The College Fix

OPINION

Two weeks ago, a video that I filmed of a radical guest lecture in a required sociology course at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater went viral.

In it, intolerant SEIU member Eyon Biddle claimed that “politics is fueled by white rage” and that Republican success in 2010 was helped by racism.

Appalled by what I was hearing, I took out my phone and began to record. Based off of how quickly the video spread, becoming national news in less than three days, as well as from the reaction I have gotten from people nationwide, it is clear to me that people are hungry for the truth about what is happening in our universities.

For every video we see of a propaganda-laden rant, there are scores of radical lectures in this country that go undocumented. Students and parents want to know what is happening in their universities, which are charging record-high tuitions.

We all know the American campus leans left, and conservatives can only hope a right-of-center speaker will occasionally be invited to speak to a class. We object however, when a speaker tells an impressionable class of young people that Republicans are racist and all the problems of our society is caused by rich, racist, white conservatives.

It is important that this type of hate speech is exposed, because statements like Mr. Biddle’s are being presented in a setting of higher education as facts, when in reality his statements lack truth and empirical evidence. Imagine if a right-wing politician running for office came into class and said the same things – but about liberals – with no evidence to support his claim, and then topped it off by saying if people do not agree with him they are racists. He would have been run off the campus and the professor would have been ridiculed for inviting such an extreme person to say such untrue things to the class.

Since Eyon Biddle is liberal, however, the professor feels empowered to invite him to speak, knowing already what he plans to say, because the culture of the campus supports inaccurate rhetoric like Mr. Biddle’s.

This feeling is so pervasive on American campuses that my professor didn’t even consider it would be appropriate to invite a conservative to give an alternative perspective to what Eyon Biddle said until the story went national. Had I not recorded the video, allowing the lecture to be heard by millions, Eyon Biddle’s rant would have been the final word on the issue of race and politics in that class of young people whose political identity is being molded during these crucial years.

All young conservatives, and even people who just do not believe liberal propaganda is right for our schools, ought to feel emboldened to stand up to outrageous bias and left-wing hate wherever it presents itself. College students should not be afraid to pull out their phones and begin recording an extreme lecture, even if their grade and reputation among the administration will suffer.

If we want to see positive change, so colleges once again are fair places where scholarly free thought and expression are promoted, we need to stand up and reject far left radicalism in our classrooms. Students and parents need to let professors know that we will no longer tolerate bias that smears conservatism as racist and hateful. It takes courage and resolve, but if we as conservatives demand change, and declare enough is enough, than the left-wing campus culture will finally begin to turn around.

Conservatives don’t try to polarize politics along racial lines to win elections. Rather, they advance their message of small government and personal freedom to all Americans, of every race. Conservative policies promote the most economic growth and prosperity, which improves the lives of every American, especially the poorest among us.

I don’t know a single Republican who wouldn’t vote for somebody because they were of a different race. Conservatives come from all backgrounds, and are united by a common belief that small government will increase prosperity and help all people. Rants like Eyon Biddle’s to my class seizes on politics of division, to pit Americans against each other to help one side win elections, and distorts realities and damages our country.

If this nation were less polarized, if people who still believe in politics of hate were exposed, and if all people were viewed as equals politically, then many of the problems with politics today would be eliminated.

College Fix contributor Kyle Brooks is a student at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.

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