VICTOR JOECKS: Why the left’s ‘diversity’ leads to antisemitism

Regent Donald McMichael served as vice chair of the system’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Committee. Last week, the head of the regents and the vice chair booted him from the position. The move came after McMichael made antisemitic remarks at a June 7 board meeting. The regents were debating whether to adopt a detailed definition of antisemitism for the Nevada System of Higher Education.

“Some Jewish students are frightful to come to campus. Get in line,” McMichael said in a video from the meeting. “There’s others who have been here a lot longer and who have been treated more poorly, and for you to come and say that, ‘Oh my gosh, just remember, it been World War II, we had the Holocaust and they were in concentration camps.’ We still have concentration camps here in the United States.” He also said, “We have a small group of people — because they were set upon in World War II — have the notion that they can set themselves up in a higher position than anyone else in the United States.”

It’s tempting to dismiss these comments as bizarre rantings. And they are bizarre. Please point out the “concentration camps here in the United States.”

Nevada Jewish students are upset because people on campuses are chanting for the murder of millions of Jews. Because pro-Hamas groups shouted down an Israeli physics lecturer at UNLV. Because the response from administrators has ranged from resigned indifference to tacit support. This isn’t happening to other students. One would think that someone serving on the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access Committee would be especially concerned about this.

But you would be wrong. That’s because so many on the left, especially in academia, have embraced critical race theory and intersectionality. CRT divides people into groups based on race. Some are the oppressors. Others are the oppressed. The oppressors have created systems to secure their advantages, this line of thinking goes. People don’t achieve based on their individual skill, talent or decision, but based on their membership in the oppressor group. This is where talk of white privilege comes from. Therefore, long-standing guidelines and institutions, such as the U.S. Constitution and the justice system, must be destroyed.

Intersectionality is an attempt to combine and rank victimhood based on race, sex, sexual orientation and transgenderism. “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” and the IDEA Committee are both CRT repacked for public consumption.

There are many problems with this worldview. To start, it’s false and dangerous. But set that aside. If you believe CRT, what McMichael said might make sense. Let me translate: Jewish students aren’t as high up on the victimhood hierarchy as black or Hispanic students. Therefore, Jewish students should stop complaining about their problems until the greater victim groups have been helped.

Sounds outrageous when you unpack it. But that’s what many students are being taught in Nevada higher education.

McMichael’s comments were disgraceful. But the most concerning thing is that they represent a much deeper and systemic problem in Nevada’s higher education system.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.