Ouch. If you’re interested in somebody taking Cornel West to the intellectual, literary, and ethical woodshed, go over to Inside Higher Ed to read Scott McLemee’s review of Cornel West’s recently published as-told-to memoir. (Yes, the professor hired a ghost writer!)
McLemee is right. Cornel West is not an academic celebrity—he is the parody of an academic celebrity. Think Stanley Fish without real cleverness and rhetorical élan. Think Harold Bloom without striking flashes of literary insight. Think Bill Ayers without any actual radical activism in his past. What McLemee leaves unmentioned is the fact that West is a phenomenon of a now passing era. He was created by post-civil-rights era white guilt, and its insatiable need to promote and celebrate and coddle and indulge their image of the “Black Intellectual,” a role he has played so well for nearly three decades.
You have a decision to make: double or nothing.
For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.
In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.
So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?
Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.