By The Hesperian‘s Editorial Board
On January 13th, Chapman University forced (er, we mean “forcefully asked”) Dr. John Eastman into early retirement. What was Eastman’s ghastly crime? It was a technicality; Eastman (like many professors at other universities) used his school email for official business. This was the equivalent of convicting notorious murderer Al Capone for tax evasion… Eastman’s real crime was that he was a conservative lawyer representing (then) President Donald Trump as a legal client.
Fast forward a couple months, and liberal Chapman professor Dr. Liam O’Mara responded to a black pundit’s tweet by himself tweeting a picture of a KKK hood. Apparently, the fact that the pundit was conservative commentator Candace Owens was somehow supposed to justify the intentional, hostile intimidation of a minority by using racist imagery, deliberately evoking thoughts of discrimination, lynchings, and worse.
Of course, anyone (who is willing) can recognize the difference between these two professors’ political activities. One professor took on a prestigious client and represented him in court, while the other professor tried to intimidate a black woman into silence via the use of violent, white supremacist imagery.
Can you guess which professor attracted more outrage from Chapman’s students, faculty, and community?
Of course, in this upside-down world of outrage porn, the actual act of racism was somehow completely ignored (or, perhaps, secretly condoned).
What dark secret did O’Mara know about the Chapman leftists that he could openly attack a black woman so racistly and know that the leftists would not “cancel” nor attack him? If John Eastman (or any other “conservative”) had shared that racist image of a KKK hood, then O’Mara and the Chapman leftists would have called for the transgressor to lose their job and be ostracized from society. But somehow, O’Mara – this white person of privilege – knew he could get away with it.
Liam O’Mara, this part is for you…
You got off easy. You wouldn’t have shown the same graciousness (nor deliberate indifference) which you have received. Don’t you forget that.
To the rest of the Chapman University community, what we are seeing are harsh punishments for trivial technicalities, and no accountability for those who commit blatant racism.
This is not a conspiracy. This is the reality.
Where is the Black Student Union? Chapman Latinx? Where are the virtue-signaling students? The self-righteous professors? The “horrified” parents? All of the people who felt that Chapman was “unsafe” as long as Eastman continued to be employed there? Where is the Pathetic Panther Newspaper? The Panther published over 15 articles about Eastman, but not a single article reporting on Professor O’Mara’s racism. Where is the “journalistic integrity” they pride themselves in?
Was all of your “outrage” really dependent upon the political beliefs of the perpetrator? If so, then that is utterly pathetic.
To Chapman President Struppa, why have you been silent on this issue? You betray free speech when you take down a movie poster and “release” John Eastman, and then you again betray free speech for not punishing O’Mara’s virulent act of racial intimidation (which is NOT protected by the First Amendment).
You won’t even release a mere statement condemning O’Mara’s shameless racial bigotry.
President Struppa, the buck stops with you. You must regain control of our university. Former Chapman President Jim Doti would not have tolerated the campus’ hostility nor your pitiful indecision. He would have stood up for free speech, and immediately condemned real racism.
This pattern of promulgating racial division on campus in order to further political agendas is corrosive to our Chapman community. The people who have the power to stop it, refuse to do so. Why? Because they recognize the political expediency afforded to them in taking advantage of the unspoken (yet wholly obvious) double standards for different campus individuals and groups.
The Hesperian denounces all acts of racial intimidation and bigotry, as well as the incitement of racial division in order to pursue political goals.
We call for Chapman to have an honest, inward examination of itself. The school must derive a solution that allows all students and faculty to be treated fairly, equally, and honestly.
Well, he didn’t actually do that- He was inferring that she’s part of the KKK as she is a white supremacist kapo 🙂