Still Chasing the White Whale

The first of an occasional series discussing “Books That Have Influenced Me”

Film director Ron Howard’s latest project, In The Heart of the Sea, tells the story of the nineteenth-century whaling ship the Essex.  Despite being based on harrowing true events, being directed by an Academy Award winner, and starring the "sexy" and talented Chris Hemsworth, the movie seems to be both a critical and commercial disappointment since its release last week.  While critics and audiences may not have appreciated the movie, the promotions I saw on television reminded me of a favorite book of mine and the novel the story of the Essex inspired – Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

The "Peche du Chachalot" by Ambroise Louis Garneray (1783-1857, French)
graced the cover of my first copy of Moby Dick, which I still own.
Image at and available from The Newport Daily News

I first read Moby Dick during my junior year as part of my high school English class.  The third year English curriculum was American Literature.  While Mr. Kroc, my teacher, assigned several short stories, poems, other texts for my classmates and me to read that year, Melville’s novel was the culmination of everything we had read to that point.  Itself an adventure tale, reading the book promised to be its own adventure.  That promise was fulfilled the first time I read Melville’s magnum opus and has been with each reading since then.

This book first resonated with me for several reasons.  One was the way Mr. Kroc contextualized it.  Melville was writing during the Romantic period of American literature.  Mr. Kroc characterized Romanticism as a response to Transcendentalism.  Transcendentalist literature, he explained, dealt with themes of man seeking the meaning of life and understanding the human condition by engaging the natural world.  That is, people could understand both God and man as well as the relationship between them by encountering nature.  That Melville worked within a literary movement that countered what preceded it interested me.  The idea that authors could disagree and argue with one another through their fiction intrigued me.  I also appreciated Mr. Kroc’s explanation of Moby Dick reflecting Melville’s own reading Shakespeare and the Bible while writing the novel.  The notion of writers finding inspiration from what they read and incorporating it into their own work appealed to me.  I also liked how Melville inspired later writers of Realism, like Stephen Crane.  Finally, and perhaps most significant, was the novel’s core idea.  By reacting to Transcendentalism and making his tale one of a sojourner taking to the sea on a quest to hunt one of nature’s magnificent beasts, Melville essentially argued that man cannot understand God and that man’s quest to do so is pointless and can only lead to man’s death and destruction.  In short, God doesn’t care if man goes on a quest to find Him nor does He care what happens to man when he does.  As a 17 year-old Catholic schoolboy with a rebellious religious streak, I found this all very appealing indeed.

Granted, it was my adolescent self that was drawn to Mr. Kroc’s interpretation.  Yet, Moby Dick has continued to influence me since I first read it.  Certainly, what appealed to me initially does so still.  As I have matured, however, I have come to appreciate the situational symbolism of Melville’s writing.  Captain Ahab is driven by anger seeking revenge against the White Whale that deformed him.  As such, Ahab serves as a proxy for anyone of us who has struggled with understanding this thing called life or who have grown angry with what life has dealt us.  Ahab’s zealous quest, however, ultimately destroys him and those around him (save Ishmael, the sole survivor and storyteller.)  I think that applies to most quests.  Pursuing things like fame, wealth, or power can be destructive, especially when they are motivated by anger or revenge.  And yet, who doesn’t want to be famous, wealthy, or powerful, especially if we can rub it in the faces of those who we feel have wronged us?

As I said, we all struggle with this thing called life.  Ultimately I think that is why Moby Dick continues to influence my thinking about the world and my place in it.  The novel may be a tale of revenge against nature or one of anger with God, but it also is a story of struggle – any struggle - and how we choose to deal with it.  Professor Andrew Delbanco,Director of the American Studies Program at Columbia University persuasively argued a similar point during his recent appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

I will leave it to you to decide if he and I are right.

Diversify Faculties, But How?

