EDUCATION BEYOND POLITICS
349
Abigail Thernstrom:
I wonder whether we 're really brainwashing stu–
dents in an unfortunate political and intellectual culture, whether stu–
dents really are that malleable. The broader American culture doesn't
seem to be that threatened. I've been as distressed as anybody by the
messages of Leonard Jeffries and company. But how many classrooms are
we talking about, and how many teachers of history are being warped by
these messages? We ought to distinguish between what's going on in the
elite universities and what's going on in the run-of-the-mill institutions
of higher education. In addition, when I talk on issues related
to
race I
often am struck by the fact that black students appear genuinely terrified
of an open intellectual and political culture: that they feel in need of
protection. They're not making it up. I don't think they have been
brainwashed to feel this, but it's a reality we must confront.
Jean Elshtain:
For me the issue is not whether we, or the people I'm
criticizing, are brainwashing students. I'm more concerned about atmo–
spheres that promote a kind of silence on a whole range of issues, which
many of us around this room, for instance, have failed to ·raise for fear of
being labeled or of transgressing some unspoken boundary. For instance,
in a women's studies course, we all know what can be talked about and
what can't be talked about on a whole range of issues, from abortion
on down. The wider issue that counts seems to be the difference of being
female or of belonging to a definable ethnic group, race and so on. But
we differ also because we have different positions and are free to debate
them. That to me is central to democracy, rather than strong group
identity, even though individuals' positions are, if you will, in large part
shaped by the fact that they're male rather than female or black rather
than white. This sense of putting you back inside your own skin is, I
think, more pervasive and deeply problematic. I'm not as disturbed by
brainwashing as much as by the notion that, finally, what we amount to
is our race and gender rather than our individuality.
Abigail Thernstrom:
The question is, precisely who believes it? Most
students?
Some
students?
Jean Elshtain:
A lot of students believe it.
Roger Kimball:
I agree that students grow up with healthy doses,
sometimes unhealthy doses, of cynicism and skepticism. Quite apart from
the question of brainwashing, however, is the problem that many grow
up not knowing anything. They aren't taught anything. That seems to
be the fundamental issue, quite apart from whether they swallow all of
