"Alleged to be Associated with Groups Connected To..."

A Furman University professor is on leave after having attended a very unpopular political rally back in 2017. (H/t: Instapundit) As noted at the link, his activity appears to be protected by both the Constitution and South Carolina state law as well as Furham's own rules, but he is on leave anyway.

The university president explains:
...one of our faculty members participated in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, and is alleged to be associated with other organizations that are connected with white supremacist groups that promote racism, exclusion and hatred.

Now that is quite a standard, even under the old definition of "white supremacist groups." Say the KKK is your white supremacist group -- and no arguing they are, and that they are evil and undesirable elements in society. So now we are looking at a group that is "connected" to them, which could mean a group from which they occasionally recruit or with which they share certain views -- say the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Barring a faculty member in South Carolina for being a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans would be a remarkable standard.

These days, however, the new definition of 'white supremacism' already embraces the Sons of Confederate Veterans. So now you're looking for people who are 'alleged to be associated' with groups that are connected to SCV -- say, the local historical society in Charleston, SC, which might have speakers occasionally who are SCV members (as they are often amateur historians who have done a lot of research and may have collections of primary sources). 

And this is an allegation of an association with a group connected, etc. 

I don't know the guy; maybe he's an outspoken jerk in real life. It does seem like we're pretty far down the string, though, if we're roping in people who are 'alleged to be associated with those connected with....'

on

2 comments:

  1. Thos.1:24 PM

    (Pardon me, while I indulge in a counterfactual)
    Suppose that, instead of "possibly having stood next to someone who might know a white supremacist once many years ago", this person instead was:
    1- openly satanist,
    2- president of NAMBLA, or
    3- an ecoterrorist with actual felony criminal convictions;
    Do you suppose that the university, wound view these associations with concern?

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  2. E Hines1:40 PM

    groups that promote racism, exclusion and hatred

    Maybe, by that logic, the Furman head manager might want to consider the Democratic Party, which forced a bloody war in an effort to protect its adherents' slavery, which invented Jim Crow, which pushed nationalization of gun control laws to keep blacks unarmed and helpless, which pushed nationalization of minimum wage laws to keep blacks from migrating north and competing for jobs on wage levels, which follow-on Progressive-Democratic Party pushes the racism and sexism of identity politics.

    Maybe by that logic, the Furman head manager might consider the entities of his own school who push the inclusion and love of "you can't say certain things" and "you can't associate with certain groups" and "your skin color makes you an oppressor."

    One more thing: when this professor is absolved--it won't be by Furman--how will the school make him whole, again? Mere money won't do it.

    Eric Hines

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