Menu
ELON, Kathleen Parker, a columnist for The Washington Post, delivered the Baird Pulitzer Prize Lecture to Elon students and faculty with a message concerning the upcoming presidential debate; each candidate has their faults but Trump is simply not the right choice.
As a columnist for a widely-known published newspaper, Kathleen Parker has spent the last decade of her life pursuing the means to explore racial and gender boundaries, political scandals and events and overall trying to surround herself with knowledge of ever changing norms. “University campuses are sensitive,” said Parker. “We don’t need free speech to sell Hallmark cards or soup, we need it to talk about tough things. Her 2008 publication of “Save the Males: Why Men Matter Why Women Should Care” received hatred and negative feedback for her position on men and women involved in sexual assault cases. Parker knew that her visit to Elon would not be entirely welcomed by the Elon community, as she received much backlash last July when Elon release information of her visit to the public. Parker’s mission for her travels to Elon was simple; break-down barriers for norms on a level that students can understand. That level, was exploring candidates Clinton and Trump and this year’s upcoming presidential election. “He’s not politically incorrect,” said Parker. “He’s just incorrect.” Parker is not a fan of Donald Trump and his desires to win the candidacy for this year’s election. In fact, as she considers herself radically conservative, Parker made it clear that Trump is not the candidate to side with. “I’ve never known someone who was intentionally cruel in a public capacity,” said Parker. “You don’t have to go to Epcot for diversity. (Trump) Doesn’t like Latinos, doesn’t like Muslims and doesn’t like women.” It seems a bit ironic that someone of Parker’s stature would deem Trump as a racist and non-worthy candidate for the American Presidency. Given her vivid track record of defending men in sexual assault cases as well as referring to women as “undertoned”, such as when Clinton was sick with pneumonia and didn't speak up, some may start to point figures at Parker and question her judgement. But, she has both sides to the story. While bashing both Clinton and Trump, there seems to be more damage on Trump. “Donald Trump doesn’t like to talk about policy,” said Parker. “He doesn’t know it.” Parker glared into the students of the front row of McCary and waited for their reactions. Overall, Parker left the message that neither candidate is perfect, but if you had to pick one, it shouldn't be Trump. “Republicans are changing their platform,” said Parker. “The Republican Party is broken.” Other important factions of Parker’s speech included discussions about the media and how it has evolved as well as affected groups and their purposes. Parker left the notion that free speech is inevitable, and that is what she has been practicing as a columnist and freewriter. For university students, Parker’s message was that people cannot be held back from hearing or experiencing new and unrecognizable things. For that, she brought it back to her 2008 publication in which she received horrific backlash from several public eyes. “By the way the world has changed a lot,” said Parker. “And I’ve changed a lot, too.” When asked about her book, Parker’s response was simple. “I’m not going to litigate my book,” said Parker. “It’s funny it gets brought up when I no longer care.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
October 2017
Categories |
Proudly powered by Weebly