Image from and available at Inside Higher Ed

The protests that have occurred on college campuses this semester have included demands that institutional leaders take steps to create environments that are more sensitive to the needs of students from various racial and ethnic backgrounds.  In recent weeks, some of these demands have grown in number and complexity; some to the point of making students the targets of criticism if not derision.  One demand, however, seem consistent from one institution to the next – that faculty reach particular racial percentages within a specified period of time.  The University of Louisville’s President made such a commitment in the wake of an ethnic offense of his own making.  Similarly Brown announced recently that it would double the number of its faculty from previously underrepresented groups by the 2024-25 academic year.  Such commitments are laudable and other higher education institutions likely will make similar pledges if they have not already done so.  Yet, I am left to wonder from where are eligible faculty candidates to fill all of these new opportunities supposed to come given the historically short supply of qualified candidates.

The National Council for Educational Statistics reports that African Americans represent only 7.4 percent of the PhD’s awarded in 2010.  That number is only slightly better than the previous 10 years, when African Americans represented only 6.6 percent of awarded PhD’s.  The news is similar for Hispanics and Latinos who account for 5.8 percent of awarded PhD’s in 2010, which is only slightly better than the 4.7 percent figure from the previous decade ago.  These percentages remained essentially flat despite the fact that, according to the NCES, “the number of doctor's degrees awarded increased by 60 percent for Hispanic students and by 47 percent for Black students” from 2000 to 2010.

I think it is admirable that universities are committed to reaching particular percentages of black or Hispanic faculty by certain dates, but it seems to me that they all are going to be beating the same bushes to find only a few eligible candidates.  In responding to student demands to diversify faculties, some institutions have highlighted the problem of the so-called leaky pipeline of minority students from undergraduate to graduate school.  That is, many of these students do not contemplate academic careers as undergraduates and thus do not pursue post-baccalaureate education.  Some colleges and universities have made promises to try to fix the leaky pipeline, but that ignores a more fundamental problem of getting minority students to college in the first place.

In my home state of Illinois, blacks and African Americans are 17.5 percent of the school-aged student population while Hispanics and Latinos are 25.1 percent.  In the meantime, the University of Illinois, the state’s flagship public university, reports  that out of its current overall student population, 4.9 percent are African American while 8.1 percent Hispanic.  Admittedly this is not an according to Hoyle scientific statistical analysis, but I think it suggests a larger yet relevant issue, namely students need to succeed academically in their K-through-12 education in order to matriculate in and graduate from college before they can begin a graduate school program or contemplate a career as an academic scholar.

Colleges and universities are going to have to start facing some harsh realities about where future academics come from if they are serious about diversifying their faculties.  A more holistic approach that includes improving K-through-12 education that involves institutions of higher education is needed, otherwise any efforts toward faculty diversification will be little more than window-dressing that helps none of the populations colleges are trying to serve.

"C'mon Rahm! People over Profits...Feed the Children." or "When I Was Hungry You Fed Me...Lousy Processed Food."

When my daughter was four years old we took a family trip to Atlanta, partially prompted by my participation in an academic conference. While I was away presenting, my wife and children were able to spend time with one of her friends from childhood. My wife’s friend’s home was in suburban Atlanta in a solidly middle-class neighborhood. This conference was during the academic year, so school was in session at the time. A policy at the school was to regularly open its doors to family during lunch, so that parents could visit and eat with their children. In many urban districts with vast security and distrust of any outsiders, this might be unheard of, but not at this progressive school. My daughter had around that time become fascinated with the idea of a school cafeteria. I am not sure which Nickelodeon show had exposed her to this, but it was something that she frequently mentioned looking forward to as she was soon about to enter kindergarten. The idea of getting a warm meal, sitting with her friends, and being social really appealed to her. Much to her enjoyment, my kids, my wife, and her friend visited her daughters’ school that day to have lunch with them—a suggestion she made after hearing about our daughter’s fascination with school cafeterias. It so happened that this was a top-notch cafeteria with plenty of food options, served warm by food service workers, and eaten at spacious tables in a room dedicated to eating only. My effusive daughter beamed with enjoyment as she recounted the experience to me later that day.

