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Enough
With the 'Diversity'
We have way
too many faculty committees.
Attracting
and retaining a freshman class depends in large part on the reputation
of the faculty. One of the measures of the latter is the quality
and quantity of their publications.
How sitting
for interminable hours in silly and useless committee meetings will
help promote that goal is beyond me.
While I’m
on the subject of academic committees needing to be disbanded, I
vote for the Diversity Task Force.
Late last semester
they publicly and unjustifiably savaged me based not on what I had
said or written, but rather on the basis of what a journalist said
about me.
Here is part
of their statement:
“In reference
to the Times Picayune article, “A Tough Sell in the
Market Place of Ideas” by James Gill dated Nov 26, 2008.
 “As
Loyola University’s Diversity Committee, we are dedicated to
promoting an appreciation for the valuable contributions of all,
instilling in every one of our students a desire to pursue excellence
and to be women and men in solidarity with others. We also hold
to the Jesuit ideal of rigorous intellectual examination in the
pursuit of truth and therefore, defend the right of academic freedom.
However, it is our responsibility to respond critically to statements
made by members of Loyola University that run counter to our commitment
to inclusion and that marginalize women and African Americans, a
majority of our community.
“Professor
Walter Block’s reductionist statements about the productivity
of African Americans and women in the marketplace ignore critical
factors and structural patterns of inequality. His flawed remarks
are dangerous, fueling those with prejudices to confirm their biased
views. We must recognize the reality of racism and sexism in our
society, whose impact has had long-lasting consequences in the lives
of African Americans and women.
Affirmative
Action/Diversity Task Force: Ted Quant, Lydia Voigt, Wing Fok, Lisa
Martin, Al Alcazar, James Hobbs, Kurt Bindewald, Artemis Preeshl,
Karen Reichard, Anthony Decuir”
Note that their
charges are buttressed with no evidence at all. That is, they do
not directly quote any of my publications or speeches and characterize
them as racist or sexist. None of them had attended the lecture
James Gill wrote about in the Picayune.
 Nevertheless,
they in effect accuse me of demeaning or deprecating our female
and black students.
I have been
gathering letters from such former students of mine, asking in effect
for letters of reference in this regard. So far, the result has
been overwhelming: these accusations are entirely false.
Wing Fok, one
of the signatories to this document and a colleague of mine at the
business school, wrote me saying that the burden of proof does not
rest with this Task Force to prove racism and sexism on my part;
rather, it lies with me to deny such charges.
Nonsense.
But even if
true, why did not this Task Force then ask me to address them regarding
the remarks I made at the speech I gave at Loyola College of Maryland?
 Most
unfairly, these charges were brought before the entire Loyola University
New Orleans community; I was denied a chance to respond.
I am very grateful
to The Maroon for giving me this opportunity to do so.
Some of my
replies to these people can be found here
and here.
On Wednesday
March 25, 2009, at 7 p.m. in Nunemaker Auditorium, Loyola University
New Orleans, I will give (roughly) the same speech I gave at Loyola
College in Maryland on November 6, 2008; this is the one that was
seized upon for criticism by the forces of political correctness.
Here, I will address the charges of this Task Force. In addition,
I will elaborate upon theories that attempt to explain the pay gap
between whites and blacks of some 30%.
It would appear
they favor diversity of gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity,
etc., but not concerning intellectual matters.
This article
appeared in the Loyola Maroon.
March
9, 2009
Dr.
Block [send him mail] is a
professor of economics at Loyola University New Orleans, and a senior
fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He is the author of Defending
the Undefendable and the newly released Labor
Economics From A Free Market Perspective.
Copyright
© 2009 Loyola Maroon
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