Posted on 04/28/2002 3:49:58 PM PDT by swarthyguy
Is Academia reinforcing the resentment of America in Arab/Moslem students? The answer is Yes. Much has been said about how far our leftist campuses have gone in attributing all evil in the world to the US, its culture, military power, foreign policy etc. However, I would like to discuss it from another angle, the way it is impacting the Arab/Moslem students and foreign students in general, and what are they taking back home with them after they finish their education in the US.
I want to illustrate the absurdity of how we treat foreign students in our universities by giving a reverse example. Imagine that an American student travels to China to learn “their” culture, but he soon discovers that the Chinese university and people are bending over backwards to accommidate his American Culture. He is served hamburgers, apple pie and coke for food! he is provided with an American cultural Club with all American student members who are eager to spread their culture and religion among the chinese people. He is encouraged to always talk about and be proud of his heritage. His religion, whatever it is, is given utmost respect since all cultures are relative, no religion is better or worse than another and there is nothing right or wrong. The majority Religion in China is discouraged on campus. However, since he is a minority, he is provided a safe place on campus to worship and practice his religion lest the Chinese be perceived as bigots. Several courses are offered on American history and heritage which stress the value of being proud of the American culture and uncovering the root causes of American anger towards the Eastern/Asian culture. In a political science class the professor explain how the advancement of the American political structure and socio-economic development in the West was obstructed by the heavy handed foreign policy of the Chinese government, which is exposed as only looking out for its owns best interests at the expense of poorer nations. The campus newspaper is always urging Chinese students to respect cultural and racial differences of foreign students, and a sensitivity training course is compulsory, free of charge, courtesy of the Chinese taxpayers. The American student marvels at the freedom, courage and objectivity of the Chinese professors in blaming their own country for a lot of the ills around the World, including the ills in the USA. A Chinese student is suspended because he violates the speech code set by the University, when he makes derogative remarks to some minority students. American professors are invited to teach in China to show that Chinese campuses are diverse. An American professor was very critical of the Chinese Govrnment, in his private speeches he condemned China’s threatening of Taiwan. He invited an American guest speaker who spoke openly on Campus against China’s support of its pupit state Cuba against the US. That guest is now heading a militant American Crusade organisation against China, and conduct regular terrorist attacks against Chinese Embassies and interests around the World. Finally, a horrible attack was made by mostly American and some British terrorists on the Chinese Capital. The professor was questioned, despite of objections from the University president and faculty. However, charges against the professor were later dropped since there is no tangible proof of any wrong doing. Several of the Chinese professors were appalled when he was questioned by Chinese authorities. A letter of support was signed by students and staff and was sent to the Chinese authorities who were accused of suppressing his constitutional right to freedom of speech. Never mind the American professor was not a Chinese citizen since it really doesn’t matter. However, some racist and bigotted Chinese people objected to paying the salary of that poor professor. The American student discovered that the Chinese people were wonderful, but the problem lies in their government. The American student went back home after getting his PHD from China vowing to spread the word about the horors of the Chinese Government and to correct the injustices done to the world by the Chinese government. He kept in contact with his supportive Chinese professors who sometimes wrote to him sympathizing with his cause.
Sadly, that is what foreign and minority students are getting in American Universities. Arab/Moslem students, choose to study in the US with an open mind and heart to learn about the US and its unique system which most of the World envy and wish to emmulate. They come eager to learn about American society and culture while getting the best education. They leave oppressive regimes who preach that America and Israel are the cause of all their problems. It is convenient for Arab dictatorships to divert the attention of these students to the outside. America is the great Satan. However, they are curious about Western freedoms and suspicious of their Governments whom they suspect is not telling them the truth. They want to learn about America first hand and discover things for themselves. When they come to America they get freedoms they could only dream of in their homeland. However something happens on our campuses that contaminate their true objective experience in getting to know the US. Political correctness on American campuses and bias in US Media get in the way. They see that things don’t’t add up and go home more confused than they came. I hear many Moslem/Arab students who return to their countries say that the American people are good and generous, however, the American Government is bad. That is nonsense, but that is what they are told. They say that even American professors and Media is often very critical of the US government and admiring of our Moslem culture. They were coddled, their cultures glorified and heritage uplifted. It’s all about them, not about us. Moslem student activists and Moslem professor activists are on many American campuses criticizing us for defending ourselves after 9/11 by fighting terrorists in Afghanistan. Instead they want the US to try the terrorists in a world court. Guess who told them that?
These students were denied the knowledge of what America is all about. Within these campuses they could learn many truths about the building of this great Nation and the hard work and dedication of the Americans who built this continent in only 200 years. But instead, they are told that everything is relative, nothing is right or wrong, except for slavery, the stealing of Indian land and US racism, etc. Their ancient cultures are more noble than ours and they lived in more harmony with nature. American materialism is destroying the world and Yasser Arafat is as good as George Washington!
We do play a role in reinforcing Moslem and Arab hatred of the West. They come here to learn and change, but we tell them don’t change, we accept you the way you are. It is our responsibility to learn from you and understand your hatred of our Western Culture and if we don’t then we are bigots. The responsibility of having a good relationship with other cultures is always assigned to us. We treat them with kid gloves, just as though we are dealing with children, or with people who cannot take care of themselves. Only the USA has to accommodate other cultures. We are breeding our own enemies and reinforcing their resentments.
These young students pay an exorbitant amount of money to get this kind of education, and America pays a high price in terms of international perceptions and national security. Arab/Moslem students go back to their homelands more accepting of their tyranical governments and leave their destiny and their country’s future in the hands of “Allah” and dictators. They go back home more confused than ever before, and tell their corrupt leaders “you were right America is evil, they told us so”.
What a missed opportunity for the USA to win the World to its side and the side of what’s right and moral. No country in history has given more than the US has given to the world with no appreciation from many including the educated but unwise American academia. Many say that the World is just jealous of us. I think the world is misinformed about us and we have contributed greatly to this misinformation. The world observes the anti-American messages we convey to them and they sense the hatred and anger toward Western culture by some segments of our society in control of our educatiuonal system. They cannot comprehend why some of our own hate America, however, they accept it and it serves their purposes. Academia in the security of the ivory towers enjoy their freedom of speech provided to them by none other than the US armed forces whom they despise. The liberal press is on a naïve mission to make a difference! Both are truly hurting our nation. We get the highest number of foreign students in the world and have a great chance to spread our democracy and values that made this country great, but instead, we get a world that unjustly hates us! Does Academia know what they are doing? I think they do unfortunately.
Excellent post!
That is most manifestly not nonsense -- I think that most FReepers will agree that the American people are good but that the American government is at best dysfunctional and at worst corrupt.
The problem is that politically correct professors preach that mainstream American culture is bad. That is indeed (mostly) nonsense.
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