The Playbook: Manufacturing Right-Wing Outrage Against Critical Academics

• In Event: Cutting Out Your Tongue: Scholars Under Fire in the Age of Neoliberal Education and White Nationalism

Abstract

There is a strange contradiction in contemporary right-wing politics. The farther right on the political spectrum one identifies, the stronger their belief in absolute truth (Froese, 2016). Ironically, this makes them incredibly susceptible to emotional appeals that have no basis in reality (Froese, 2016; Lakoff, 2008). Lakoff (2008) takes this issue one step further, arguing that conservatives have additionally leave liberals “in the dust” because of their framing of issues. That is, conservatives tend to have a strong moral orientation to their public arguments which makes them more appealing to the masses.

With this as a socio-political backdrop, I dive into the social organizations that generate this right-wing, manufactured outrage using the case study of Dr. Lee Bebout. Dr. Bebout is a professor at Arizona State University who came under fire for offering a class Racial Theory and the Problem of Whiteness. Having only a reading list and never having taken this class, conservative student activists were outraged – primarily at the title. This paper will trace how this “story” made national headlines through CampusReform.org, its parent organization the Leadership Institute, making its way to Fox News, and eventually to neo-Nazis flyering Dr. Bebout’s home neighborhood and campus alleging he was “anti-White” (despite him being White).

Understanding these networks is critical, I argue, to anticipating how these attacks are generated and more importantly, allowing critical academics to be prepared when the next attack emerges. I will conclude with some considerations of how to continually frame and reframe the debate using Lakoff’s (2008) “strict father” versus “nurturing parent” models. Ultimately, it calls specific attention to the importance of identifying the underlying structure of this manufactured outrage as a means of moving beyond the narrative of “controversial material taught at University X.”

Author

• Nolan L. Cabrera, The University of Arizona