The Low Hanging Academic Fruit

A thought...


It's a frequent refrain in some circles that academia is being overrun by political correctness in the form of racial and gender politics. It is true to the extent that there seem to be many articles about gender and race. It is often impugned that this is being pushed by radical liberals and feminists (aka Social Justice Warriors) be those faculty or students.

I'd like to offer an alternative interpretation. The activity in racial studies and gender studies (i.e. the study of women) in academia does not reflect an agenda of social change. It reflects the desire to succeed in academia by finding new truth.

For centuries the impact of non-white people and women on the world has been systematically ignored in academia. To discover a new (and often significant) truth, all one has to do, is to look at an existing field, and ask one's self, how does it relate to people of color or women? If you ask this question, then you will find undiscovered or unrecognized facts.


You will find new truth, and you can publish this truth, and publishing is what gets you ahead in academia. This isn't a social agenda gone wild. This is a research gold-rush.


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