Afrocentric theories assert all history is created equal

0 Comments | Insight on the News, April 15, 1996 | by Lynne Cheney

When classics professor Mary Lefkowitz complained that Afrocentric myths about the ancient world were being taught as truth at Wellesley College, she was informed by the school's dean that different views of history are equally valid. When she stood up at a faculty meeting to point out that an Afrocentrist lecturing on campus was propagating falsehoods, such as the idea that the Greeks "stole" their culture from Egypt, one of her colleagues commented, "I don't care who stole what from whom."

These anecdotes help explain why so much a historical nonsense flourishes on our campuses. Relativism is an essential part of the worldview of many who have power in colleges and universities; and while there also are many who do not go along with the idea that there is no truth, but only different - and equally valid - constructs of the past, they often do not think that getting involved in this battle is worth their time and trouble.