Dear Editor:
During Homecoming 2016, I picked up and read a discarded copy of the 10/18/16 Old Gold and Black. As I read, I was at first befuddled then amused and finally saddened by the degree to which Wofford has sunk into the seductive morass of political correctness. Yours is not the Wofford I knew. PC is in practice exclusionary not inclusionary, demanding not receptive and constantly looking for new perceived injustices to add to its agenda.
I offer these examples from your pages.
1. A full page ad for intrauterine devices promising sex without consequence. Really? Does Wofford now spurn its Methodist heritage and endorse promiscuity for the teenage freshman? Sex without consequence is just another way to avoid responsibility for actions taken.
2. In truth and physical reality gender equality does not exist. The specific topics of domestic abuse, unequal pay for equal work and control of ones body have already been addressed in practice and statute. Those items being deemed insufficient to the “total feminist philosophy”, we are now asked to believe, by applying unequal standards, that a female Marine can toting a 70 pound backpack can keep up with or lead her platoon through jungle or desert terrain.
3. Well of course black lives matter but by definition do others not? Is it not true that 90% of black homicides are caused by blacks themselves and those mostly drug related? BLM needs to speak to the root of the problem, the disintegration of the black family unit and the absentee father figure in what could be a home. Venting ire against police for enforcing law avoids the root issue while drawing media attention to itself.
4. And then to cover all the supposed injustices of life, we now have scary words to consider. Naturally those specific words are undefined and therefore can be called upon or triggered at a moment known only to the sender to intimidate the recipient. Perhaps our current generation of sensitive and unprotected students should submit trigger words during registration. But wait! To submit means to vocalize or write and doing so could result in self-triggering. Is this an endless loop? No. It’s just absurd.
Perhaps Hillsdale College can provide a sane model for Wofford.
Jesse Crimm
Class of 1967
