A Short Essay on "Conservative America" & Diversity in the University

In the U.S. today, some of our fellow citizens are convinced that we are a Christian nation. Talking heads on talk radio and cable tv remind us of that fatuous assertion almost every day. These men, and a few women, with a microphone and a far reach over American airwaves, are a microcosm of a population that is convinced of America’s inherent conservatism. If the Republicans stood up for these values, the American people would be proud and stand behind them. Notice the banal remark--frequently made by radio/tv host Sean Hannity--declares the entire American population as endorsers of conservative values, instead of designating, specifically, the Americans with conservative values as being the population that would be proud of Republican leadership in such an instance.

There are many tools in use for promulgating the deceitful narrative of a conservative America. The one that’s been the most effective is the idea that there’s a “mainstream media” outside of right-wing radio and Fox News--an arm of giant corporations and the GOP--and it reeks of a “liberal bias.” This false axiom has resulted in millions of conservatives running to Fox News, receiving skewed and false information, and, as a result, never hearing about Fox’s lies and misinformation from more traditional news outlets, or reading reports on studies that show viewers of Fox News are more likely to be incorrect in terms of positions, results & outcomes of, unarguably, black & white issues, than are viewers of other news channels.

For example, a recent study conducted by World Public Opinion, a project directed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, found that a majority, or at the very least, a plurality of viewers of Fox News believe that income taxes have gone up since President Obama took office, that there were not any tax cuts in the stimulus package and that most Republicans opposed TARP, just to name a few. These inarguable facts--taxes have not gone up since President Obama took office, just under ⅓ of the $787 billion TARP was made up of tax cuts for individuals and businesses, and out of 249 Republicans from the House and Senate, 126, or about 51%, voted “Aye” for the TARP bill--coupled with Fox’s misinformed viewership, culminate into a serious implication as to why viewers of Fox are so misinformed, and why these misinformed ideas are pushed through the rhetoric pronounced and measures proposed by the Republican Party. Is Fox News manufacturing the political agenda of the Republican Party, or vice versa? Bearing these notions in mind, one could certainly argue so.

Lastly, before we meet the point I’ve been reaching in a long-winded manner, there’s the conservative assertion that higher education, especially publicly-funded higher education, is predominately left-leaning, and beleaguered with bleeding heart liberals. In response to this paranoid notion, I’d like to quote the facetious, tongue-in-cheek and satirical tv host Stephen Colbert: “Reality has a liberal bias.”

From my own observation and knowledge gathered from both sides of the argument that colleges & universities in the U.S. are tantamount to liberal cesspools, it’s not that higher education collectively indoctrinates young adults with the tenets of liberalism, it’s that colleges & universities in the U.S. are active, reliable safe havens for diversity. Even when faults and discriminatory obstacles exist in higher education, the uproar of a tolerable and accepting student population renders that college or university susceptible to reform. Take for example, less than two months ago, a Christian school in Michigan, Hope College, finally opened its classrooms to the discussion and study of homosexuality. Dave Murray, a writer for the Grand Rapids Press, wrote the following:

“The issue flared in March [2010] when a number of influential alumni lined up against college policies they believed shun homosexuality on campus and createed [sic] an unwelcome environment for faculty, students and guests.
The alumni group formed in the wake of the college rejecting Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black's offer to show his film and hold a discussion about sexuality.”

What’s important to note, other than the achievement of reform at Hope College in the
name of diversity, is the fact that some alumni, former students of Hope College, joined in
solidarity to disapprove of Hope’s policy and position on homosexuality. Call it what you will--tolerance, diversity, acceptance, understanding--but bear in mind, those former students opposed the position of the school they attended and graduated from; they weren’t indoctrinated by Hope College to believe that homosexuality was normal, acceptable, or anything in a positive light, in fact, just the opposite. In this case, it was likely the experience with diversity outside of the classroom that resulted in a group of alumni taking a stand against their Alma mater. The notion of liberal indoctrination of students at colleges & universities in the U.S. is either a gross misinterpretation or a deceitful, cynical campaign against liberalism all together; one that results in enormous budget cuts to higher education, like that which was proposed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett just a week or so ago.