Curiously, inside the academy, more and more, life seems to imitate Linda Ronstadt.
Uh, let me explain.
Back in July, we wrote that if you’re a Republican and/or fundementalist Christian, Linda doesn’t want you in her audience:
In a gushing profile in The San Diego Union-Tribune she’s quoted as saying:
“It’s a real conflict for me when I go to a concert and find out somebody in the audience is a Republican or fundamental Christian. It can cloud my enjoyment. I’d rather not know.”
The remark goes uncommented on by the paper.
Whatever happened to the days when music was supposed to be a unifying force? Bringing people together? Plug in any other phrases in place of “Republican or fundamental Christian” and imagine what the outrage would be.
So why isn’t this paper crying foul?
Possibly because a similar sort of stereotyping is just fine in college as well. I was struck by the similarity of Ronstadt’s quote with the one in the piece that Glenn Reynolds linked to today by Mary Ann Dellinger. Dellinger is an associate professor of Spanish at Virginia Military Institute. During a recent cocktail party of college professors from a variety of schools, she was confronted by one who noticed her uniform and nonchalantly remarked:
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