The Oberlin Review
<< Front page News December 9, 2005

Off the Cuff: Dinesh D’Souza

Dinesh D’Souza is the Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is the author of Illiberal Education, The End of Racism, Letters to a Young Conservative and What’s So Great About America. D’Souza spoke to the Review before his speech at West Lecture Hall on Thursday.

I understand you’ve visited Oberlin before?
Yes. I started speaking in 1991 when my first book Illiberal Education came out and I remember coming to Oberlin shortly after that — so I think I’ve been to Oberlin twice. I believe the last time I was here I met your Rhodes Scholar Jesse Malkin, who at the time was dating a young Oriental girl named Michelle, who is now the writer Michelle Malkin.

What’s your impression of our school?
My impression of Oberlin is that it’s always been a lively, feisty place that’s left wing in its politics in a very intelligent way. Left wing and lowbrow is always a very toxic combination but audiences at Oberlin tend to be a mixture of conservatives and liberals, and there’s always a good debate.

Do you think that the climate on American college campuses has changed since you wrote Illiberal Education?
I think the general themes of the book are still very relevant. There have been some changes in terms of political correctness. The speech codes that were prevalent on campuses are more rare now and are rarely enforced. On the other hand, there’s still a problem of political balance. The older generation of professors who were providing balance are retiring now and the ’60s generation is now in full control.

Do you think that the left wing climate on campuses is affecting the national debate?
I think that the university is now self-consciously removed from the political mainstream, so the politics of academia has no effect on national politics. Where I think that academia does have an impact is in molding the minds of young people. It’s a fact that many young people come to university as conservatives and leave as liberals.

But are these liberal college grads having any affect on the national political climate?
That’s more debatable. There is also the “mugged by reality” syndrome, which is when people who were more left wing become taxpayers and have families and then become more conservative.

Do you enjoy speaking to audiences who may be hostile to your point of view?
I like speaking before liberal audiences better because I feel more intellectually challenged. Lots of people can give a conservative speech to conservative audiences but talking to liberals has sort of become my specialty.

The integration of immigrants and racial minorities into society has been a major topic of your writing. Can you comment on that theme in your work?
Well, France is very different than America of course. The kind of Islamic radicalism that we are seeing in Europe has not, to date, surfaced in America, and I think there are a few reasons for that. Despite all the battles about multiculturalism, Americanization is actually working quite well. France is also relentlessly anti-religious and consider their opposition to the veil to be justified by the fact that they ban the cross as well, therefore discriminating against all religions. It is a lot easier to practice your religion here, which is the reason why traditionalist Muslims feel more comfortable here.

But couldn’t France be described as the ultimate anti-multicultural society as well?
There’s no evidence that that’s what they want, though. This isn’t about time off of school for holidays or funding for festivals — they want inclusion. The deeper point is not multiculturalism but inclusion. It is possible for an immigrant to become an American. Europe does not give full membership to the outsider.

Do you think that George Bush is a conservative in the tradition of Ronald Reagan, whom you’ve written a book about, or does he represent a shift in American conservatism?
I don’t think that there is any fundamental shift. Reagan conservatism represented a three-pronged strategy focused on winning the Cold War, protecting the free market and what were called traditional values.

In this sense the Bush approach is very squarely in the mainstream, with Islamic radicalism neatly replacing communism. Obviously now, socialism does not exist anymore. Bush’s tax cuts are very much in the tradition of Reaganism. He’s probably a much more devout Christian, but both have an emphasis on the decent society.

What’s going to be the theme of your speech tonight [Thursday night]?
Tonight I’m going to talk about some of the connections between the foreign policy debate and the culture wars going on domestically and address whether or not America is an empire and what type of empire.

The motives of radical Islam are quite different from what we think. I’m going to try to give a unique interpretation of what this war is all about.

Do you think America is an empire?
It is an empire but not in the traditional sense. America is based on certain political truths. When the founders articulated these truths we had principles but no power. Now America is starting to act on these principles globally. That’s something that goes beyond Reaganism.
 
 

   

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