USC School of Social Work fights for social and racial justice by purging one word from curriculum

Sarah D | 2:31 PM on January 10, 2023

Late last month, we told you about Stanford University’s decision to include offensive words like “immigrant,” “master,” and “American” among those forbidden by their “Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative.”

And if you were tempted to pounce and seize on Stanford for being an embarrassing and pathetic shell of a respected institution, you were absolute right to feel that way. But it’s important that you save at least a little of that pouncing and seizing energy for other so-called “institutions of higher learning” that also choose to bend over for the Gods of Wokeness in a desperate and fruitless effort to appease them.

Let’s head on over to the University of Southern California, where their Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work is making what they no doubt believe is a very important and consequential change to their curriculum:

Today, @uscsocialwork sent out this letter announcing that they will no longer use the word “field” (as in “conducting field work”) because it’s perceived as racist. Is this with merit or empty virtue signaling? @elonmusk @IngrahamAngle pic.twitter.com/kgM9p4MAb5

— Houman David Hemmati, MD, PhD (@houmanhemmati) January 10, 2023

It’s empty virtue signaling without any merit whatsoever. That’s obvious before you’re even all the way through the first paragraph, and by the end of the letter, it’s basically bludgeoning you over the head with it.

What about the people who are offended by people being offended by the word “field”? Anyone who is genuinely triggered by a totally innocuous word, anyone who sees racism in “field” is a genuine offense to all that is good and sane in this world. And what’s good and sane in this world is already a lot more difficult to come by than it used to be.

For someone who spent more than 7 years at @USC with 2 graduate degrees from this institution, I am so embarrassed at what's happening there. I wonder how much of my money they spent on coming up with this amazingly useful change.

— Soheil Shams (@SoheilShams2) January 10, 2023

Probably hired a $6M DEI consulting firm who spent 3 years on it.

— Houman David Hemmati, MD, PhD (@houmanhemmati) January 10, 2023

That’s probably a gross underestimate.

I can’t believe this is real.

— Jenin Younes (former handle @leftylockdowns1) (@JeninYounesEsq) January 10, 2023

I can’t believe you used the word “believe”. That’s so offensive!

— Houman David Hemmati, MD, PhD (@houmanhemmati) January 10, 2023

Once the word “offensive” becomes offensive, we’re not sure what USC et al. will do. They may be left with no other choice but to spontaneously combust.