The Assault on American Excellence by Anthony T. Kronman

Author:Anthony T. Kronman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 2019-08-20T00:00:00+00:00

V.

The present understanding of diversity puts the emphasis on differences among groups rather than individuals. It also reflects a view of the relation between individuals and groups. Or rather, it reflects two views, between which it oscillates in an inconsistent fashion.

On the one hand, those who think of diversity as an educational good often stress how deeply our identity is shaped by being a member of one group or another. They say that being black, Hispanic, female, gay, white, or heterosexual conditions one’s perceptions, tastes, and treatment by others at a fundamental level, in ways that are often unnoticed and largely unchangeable. It is therefore an essential part of one’s being. That is why it must be acknowledged and given prominence in our colleges and universities. The failure to do so amounts to a kind of “erasure.” It is a form of “social death.”

On the other hand, the defenders of diversity are in general fiercely opposed to every form of “privileging.” They attack those who, in their view, enjoy special advantages because they are white, male, and hetero-normal. They consider these privileges unjust. No one has a right, they say, to look down on others or treat them less well because of their race, sex, or sexual orientation.

That is because, at bottom, every human being is “just as good” as every other. But how do we reach this “bottom”? We cannot do it with our eyes. A thought experiment is required. We have to gather in one imaginary bundle all the characteristics that distinguish each group of human beings from every other, drain these characteristics of their intrinsic moral worth, and then transfer their value to some other, invisible characteristic that every human being is assumed to possess to exactly the same degree, which we now declare to be the true, exclusive, and enduring source of their entitlement to equal respect. This amounts to a monumental act of erasure—one that denies the equation of an individual’s race, sex, and other group-based characteristics with his or her identity in the only morally relevant sense. But it cannot be avoided if the hatred of “privileging” is to be put on a solid foundation.

There is precedent for this. The Christian religion demands an erasure of precisely this kind. Its philosophical reinterpretation of the Jewish teaching that man is made in the image of God becomes in its most refined version the doctrine that every human being is an autonomous member of what Kant calls “the kingdom of ends,” as well as a “natural” being with all sorts of characteristics that God does not possess (including a racial, ethnic, and gender identity). Like God, we have the power to choose right over wrong, although unlike God we often make mistakes. The capacity for freedom is our passport to membership in the kingdom of ends. If we honor rather than abuse it, it entitles us to a place by God’s side. It is therefore not only of value; it is infinitely more valuable than every

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