Is it because the left is determined to turn Monty Python into Nostradamus that they are so obsessed with? This time, the diversity and inclusion drones at Princeton University are re-enacting the “She’s a witch!” mob from “The Holy Grail.”
The witch in this instance is Professor Joshua Katz, a classics professor. He’s not accused of turning privileged Ivy League students into newts. It’s much worse: he publicly disagreed with nutty race-based demands from radical leftist Princeton profs in 2020. He wrote a dissenting Quillette article.
For that offense he was targeted by the university’s Orwellian race apparatus. Someone cited and quoted Katz’s article on an “officially approved university webpage headed ‘To Be Known and Heard: Systemic Racism and Princeton University,’” a mandatory orientation document for incoming students.
(Honest question: why would any black kid want to attend a school that accuses itself of “systemic racism?”)
Stuart Taylor Jr., a Real Clear Politics journalist reported that eight Princeton professors wrote a letter alleging Katz was dressed up in a carrot nose and pointed hat by the person responsible. It is important to ensure that the witch you intend to burn looks like one. This passage is:
The Black Justice League, which was active on campus from 2014 until 2016, was a small local terrorist organization that made life miserable for the many (including the many black students) who did not agree with its members’ demands.
It wasn’t witchy enough. So the quote as it appeared on the website didn’t have the phrase “(including the many black students).” Someone, according to the eight professors, “thus removed language in which Katz ‘expressed support for black students on campus’ and objected to the BJL’s treatment of black students who disagreed with it.”
Taylor quoted the following letter sent by the professors to Taylor:
“Given that the entire purpose of the feature was to portray Katz as a racist,” the letter continued, “omitting this important language advanced this goal through flagrant dishonesty. And while the website was finally corrected last week, it had already been shown to the entire first-year class, causing immeasurable damage to Katz’s reputation.”
Yeah, a little late to admit “we did do the nose.” Besides, Katz “has got a wart” — he bucked campus groupthink.
“At this writing, the university’s accusation of racism (with the doctored passage belatedly corrected)” is still up, Taylor says. The administration hasn’t acknowledged the eight professors’ letter and wouldn’t comment for Taylor’s article.
Presumably, they’re too busy gathering wood.
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