As our public institutions continue to take a beating in the seemingly endless U.S. quest for efficiency and an easy buck, I am not surprised at the firing of Assistant Provost of Equity and Diversity Cordell Black at the University of Maryland, College Park (link to student newspaper article here).
I agree with Black, however, that honesty from administrators about their clear hierarchy of priorities (#1: reach the level of our "aspirational peers" in the U.S. News & World Report rankings) would at least alleviate the outrage felt by many. Sometimes I wonder where this neoliberal regime is ultimately going to lead us. In my more hopeful moments, I think people are going to stand up and demand decent wages, worker protections, and respect. After all, even if 1% of the U.S. population holds a ginormous amount of the wealth, we non-gated community members hold a lot of power in our sheer number. Plus, I really don't think people enjoy being exploited or treated like inferior colonial subjects. On the bad days, when I fear that hyper-individualism has replaced a desire for solidarity and sustainability, I imagine a generation of self-absorbed, consuming workaholics who will be (are?) too distracted to pay any attention to the harm we are doing to our youth--the next generation. And then? The fall of Rome, twenty-first century style. I blame my mother for the dramatic flair. (JK, JDN.)
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