My now nine-year-old daughter continues to be fascinated by food. She collects cookbooks on baking, loves watching the Food Network, and even critiques my cooking—“Daddy, a little garlic is good, but biting into this pesto I felt as if I was enveloped in the flavor—you’re chopped!” She also continues to focus on food at school, which in no uncertain terms, she absolutely hates. Every morning my wife carefully prepares a lunch that is healthy and balanced, because we love our kids, but which can be a burden as we all try and get ready and out the door on time. My wife will often ask, “would you like school lunch today?” in the hope that she can buy some precious time, but the response is always a resounding “No! The food is awful! The apples are moldy, the hot dogs are soggy and greasy, and it is not even healthy. It all comes wrapped in plastic and it’s not even hot.” This came from a nine-year-old. Last year she actually ran for the second grade representative to the student council on the platform that the school lunches were so bad. She also complains that there is no longer a cafeteria, rather students eat at tables in the hallway, as there is no dedicated space for lunch. A quick 20 minutes are allowed to eat the food that leaves little time for socializing, necessary, in my expert opinion for a young person to grow up into a well-adjusted adult. While those in other countries show how they value social cohesion, we seem to be much more focused on performance and efficiency-thus the sparse free time and tight use of space. 

We also focus on profit and cost-savings, especially in the Chicago Public Schools. Despite highly publicized school closures to save money a few years ago, this did not necessarily translate into better services as schools consolidated. Around that time the school system also got rid of its public employee janitorial and food staff and hired the private company, Aramark. The school system continued to be publicly funded with local, state, and federal tax dollars, but now private companies were taking a cut in exchange for a service. In a free market, if a service is poor, one can take her business elsewhere, but because CPS negotiated a contract with Aramark, we, the consumers were a captive audience left without a choice.

Aramark also handles the food contract with CPS. The local public radio station has noted that CPS receives $3.15 from the Department of Agriculture per meal taken by students. It highly encourages all students to take the meals or even just a carton of milk so that they can account for a larger number of meals taken, resulting in more money for the school system. But, most of this money goes directly to Aramark and only about a dollar of that taxpayer subsidy goes to the cost of food. 

What kind of food do you get for a dollar? Soggy, moldy, greasy food (?) that is unhealthy, cold, and wrapped in cellophane.

I was happy to hear that a group of high school students a few blocks from the university where I work in Chicago have literally been fed up. They have created a website and are now demanding healthy food, which shouldn’t be too much to ask—as a school and society have a moral responsibility to take care of all children—and also knowing that the benefits of healthy food to learning are very real.

I told my daughter about this at breakfast this morning, while my wife prepared lunch. “Well it’s about time!” my daughter said. “I can’t believe they try and feed us what they do.”

Latinos in the News (aka This Again?!?)

My friend, colleague, and fellow Mexican Intellectual, Frank Gaytan, wrote recently about the behavior of writing and referenced a piece from The Atlantic that discussed the connection between writing and running.  No sooner had I shared with him that article that he shared with me an op-ed from The Chronicle of Higher Education.  Regular readers know that I have written before.  They know also that I have written about the scholarly purposes that inform why some academics begin a blog and take such care with it.  In the “3 Rules for Academic Blogging,” however, David Perry, associate professor of history at Dominican University, provides some practical advice of why academics should continue to blog, much of which is relevant to my own – and I think Frank’s - efforts.  In discussing “Rule 3: Write for the sake of writing,” Perry states “Today, a blog becomes a piece of the conversations you are already having on social media.  You are most likely to use a blog to preach to choirs and attempt to convert the already converted.  But it’s fun to preach to the choir.”  I would add also, it does not hurt to try to convert the unconverted.  After all, a free exchange of flowing ideas was one of the promises the Internet offered.  It is in this spirit I wish to share the following experience.

