Race and Scholarship

The first minute of the above video demonstrates exactly why demands for increased diversity within the academic faculty at Dartmouth diverge from the goals of this institution. I’m sure many viewers have cringed at the way Lauren Green repeatedly harps on Azlan’s religion in an attempt to discredit his book. Green almost cannot fathom why a muslim would be interested in a topic like the life of Jesus Christ. And Aslan’s responds to her questions by saying:

“I am a scholar of religions with four degrees, including one in the New Testament, and fluency in biblical Greek, who has been studying the origins of Christianity for two decades, who also just happens to be a Muslim.”

Indeed, white African American Studies professors are people who have dedicated their lives to that respect, who just happen to be white. There is no reason to advocate for faculty of certain colors, because academic research has nothing to do with race. In fact, the point of academia is to take a step back from the world and theorize the different ways in which it operates.

Let’s focus on why we came to this institution: to get the best education possible from the best professors in this nation. Race, religion, principles, values, morals; these things have nothing to do scholarship.