STANFORD DOCUMENTS
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imagine what the reaction of the Stanford faculty would have been to
a march on the Senate by the Rev. Jerry Falwell demanding that the
course in Western culture be Christianized .
It
goes without saying that there is no justification for any ex–
pression of racism, especially in an educational institution, and
above all in an institution like Stanford. An assertion that Stanford's
course in Western culture is an expression of racism is no more
credible to any informed person than the assertion that the Hoover
Institution is a hotbed of communism.
As morally offensive as is the expression of racism wherever it
is found, a false charge of racism is equally offensive, perhaps even
more so , because the consequences of a false charge of racism en–
able an authentic racist to conceal his racism by exploiting the loose
way the term is used to cover up his actions. The same is true of a
false charge of sexism or anti-Semitism. This is the lesson we should
all have learned from the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy . Be–
cause of his false and irresponsible charges of communism against
liberals, socialists , and others among his critics, many communists
and agents of communist influence sought to pass themselves off as
Jeffersonian democrats or merely idealistic reformers . They would
all complain they were victims of red-baiting to prevent criticism
and exposure.
The First Amendment, of course, gives everyone the right to
express his or her sentiments whatever they are-communist, racist,
sexist, anti-Semitic, or what not - provided his or her words are not
an incitement to violence. Students have a right to profess and hear
all views. But there is such a thing as the ethics of words, as the great
American philosopher Charles Peirce once observed, and their
violation is an intellectual crime, especially in an academic com–
munity.
There is no need to go over the thoroughly plowed ground to
justify the course in Western culture. Aside from the intrinsic value
of the study of the outstanding books, ideas, movements, and per–
sonalities that constitute their subject matter, it seeks to familiarize
students with their common legacy, including the conflicting cul–
tural traditions of the past that have shaped the present and contrib–
uted to some of our current difficulties and dilemmas. The materials
studied have in part provided us with the basic categories of thought,
the conceptual tools, sentiments, and dispositions with which we ap–
proach the central problems of a reflective life.
Far from leading to a glorification of the status quo, as ignorant
