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Dinesh D'Souza
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Dinesh D'Souza
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Dinesh D'Souza
Dinesh D'Souza (born April 25, 1961 in Bombay, India) is an American
conservative author.
D'Souza is the author of numerous New York Times bestseller list
books, including:
* Illiberal Education (1991).
* The End of Racism (1995).
* Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary
Leader (1997).
* The Virtue of Prosperity: Finding Values in an Age of
Techno-Affluence (2000).
* Letters to a Young Conservative (2002).
* What's So Great about America (2002).
On October 15, 1990, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Contents
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* 1 Career
o 1.1 Conservatism
o 1.2 Liberal intolerance and racial preferences
o 1.3 Virtues of America
o 1.4 Feminism
o 1.5 Social issues
o 1.6 Critics
* 2 A millionaire
* 3 Personal
* 4 Writings
o 4.1 Books
o 4.2 Articles
* 5 External links
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Career
D'Souza is the Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover
Institution. He served previously as senior domestic policy analyst in
the White House from 1987 to 1988 and, previously, as a member of the
editorial staff of Policy Review magazine.
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Conservatism
D'Souza is a noted conservative, and defines conservatism in the
American sense as "conserving the principles of the American
Revolution". He argues that it is a blend of classical liberalism and
ancient virtue, in particular, "the belief that there are moral
standards in the universe and that living up to them is the best way
to have a full and happy life." He also argues against what he calls
the modern liberal belief that "human nature is intrinsically good,"
and thus that "the great conflicts in the world arise out of terrible
misunderstandings that can be corrected through ongoing conversation
and through the mediation of the United Nations." (Letters to a Young
Conservative)
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Liberal intolerance and racial preferences
D'Souza challenges liberal (left-wing) beliefs and projects such as
affirmative action, and social welfare programs. His first and second
books, Illiberal Education and The End of Racism, came under critical
attack from many liberals but were widely supported by conservatives.
In the first, he argued that the ostensible tolerance practised by
many universities was actually an intolerance of any conservative
view, and this theme has been continued by university professors such
as Mike Adams in Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel: Confessions of a
Conservative College Professor. D'Souza's denial of the existence of
institutionalized racism in modern American society (especially since
he is an immigrant and member of a minority race himself) has made him
an enemy of many civil rights groups and leaders, including Jesse Jackson.
D'Souza has often stated that he believes idealizing the rebellion
against slavery is a source of disability among African Americans
wanting to reintegrate into the new "non-racist" society. He believes
that slaves, to preserve a sense of dignity, in the circumstances of
cruel slavery, would by nature tend to be defiant. This defiance,
exemplified in the archetype of the "bad nigger", would become the
central hero for African slaves, restoring a degree of pride and
dignity to all. But, he continues, the price of this would be the
habitually engrained attitude of defiance, that was ultimately
self-destructive. These self-destructive habits still have a legacy
today, D'Souza contends, and serve to explain, in a large part, the
degree to which slave descendants suffer from social and self-esteem
issues, inheritors of an ideal that heralded a bad attitude.
As an Indian immigrant (with Portuguese blood), D'Souza has admitted
that he believes his race has worked to his political advantage. As a
critic of the role of racism in American society, he frequently
denounces the actions of his fellow minorities, often with frank
language that could be perceived as far more racist if spoken by a
white. For example, he argues that racial preferences "devalue black
achievements, and they intensify doubts about black capacity."
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Virtues of America
The theme of D'Souza's book What's So Great About America is that the
freedoms of America offer much to immigrants, which is why there have
been so many. He argues that the success of immigrants historically is
due to their assimilation of American values while keeping their
heritage, i.e. the "melting pot", E pluribus unum. Conversely, he is
critical of the twin extremes of cultural ghettos, in particular due
to multiculturalism, and Theodore Roosevelt's denuciation of
hyphenated Americans. D'Souza also argues against what he perceives as
a blame-America-first attitude of many American liberals, who
underestimate the great benefits he says Ameri
