A feminist student group at Marquette University wrote a letter to the university’s president, Michael Lovell, accusing Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro of “perpetuating racism and xenophobia,” and urging Lovell to take action regarding Shapiro’s upcoming YAF-sponsored lecture on campus.
The group calling itself “Empowerment,” which terms itself on its Facebook page as “Marquette’s Gender Equality (Feminist) Club; dedicated to the promotion of inclusive discussion concerning intersectional feminism,” writes in the letter that students “demand [the] university take responsibility.”
Full of false charges, the letter starts by attacking Shapiro on false grounds: “Shapiro is a well-known political commentator who has built a career around perpetuating racism and xenophobia and actively fighting against human dignity, a core principle of Marquette University.”
Then the letter segues to a series of spurious charges:
“Ben Shapiro believes Muslim people should not be able to immigrate or seek asylum in the United States.”
Wrong. As Shapiro said, “This is not a religious issue; it’s a values issue. Are the people you’re bringing in going to make the country a better place? . . . Do they believe in any of the same American rights that we believe in or not?”
“Ben Shapiro believes racism is no longer an issue for People of Color.”
Wrong. As Shapiro memorably stated when queried about the validity of institutional racism, “I hate racism. I think it’s evil. But if you’re just going to say “institutional racism” every time something bad happens, there’s no way to fight it. I need a policy that you’re proposing, or I need a person who’s actually racist so we can fight it together . . . I want to be on your side. I do. I want to fight racists. Again, I think racist behavior is evil. I want to fight it with you. But I can’t fight it if you’re not showing me what it is.”
“Ben Shapiro believes that the plague of sexual assault is a political scam.”
Try again. Shapiro wrote, “All decent human beings believe that rape is evil. They also believe that false allegations of rape are wrong. These two positions are not mutually exclusive. They complement one another. False rape allegations do actual rape victims a tremendous disservice: to lump in false accusations of rape with true accusations of rape makes people more skeptical of rape victims generally, a horrible result. Rape should be taken seriously; rape accusations should be taken seriously.”
“Ben Shapiro believes that the killings of many Black People by police are justified because they are criminals.”
Nope. “There is a pattern here: a widespread belief in the black community that the justice system is rigged against them. That belief is not without basis — there is no question that America has a history of racism within the criminal justice community. By the same token, there is also no question that American law enforcement is the least racist it has ever been, by a long shot, and that racism within the law enforcement community is broadly considered unacceptable and vile.”
“Ben Shapiro questions the truth that every person is deserving of dignity and respect.”
Nah. “Decency means something. Diversity isn’t a bad thing, but it isn’t a good thing unless the people who are racially diverse are decent. Diversity isn’t a bad thing unless the people who are racially diverse are indecent. It’s not a difficult thing; diversity isn’t our strength. Decency is our strength.”
Or:
The letter also complains, “How will you explain to Students of Color that the discrimination and microaggressions they experience daily is not an illusion?” and “How will you maintain the values of Marquette University while hateful rhetoric against certain students is being perpetuated at University-sanctioned events?”
Uh-oh: Shapiro may question the validity of the feminists’ microaggressions?
Young America’s Foundation, which is sponsoring the lecture by Shapiro, had a salient comment for the Marquette administration:
If you care about the conservative students on your campus who are constantly harassed for their beliefs, and if you care about engendering an environment that facilities intellectual inquiry, you will ignore this letter, apologize for the actions of your staff, and send President Lovell to attend the lecture.