One of the nation’s preeminent educators and authors told a Chattanooga audience Friday that love is key to restoring civility to American public discourse.
“Love is not reducible to agreement on public policy,” said Cornel West, professor emeritus at Princeton University. “You have people in your own family who [you feel] are politically wrong on some issues, but you love them anyway.
“We have to learn how to disagree in such a way that we can still acknowledge our common humanity.”
West delivered his remarks virtually as part of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Martin Luther King Day 2022 celebration. Stacy Lightfoot, the university’s vice chancellor for diversity and engagement, said the school traditionally honors the late civil-rights icon’s memory on the federal holiday bearing his name – and again a few days later.
In addition to his post at Princeton, West holds the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at New York City’s Union Theological Seminary. According to UTC officials, he has written 20 books, received more than 20 honorary degrees and made numerous television and film appearances.