69 million page views

Mediocrity vs. Excellence

Reader comment on item: Perceiving Academia's Decline Already in 1971
in response to reader comment: U of Arkansas study correlates higher education with antisemitism

Submitted by Robert (United States), Jun 18, 2021 at 19:16

Your final 2 observation are most interesting - regarding the "threatened elites." And incidentally, until after WWII American Universities also had quotas against admitting too many Jews. Columbia University was the rare exception in admitting Jewish PH. D. candidates from the (Jewish) "Proletariat Harvard" - The City College of the City of New York,

There are in fact 2 distinct kinds of Prejudice, perhaps best distinguished by the words, Mediocrity and Excellence. I take it from a great movie about a jealous musician who envied Mozart's Musical Genius and attempted to surpass him by stealing from him.

Former Slaves were resented by the Mediocre (White Racist) on the grounds that they were Excellent while the former Slave were Mediocre (Inferior). In the case of Sexuality that they (White) were "Inadequate" in comparison to the "Wild" "Animals" from Africa (the "Coloreds."

In the Case of the Jews, Anti-Semites described the as Cheats or those possessing Unfair Advantages: control of Money, Undue Influences, "Huckstering" (the transliterated German word Marx used as a anti-Euphemism for Capitalism. The ultimate charge against Jews is a Moral-Religious one,l that they are guilty of the Killing the "Innocent samb." Jesus Christ.

In Summary, Prejudice not only judging someone else as Inferior to oneself. It also occurs when Excellence in the Other contrast with one's own (the Racist's) Mediocrity. A good example is the Music of Jazz, which first emerged among African Americans. Although widely appreciated throughout the word in competition with ("White") Classical Music, it was attacked by Racists such as the Automobile's Henry Ford as the creation of (Musically) Inferior former Negro Slaves, it was disseminated, promoted, and distributed by "Degenerate" and "Immoral" "Controlling" Jews. This happened in 1920 when Ford's Dearborn Independent published the serialized articles under the title, "International Jew: The World's Problem."

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (8) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
3And then they were hired [38 words]Kenneth PerlmanJun 21, 2021 13:46268581
6U of Arkansas study correlates higher education with antisemitism [490 words]DaveJun 17, 2021 19:46268387
Mediocrity vs. Excellence [299 words]RobertJun 18, 2021 19:16268387
1Good Points, if you want to delve deeper [42 words]DaveJun 19, 2021 14:22268387
Give Me Some Credit Too [66 words]David RyanJun 17, 2021 14:45268376
2And Another Thing [54 words]David RyanJun 19, 2021 14:35268376
1On the Ivory Tower [611 words]RobertJun 17, 2021 11:22268361
Commiserations of a Time That Would Not Stand Still [326 words]M ToveyJun 17, 2021 11:07268359

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)