By JOHN F. BANZHAF. Originally published at ValueWalk.
Students Demand – Ban Supreme Court Justice From Teaching at GWU; Same Students Who Sought Ban on Male Stick Figure on Crosswalk Sign
Ban Supreme Court Justice From Teaching At GWU
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 28, 2022) – More than 3,500 people have signed a petition demanding that the George Washington University [GWU] stop Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas from continuing to teach classes at its law school as he has since 2011, reports public interest law Professor John Banzhaf.
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As a justification for such an extraordinary move, the petition claims: “With the recent Supreme Court decision that has stripped the right to bodily autonomy of people with wombs, and with his explicit intention to further strip the rights of queer people and remove the ability for people to practice safe sex without fear of pregnancy, it is evident that the employment of Clarence Thomas at George Washington University is completely unacceptable.”
These sound like the same students who signed a petition asking their GW university to ban the stick figure used on lighted crosswalk signs on campus because they feel “oppressed” because the figure appears to be that of a white man telling them what to do.
GWU students also demanded, immediately after Donald Trump was elected president, that GWU take students’ tuition money and divert it to fund outside non-educational projects such as job training, community centers, and facilities for the homeless.
Their so-called argument or justification is that having GWU police provide security on campus is an “act of violence” because police in general have been favorable to Donald Trump – “Placing us in these [GWU’s] officers’ care is an act of violence,” notes Banzhaf, who claimed that their entire list of demands was insane, and helped persuade his university to ignore them.
Other students disagree with the call for Thomas’ firing.
For example, GWU’s College Republicans argued: “One of the principal assets of our school is learning from figures across the ideological spectrum . . .”While many students at GW are displeased with his rulings on particular cases, the free exchange of ideas and opinions should be valued – not discouraged – at an institution of higher learning like ours. . . . Removing Justice Thomas from the university will do the greatest disservice to those most fervently propagating this petition.”
Cancel Culture
Unfortunately, this ultimate cancel culture demand – that a sitting Supreme Court justice not be permitted at a law school where he can explain his views to law students, and respond to their probing and demanding questions – just might be granted.
After all, George Washington University just agreed to change the name its sports teams have used for almost 100 years because some students don’t understand that the “Colonials” were the brave early Americans who successfully fought against the British colonizers.
As Banzhaf wrote in opposition to the change: “It’s bad enough when students confused about history want to replace a man wearing a colonial patriot-style hat with a hippo, and change the teams’ names from ‘Colonials’ to ‘Hippocrites’ as has been suggested, but it clearly crosses the line when they refuse to tolerate any dissent, and try to silence their opponents by illegally ripping down their posters which explained ‘Colonials Fought Tyranny – Built Our Nation!’ and ‘Colonials: The First American Soldiers.'”
That, and the demand that the white male crosswalk figure be replaced by a woman of color, are clear examples of political correctness carried to illogical extremes, says the law professor.
And while there have been many other situations in which students have demanded that a professor be relieved of all his teaching duties because some disagreed with his views, this may well be the first time that students want to stop a Supreme Court justice from agreeing to teach at a law school, says Banzhaf.
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