Is Academia Really Promoting Diversity of Thought? A Look at the Controversy Surrounding Angela Davis' Speech at College of the Canyons.
The Santa Clarita Community College board claims to promote exposure to diverse viewpoints, but recent events suggest otherwise. This article explores the controversy surrounding Angela Davis' speech
On April 13th, Board President Dr. Edel Alonso closed the Santa Clarita Community College Meeting by saying this about Angela Davis speaking at the college.
While this sounds noble, and in a perfect world, it is. Our current situation is that Academia has chosen its preferred viewpoints and bakes them into every aspect of its culture. Is there any other shark jumpy thing than math is racist? and then actively discriminates against the viewpoint that challenges its preferred dogmas? Why is this the second time Angela Davis has spoken to College of the Canyons in 6 months if you are about the diversity in viewpoints? College of the Canyons has now given this person 50k to jabber on about how capitalism is racist. The idea of paying someone to explain why everything is a systemically racist racket has been around for decades, and individuals like Angela Davis have become wealthy from it. In fact, it's estimated that Davis' net worth is over $800k, which may have increased to $850k thanks to her speaking engagement at College of the Canyons.
We are lectured constantly by overbearing white academics with worthless Intersectionality Studies degrees telling us that everything is systemically racist, but the only proof they can give is that everyone doesn't have the same result, and they will crush people to make that happen. The reality is everything in Academia is systemically Marxist; you charge students insane tuition prices that have far outpaced inflation for worthless degrees that put them into debt they will never be able to pay, especially since the only job for the intersectional studies degree they got is teaching intersectional studies. So it is a pyramid scheme with people with master's degrees working at Starbucks next to the person who wasn't foolish enough to fall for it. On the bright side, you did achieve the same result and made yourself irrelevant in the process.
Why was it potentially detrimental to Matt Funicello's career to openly oppose Angela Davis speaking if College of the Canyon is about starting conversations and debating issues? Is Mr. Funicello now facing retaliation for opposing Angela Davis? He seems to think so, and why wouldn't he? We have already covered some of the shifts towards wokeness that the College of the Canyons has implemented over the past few years. However, when your institution starts running ideological purity tests like asking janitors, Security guards, and web designers to define "equity" as an interview question, it is time to ask some questions of Human Resources.
College of the Canyons added a Multicultural Center (MCC) in 2021, which might as well have a sign that says no white people allowed unless you have gender dysphoria, in which you can get a pass to the special VIP section. Along with the MCC, they created what appears to be the United Nations of victimhood; there is now an "alliance" for every possible tribe-obsessed person. If you think I am joking, go look at this list. The representative from the STEM Equity Alliance now has the floor.
The real question, though, is every Latino student welcome in the Latinx Alliance? Is every black student welcome in the Black Student Alliance? What about black or Latino students that don't align with the equity agenda now baked into COC and most of Academia? What about the many Latinos that find the term "Latinx" silly or even offensive to their culture? You have to love white leftist gall to kick in the door of their culture and tell Latinos they are doing their culture wrong; here is how you must refer to yourself for reasons.
Where are the safe spaces for black and Latino conservatives who face considerable pressure and backlash for not bowing to their equity overlords? I am not telling you anything you don't already know; you think that because you spent so much time in a classroom and have a few papers on the wall, this suddenly certifies every move you make as infallible. I have bad news for you: all the people who led this country to hell in handbaskets have masters and doctorates on their walls.
COC created the MCC to give snowflakes a "safe space" from having their views challenged, which is the exact opposite of what you said the purpose of "higher learning" was. Most of the Santa Clarita Community College board is old enough to remember when we discourage segregation, but here they are, bringing it right back. This is why we now have law students shouting down circuit court justices at Stanford; it is also probably why California community college attendance is down. At the same time, Christian college attendance is surging. This is why people want school choice, but we will leave that topic for another time.
Dr. Alonso and Board, If you genuinely believe that students should be exposed to a variety of viewpoints, you should make policies that discourage students with immediate expulsion if they disrupt speakers with different viewpoints they disagree with because if you don't do that soon, a violent mob like the one that attacked Riley Gaine for merely saying it isn't fair that women should have to swim against trans women that have gone through male puberty is coming to College of the Canyons in the future.
If the COC board really believes in the diversity of thought and wants to save the college's reputation, they would immediately secure funding and get speakers that make our student body think critically and encourage them to be better people and productive citizens. We all know Sacramento will not fund any speaker that isn't pumping up our student's sense of crippling victimhood. Good luck getting money from the community after this, so you probably want to have a list of speakers you want to book before pitching it.
Free Speech is important for all Americans. Trying to stop a noted academic from speaking is reprehensible. Children need to understand the values we Americans hold dear, like the Bill of Rights.