Antonia Okofor is an advocate for empowering women, and she argues that the 2nd Amendment is a valuable tool in the empowerment.
She was scheduled to speak at two Liberal (note: not Liberal Arts—they’ve long ago lost that breadth) colleges, Hampshire College and Mount Holyoke.
Hampshire College canceled Okofor’s engagement on short notice—two hours’ notice—claiming that her speech was “too controversial.” Then the place thought better of its excuse and claimed the trivial technicality of a student application not being complete as the premise for canceling. This is nonsense: if that had been the reason, school management would have said so in the first place. On the other hand, the lack of dotted i’s and crossed t’s would have been just as indefensible as an excuse. This is fear, instead, fear of a better argument.
Mount Holyoke “allowed” Okofor’s speech to proceed, but here the pupils displayed their own timidity. Their “angst” was centered on the horror of “the idea that women’s rights and safety is being linked with their right to bear arms.” Empower women, sure, but only in terms of the power of others to protect them. The Holyoke pupils’ solution was to set up a separate “safe space” where their own Precious Ones could go to hide from such uncomfortable subjects.
We feel that creating a deliberately separate space for conversation rather than holding a direct act of protest will be a more productive action for us without fueling the messaging of the Right.
Because actual participation would require determination and positive action. Because actual participation would require the effort of rational thought and debate instead of the comfort of inchoate feelings and ducking away.
This is the pseudo-education that our children are getting at Liberal not-Arts places like these two.