I Was Canceled

New Hampshire Union Leader, August 22, 2022

THE IDEALS of the American Revolution are being replaced by a cultural revolution that is tearing America apart. Its foot soldiers push a new orthodoxy — a new state religion, really — one that tears down statues of George Washington, teaches our kids that America is racist, and tells them they should pick their genders.

Anyone who dares to disagree is regarded as a heretic. Critical thinking and diversity of thought have been thrown out the window. The noncompliant are vilified and harassed, made to recant, and — if they don’t — shunned like some sort of political leper; “canceled”, in the colloquialism of the day. I know, because it happened to me. I was canceled by Harvard.

My parents once told me, “Don’t worry about filling your pockets. Fill your head instead.” Those words fueled a passion for education, first as a student and then as a teacher. I am an entrepreneur with a business career that spans three decades and I enjoy teaching the next generation of business leaders.

Over the past 13 years, I taught classes about economics, business, and global affairs to students at Yale and Harvard. My reviews were consistently positive, I won numerous accolades, and my classes were popular with students. Each year, I was regularly reappointed. In fact, Harvard had recently asked me to consider a position as a professor of practice and we had been discussing terms, subject, of course, to an appointment process.

Once I declared that I would run for the U.S. Senate as a Republican, however, everything changed. Harvard regularly applauds members of its community who pursue public service — Elizabeth Warren, for example. Rather than celebration, my decision was met with derision.

There was a flood of ugly diatribes from students, friends, and colleagues, disgusted by the fact that I was conservative. I was stunned by the vitriol and venom. You would have thought I had just joined the KKK, which to them, I had. Many were in disbelief that a lifelong Republican had walked amongst them.

One senior colleague noted it was “disappointing” that I was a Republican. An email soon arrived indicating that my appointment would be over in June and that reappointment was not possible. Shortly thereafter, the professor of practice position suddenly required an expanded search, and I learned that I had been removed from the process altogether, without my knowledge or consent.

I must admit, there were warning signs. I was once admonished for describing America as a “melting pot.” As the son of immigrants, I certainly believe this to be true. Nevertheless, I was told that the term was “insensitive” and that I should describe America as a “mixed salad” instead.

I had wondered aloud why Harvard needed a Black graduation or a LatinX graduation; why not just one graduation for all members of the community? And I was chided by colleagues for believing that there were biological differences between men and women. In fact, I once asked a colleague about the gender of their recent family addition, and they replied, “We don’t know yet, we’re going to let the baby decide…”

I had a front row seat to the new McCarthyism, complete with blacklists, show trials, and loyalty oaths. A recent study found that liberal faculty at Harvard outnumber conservatives 82 to one. One economist, Gregory Mankiw, has noted colleagues treat him as if he has “some strange character flaw.” Another, Harvey Mansfield, noted in 2021 that a conservative hadn’t been appointed to the faculty in 10 years. Sadly, this woke cultural revolution has metastasized beyond the academy and is now stomping its way through all facets of our lives.

Consider this: People are being fired for being pro-life or donating to Republicans. Lawyers who take conservative clients are fired. PayPal and ApplePay won’t let people use their services to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Amazon has banned conservative authors and even a Clarence Thomas documentary. And perhaps worst of all, parents who showed up at school board meetings to complain about the indoctrination of their kids were labeled “domestic terrorists” by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The message being sent is crystal clear: hold the correct beliefs or you will not have a job, business, bank account, or credit card. You will be cut off from the economy. You will not be able to hire a lawyer, eat in restaurants, or express your views. And you will be treated like a deviant.

The time has come to beat back this encroaching totalitarianism before thoughtcrime becomes all too real. George Orwell’s classic “1984” was written as a warning, not a how-to manual. We must fight to restore the American ideals of free speech and political civility and take a stand against censorship. We can’t let 2022 become 1984.

Vikram Mansharamani is an entrepreneur who lives in Lincoln and a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. His campaign website is www.vikram4nh.com.

(ORIGINAL POST: https://www.unionleader.com/opinion/op-eds/vikram-mansharamani-i-was-canceled/article_0fb2738c-300e-530f-bb0f-a3dc003e2a32.html)