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Temple University and Philadelphia’s Black Ghetto

The article, “In the Academic Jungle,” brought back memories of Temple University, where I taught for 22 years. The author, Kristina Saxon, mentioned the university’s dangerous North Philadelphia location but, if anything, things are worse than she says.

Temple is in the heart of a black ghetto, so university people are murdered, raped, and robbed. On one occasion a man got into the psychology building and raped one of the secretaries. There was supposed to be a guard downstairs, but he was away. On another occasion blacks shot and killed a graduate student right on campus because they reportedly “wanted to get a whitey.”

I used to ride the buses that Temple operates between campuses. Once, as we were passing through a black area, a boy who seemed about 12 years old fired a pistol into the bus. The bullet smashed through a window, just missed a female student’s head, and whizzed past the back of my head. Experiencing danger is so common that I doubt anyone even reported it to the police.

Once I was walking from the train station to the university and was approached by a gang of about 15 teenagers. They more or less surrounded me and asked, “Are you an insurance man?” I had no idea what they meant and said, “No. What’s an insurance man?” They kept asking “You an insurance man?” and I kept saying I wasn’t. They finally seemed convinced by my answers (and demeanor?) and walked away.

Several years later I learned that “an insurance man” collects insurance premiums from people in the ghetto. Since most do not have checking accounts, they pay cash. Insurance men walk around with large amounts of money, so ghetto gangs make a point of beating and robbing them. My ignorance probably saved my hide; I showed no fear, not knowing I was in danger.

There is no end of stories about how Temple panders to non-whites. I once opposed hiring a black who did not seem to understand his own doctoral dissertation. Another psychology professor screamed at me, “What’s wrong with you? The dean says we have to hire a black.” We hired him.

At a lecture I once noticed a young black heckling and harassing the speaker. He seemed to enjoy interrupting the lecture, showing off for the other blacks in his group. He acted like a ghetto tough, only he was dressed better. Later I found out he was Director of Minority Recruitment.

Lincoln Herbert, the law student whose fight against political correctness was described in the January issue, certainly has his work cut out for him.