Stop the Nonsense

How Collectivist Ideology Threatens Sanity at GW

By: Patrick Ford

Posted: 2/27/08

"As many of you might know, recently a member of our community and my close friend was violated by another student who placed the N-Word on her door. Hate has also been spread in the form of swastikas across campus. As a human being, student, and member of the multicultural community I was completely outraged and disgusted… As a community it is important that we say no to racism. As a community it is important that we treat every race, gender, religion, ethnicity, and person with respect. As a community it is important that we say STOP THE HATE. The movement is change. The time is now. Join the new campaign - 'STOP THE HATE 2008'."

This passage, written by Ogheneruemu "OG" Oyiborhoro, was taken from the "STOP THE HATE" Facebook group. As previously noted, this group was created in response to actions by a couple GW students who inflicted acts of ignorance upon several racial and religious minorities on campus. I also do not believe it is too much of a stretch to suggest that the creation of this group was influenced by the coming SA elections and OG's ethical issues involving his other pet-project, "GW FEED." Naturally, students were rightfully outraged by the acts of intolerance and spoke out against the actions. But even more threatening to GW's campus than the acts themselves was the response by the administration and the "multicultural community"; a self-righteous hysteria that led to copycat crimes, Congressional attention, and Metropolitan Police and FBI involvement. Virtual martial law was declared on campus in the name of "sensitivity."

Setting the Scene

First, lets take a look at the crimes themselves. In one instance, the "n-word" was written at the bottom of a poster in New Hall advertising an event for black engineering students. In the second instance, nine swastikas were found on dry erase boards on student doors in Mitchell Hall. The main factor in that case was that Sarah Marshak, a Jewish student living in Mitchell, drew at least 5 of the swastikas in order to draw more attention to the first swastika drawn on her door (apparently FBI involvement was an insufficient amount of attention.) I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, the evidence that "hate" is spreading across our campus of 10,493 students.

I admit it is terribly easy to mock the knee-jerk reaction of both the multiculturalists and the administration, but there is a dangerous undercurrent to their line of thinking. Behind the self-aggrandizing outrage demonstrated by these "campus leaders" is the collectivist idea that group identification is just as important, and sometimes more important, than individuality. As a result of this ideology, people become more tolerant of attacks on free speech than tolerant of intolerance itself.

Racism as Something Worth Fighting?

Racism and bigotry are products of the deepest corners of the human heart. They are products of an individual's family history, upbringing, or a dementation of the mind far deeper than sufficient psychoanalysis can tell us. Efforts to combat racism have faired as well as efforts to combat poverty. The intent is well meaning (most of the time) yet support of such movements requires such immaturity and naivety that the supporters become blind to the root cause of the problem they hope to solve. As the problem of poverty is not as easily solvable as simply giving people more money, simply punishing racists will not solve racism. Won't a racist, jailed for feeling as he does, only grow more hateful for his punishment?

The fact is that in today's society, collectivist multiculturalism has become the party ultimately responsible for racism. The Federal Government, as well as the administration here at GW, divides people among racial, gender, religious, and political lines without any attention paid to the results of these divisions. These divisions are done in the name of multiculturalism, and those who divide claim they do so for the benefit of the groups they form and espouse. But this supposed benevolence does nothing more than institutionalize group thinking and create suspicion that certain groups are being treated better or worse or even just differently than others. Resentment and hostility can only result from this line of thinking.

The danger that collectivism poses to this campus is much greater than a swastika on a white board. Racism is collectivism at its worst. As collectivists look at people merely as members of a group rather than as individuals, racists apply a strict set of presuppositions about a race to specific individuals. A racist watches a news report on a black man that robs a liquor store and incorrectly assumes that the criminal's African American nature is a factor in the crime. An individualist looks at the criminal and believes nothing except for what he ascertains from the persons actions alone. The more that the Federal Government, as well as the GW community, encourages racial and religious differences in its people, the more racism will flourish, even in the absence of swastikas.

Freedom Versus Tolerance

As a result of this collectivist ideology, people become more likely to tolerate attacks on freedom of speech. As the "STOP THE HATE" posters say, "Intolerance of any kind WILL NOT BE TOLERATED". But the natural byproduct of a free society with protections on free speech is the off chance that someone will use that right to say something that a majority of Americans do not want to hear. Should they be locked up for this? Should additional punishment be added to a crime if the crime entails a message most disagree with? Falling into this line of thinking sets a dangerous precedent for what a majority, or even a powerful minority of the population can decide.

So at the risk of befalling the wrath of the ever-powerful multicultural lobby here at GW, I believe it to be honorable to defend the rights of racists to be racist. As Elmer Fudd was always angriest when Bugs Bunny kissed him on the lips, think about how frustrated collectivist racists would be if no one rioted or protested when they spoke out. No one would ever notice or pay attention to them! Individualism is the most potent cure for racism because when people decide to look at character instead of color or religion they will see racists for what they are: not worth our time.

The aim of the "STOP THE HATE" movement, as laid out by "OG", is "for The George Washington University to adopt DC law on HATE CRIMES!" Maybe rather than looking to the university to cure the ills of the human psyche, we should begin to encourage liberty and individuality. By encouraging individuality, people will begin to realize the benefit of looking at others as individuals rather than simply as members of groups. Racism has no place in a society based on individualism.

No government, university, or organization can stop hate. It's time to stop the nonsense.