Recently, I have been preoccupied with the issues of racism and free speech developing on some of the nation’s college campuses.  The highest profile of these events occurred at the University of Missouri and at Yale University, the latter of which coincided with Halloween.  Indeed, much of what occurred at Yale began with a discussion about the potential of racially insensitive Halloween costumes.  While Yale students argued with administrators about racial insensitivity, the President of the University of Louisville took matters to an entirely different level, posing for a photo with other administrators and staff all deck out in sombreros, serapes, and handle-bar mustaches as they attended a Mexican-themed costume party.  In the wake of the backlash and protests the photo engendered, President James Ramsey publicly apologized and vowed to improve the racial climate on Louisville’s campus.  One way he vowed to do so was to “[r]ecruit more Hispanic and Latino/a for faculty, staff and administrative positions.”  Another was to “[a]dvance efforts to build Hispanic and Latino/a scholarship and financial aid” for students.


Photo from and available at Latino Rebels

Seeing this story in a news outlet I follow on Facebook, I opined:

If Louisville's President wants to make amends for offending Mexicans, shouldn't he strive for more Mexican representation among faculty, students, and staff specifically instead of more Latinos generally as his press release states?  Such a declaration still demonstrates a lack of cultural awareness by assuming all Hispanic and Latino groups are the same, which they certainly are not.

My comment struck a chord with some people.  As of this writing, 14 people, all of them complete strangers to me, “Liked” what I said to this shared post.  My comment also garnered replies from others, also complete strangers to me.  Most of them, however, overlooked the point I made about differences among Latino and Hispanic groups to discuss costumes in and of themselves.  I say most because at least one person took exception to my idea, writing:

So you're saying some...Hispanics /Latinos are not the same? So you think you are better than what? Your opinion does not represent the majority because even Latino Public Figures state Latinos/Hispanics we are all the same one language, one culture here in USA...struggling for the same American Dream. I'm not sure how intellectual or scholarly etcetera you pretend to spill but I know one principle for sure...to a white you are a pinche...Latino/ Mexican no matter where you came from...period. And they see you as a threat at many levels. ...economic power, political, community based, state, and the National/and Judicial level...they know...we will chip away at intolerance, institutional racism, and some now realize that the new generation of hispanics/Latinos are becoming leaders of this great nation and play a key role in its future [sic in toto].

Not wanting to reply in the heat of the moment, I let what this person said sit for a while, rereading what I wrote and what he wrote several times to ensure the clarity of the point I was making and to find the basis of his reply.  I considered letting go of the entire matter, but after several hours I replied with the following, addressing him by name (which has been redacted):

You don't know me, you don't know the first thing about me, so please do not try to force your orthodoxy on me like some kind of school yard bully.  I did not say anyone was better than anyone else, I said we are different from one another.  Mexicans, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans - the three largest Hispanic and Latino groups - have different historical and cultural heritages that should be acknowledged and celebrated.  They also have different paths to how they got to the United States, have different reasons for being here, and have different citizenship statuses among them.  The case is similar among other Latin Americans in the US.  There is nothing wrong with differences among people.  It is also known as diversity, which is an idea most progressives like me champion.  Hispanics and Latinos saying all Hispanics and Latinos are the same only makes it easier for white people to say we are all the same and gives white people their justification for discriminating against us in all the same ways.  This is all I will say about this as I have no desire to get into a flaming war with a complete stranger.  I wish you well.

I have written before about this issue, most notably here and here.  As an academic, ideas are important to me.  As an historian, ideas of how the past informs our present are no less so.  On one hand, I feel a tad guilty responding to another's idea and then cutting off that interaction.  On the other, however, I feel worst about circumstances that made me feel that I had to cut off the interaction out of some sense of self-preservation in light of such a vulgar ad hominem.  It is difficult to conduct reasoned and rational discussions about important issues on-line or in person when emotions run high and passions are inflamed.  I wonder, if not worry, about the chilling effect on discourse and problem solving that the current temperature on some college campuses will have in both the short- and long-term.

I hope cooler heads will prevail.