Hebdo attacks prove critics were right about Islam] ''The Tennessean''</ref> and "C. S. Lewis on Biblical Marriage and Swain Reflections."<ref name=gay>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160710121241/http://bethepeopletv.com/c-s-lewis-on-biblical-marriage-and-swain-reflections-on-gay-marriage/ C. S. Lewis on Biblical Marriage and Swain Reflections] Be The People</ref>

The first piece argues that, as can be seen through the then-recent Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, Islam is not comparable to other religions such as Christianity, with Swain writing:

{{quotebox|It becomes clearer every day that Islam is not just another religion to be accorded the respect given to Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Baha'i and other world religions. The Jan. 7 terrorist attack resulting in 12 deaths at the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine that committed the apparently unpardonable sin of lampooning the Prophet Muhammad, once again illustrates that Islam is a dangerous set of beliefs totally incompatible with Western beliefs concerning freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of association.<ref name=Islam/>}}

Even ignoring the morality of judging an entire group on the basis of its most radical induvial, the notion that the actions of the terrorists in this event do not have equivalents in other faits is just nonsensical. In 2020, a group of radical Christians firebombed the comedy group Porta dos Fundos due to its mocking of Jesus in a 2019 Netflix special.<ref>[https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxe8n5/the-comedy-group-that-made-brazils-gay-jesus-show-was-firebombed The Comedy Group That Made Brazil's 'Gay Jesus' Show Was Firebombed] Vice</ref> Obviously this fails to prove Christians as a whole are unable to take part in modern western society, so why should Muslims be given an especially harsh standard?

The second piece argues that Christians need to take a stand against the legalization of same-sex marriage in response to the Supreme Court declaring it a Constitutional right and, with it, legalizing it in all fifty states.<ref name=gay/>

Vanderbilt refused to suspend Swain, citing their dedication to intellectual diversity,<ref>[https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2015/11/11/chancellor’s-statement-on-online-petition-related-to-professor-carol-swain/ Chancellor’s statement on online petition related to Professor Carol Swain] Vanderbilt University</ref> and she retired on her own terms in 2017.<ref>[https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2017/01/23/carol-swain-announces-retirement-vanderbilt-university/96959004/ Controversial professor Carol Swain to retire from Vanderbilt] ''The Tennessean''</ref>

==Fun facts==
During the 2023 Harvard University [[plagiarism]] scandal, she was one of the authors whom Harvard President Claudine Gay was accused of plagiarizing.<ref>[https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/12/12/allegations-plagiarism-gay-dissertation/ Despite Support From Corporation, Harvard President Gay Under Fire Over Plagiarism Allegations]</ref>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Swain, Carol}}

[[Category:Internalized discrimination]]
[[Category:Political pundits]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]

Categories: Internalized discrimination, Political pundits, Right-wing activists