Anyone who has lived in St. Louis for any length of time knows that St. Louis University is a Catholic institution. One would expect that they would follow the doctrine and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. So it was a little curious for a little Witch like me to see that on Thursday, February 7, SLU had invited controversial MSNBC commentator Toure, to speak as part of a Black History Month celebration.
The members of St. Louis-based Move-On-Up.org, a group of Black Conservatives, also thought this idea just a little odd. Not so much for the blatant disregard for Catholic ideology, but for the fact that Toure is very publicly, and quite militantly pro-choice. It would also seem that Toure does not know much black history himself. The facts are that abortion is quite a big problem in the black community. Roughly 1900 black babies are aborted every day in the United States. It is also no secret that early Progressives like Margaret Sanger founded Planned Parenthood as a means of black genocide. Even if the University invited this person to speak, why at the very least wasn't someone of an opposing viewpoint invited as well? Is that not what colleges and universities are for? For the free and open exchange of ideas? Apparently not at St. Louis University.
So Move-On-Up planned a protest. They protested outside the hall where Toure was speaking. The protest went well. Then, the Move-On-Up members were invited to come in to hear the presentation. Some of them did just that. Your humble correspondent among them. We seated ourselves in the back of the auditorium, and proceeded to listen to Toure attempt to indoctrinate a group of young black college students, telling them that America was inherently racist, and because of that, they really did not have a fair chance at the American Dream. He rambled on, seemingly all over the place, about oppression, rap music, "Afrocentrism", and "white privilege". We talked amongst ourselves, or so we thought, until we were escorted out of the auditorium because someone had complained that "we were making the students uncomfortable by some of our comments." Huh?
So we walked into the hallway with who I assume was someone from the Black Students Association. Co-founder of Move-On-Up, Martin Baker asked if he could speak to Toure after the program. He was told he could. On one condition. That he ask no questions about abortion, or Toure's very incendiary recent comments regarding abortion. Hooray for free speech at St. Louis University!
The Black Student Association spoke with members of Move-On-Up outside after the program. They did agree to have someone from Move-On-Up come to speak to them. So there is hope. Hope that at least a small portion of a generation of young African-Americans will not let this MTV reject indoctrinate them into believing that all white people are racist, that they do not have to depend on government for everything in their life, and that the American Dream is alive and well, and can be achieved no matter who you are, if you are willing to work for it.
St. Louis University on the other hand, maybe should do a little research in the future on who they invite as their speakers. Is the advancement of liberalism higher up on their agenda than the protection of the unborn and remaining a well-respected Catholic institution?
A healthy dose of free speech couldn't hurt either.
The members of St. Louis-based Move-On-Up.org, a group of Black Conservatives, also thought this idea just a little odd. Not so much for the blatant disregard for Catholic ideology, but for the fact that Toure is very publicly, and quite militantly pro-choice. It would also seem that Toure does not know much black history himself. The facts are that abortion is quite a big problem in the black community. Roughly 1900 black babies are aborted every day in the United States. It is also no secret that early Progressives like Margaret Sanger founded Planned Parenthood as a means of black genocide. Even if the University invited this person to speak, why at the very least wasn't someone of an opposing viewpoint invited as well? Is that not what colleges and universities are for? For the free and open exchange of ideas? Apparently not at St. Louis University.
So Move-On-Up planned a protest. They protested outside the hall where Toure was speaking. The protest went well. Then, the Move-On-Up members were invited to come in to hear the presentation. Some of them did just that. Your humble correspondent among them. We seated ourselves in the back of the auditorium, and proceeded to listen to Toure attempt to indoctrinate a group of young black college students, telling them that America was inherently racist, and because of that, they really did not have a fair chance at the American Dream. He rambled on, seemingly all over the place, about oppression, rap music, "Afrocentrism", and "white privilege". We talked amongst ourselves, or so we thought, until we were escorted out of the auditorium because someone had complained that "we were making the students uncomfortable by some of our comments." Huh?
So we walked into the hallway with who I assume was someone from the Black Students Association. Co-founder of Move-On-Up, Martin Baker asked if he could speak to Toure after the program. He was told he could. On one condition. That he ask no questions about abortion, or Toure's very incendiary recent comments regarding abortion. Hooray for free speech at St. Louis University!
The Black Student Association spoke with members of Move-On-Up outside after the program. They did agree to have someone from Move-On-Up come to speak to them. So there is hope. Hope that at least a small portion of a generation of young African-Americans will not let this MTV reject indoctrinate them into believing that all white people are racist, that they do not have to depend on government for everything in their life, and that the American Dream is alive and well, and can be achieved no matter who you are, if you are willing to work for it.
St. Louis University on the other hand, maybe should do a little research in the future on who they invite as their speakers. Is the advancement of liberalism higher up on their agenda than the protection of the unborn and remaining a well-respected Catholic institution?
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