Okay, this is, I repeat, only a guess. Just putting it out there, one might say. But what else can one say when the president of a pretty great American university, right here in Washington, DC, responds to posters criticizing—yes, you read that right, criticizing—the People’s Republic of China for, you know, mercilessly oppressing China’s Muslim Uyghur minority—like that’s a “big deal”—with the following post:
Please know that I am personally offended by these posters. I treasure the opportunity to work with talented people from all over the world. Your reaching out to me is much appreciated, and we are working to have all of these offensive posters removed as soon as possible.
I too am saddened by this terrible event and we will work to determine who is responsible.
Mark directed this obsequious, shall I say “kow-towing”?, to the GWU China Students and Scholars Association (the “You” referred to in the first paragraph), whom surely no one would suspect is under the thumb of the totalitarian government in Beijing. Eventually, Mark changed his tune, slightly—the whole affair helpfully chronicled by Scott H. Greenfield at his Simple Justice blog, though Scott doesn’t note, as I will, that the posters were created by the Australian-born Chinese artist Badiucao. If they had been created, instead, by, you know, a white man, well, I don’t think Mark would have changed his tune at all.
Resign, Mark S. Wrighton, Ph.D.. Resign.
