As the outrage swirls on
social media and elsewhere over the commencement walkout by Notre Dame
students, I’m reminded of an incident with some paralells when I was at
Hamilton College in 1967 (one that I’ve recounted before but as an example for a different topic). That anecdote might better apply to the Ann
Coulter kerfuffle or others where students objected to the presence of a
speaker whose views they find abhorrent. But I think the point is essentially
the same.
I’m neither defending
nor condemning their actions, their exercise of a civil liberty. Was their action disrespectful to the
Vice-president? Perhaps, but do THEY feel disrepected by this administration?
Probably. That they chose to reply in kind accomplished little, in my opinion, except to drive
the dividing wedge between us painfully deeper, and for that reason I think I
would have chosen to sit quietly but respectfully, and find a way to make my
counter opinion known. But I don’t know for sure.
Before I get to that,
however, I’d ask those who are somewhere on the spectrum between mildly upset
to outraged to honestly apply the “stink test.” Had students walked out on
President Obama, would you have had the same reaction, or might you have (at
least silently) cheered, or at least defended, such an occurrence? Only you can
answer that question and I don’t need to know it, no matter how you might
rationalize it. Remember, the Notre Dame students can rationalize their actions,
as well.
To the anecdote from my
past:
“George Lincoln Rockwell, the
(late, totally unlamented) American Nazi leader, ... claimed to not be a
racist. He spoke at Hamilton College during my sophomore (and final) year
there. His invitation, and presence, in 1967, was, to say the least, controversial.
I’m not sure who thought having him give a speech was a good idea. There was
some debate over boycotts, protests, etc. In the end, the semi-organized
response was that we students would attend but sit quietly and then walk out at
the end in silent protest.
I can’t tell you if that was
really a brilliant idea or not. I like to think I’d do something, anything,
different today. However, what happened made everything moot, because he
revealed his true nature and sabotaged whatever goals he may have had without
any help from us.
Rockwell was, like his idol, a
pretty accomplished speaker. He had a rhythm and cadence that worked to dampen
the resistance of his audience’s intellect. As I recall it, he was about a
third of the way through his speech, trying to convince us that American Nazis
were somehow different than the old-fashioned kind, and that they weren’t
racist but just good Americans concerned about the deterioration of American
life [please note this was almost 50 years ago and the theme still plays to certain audiences] the way the Founding Fathers had intended (conveniently forgetting how
most of those same founders had been slave owners, of course). He was on a
roll, gaining a modicum of momentum, when, as he talked about crime, he used
the word “nigger.”
The change in atmosphere was
palpable; I remember a collective gasp. He knew that whatever minor traction he
had gained had immediately vanished. His car careening on the ice, he
desperately tried to recover, to justify his use of, what even then, at least
in educated circles, was an unacceptable racial slur. He failed miserably, in the
same way so many others have failed. They fail because it’s not true; they are,
in fact, bigots, who, while they may be able to single out, even perhaps admire
an individual or group of individuals [who fit their world view], cannot, in
general, see past the stereotypes that enslave their opinions.”
However, the same could
be said about the reaction to Vice-president Pence. He is the former governor
of the state which is the home to Notre Dame. He was a reasonable and
appropriate choice as commencement speaker. By refusing to listen, those
students failed to get past THEIR preconceived view of the man who might well
become the next President of the United States (for better and worse, sooner or
later). When we stop listening, or confine ourselves to the echo chamber of our own beliefs, we just perpetuate divisive stereotypes. That’s
not good for any of us.
