scliolars claim that onh’ tlicy can interpretrnthe “black experience,” they mayrnbe forfeiting their academic status, butrnthe are staking a claim on the more solidrnground of authenticity. Oi course,rnwe are all human beings, and we can allrnmake educated guesses as to what it isrnlike to be black or Chinese or SouthernrnProtestant, but the natiyc knows thingsrnfrom experience that no gifted outsiderrncan ever figure out. If Americans werernnot so poorly educated, they wouldrnknow this, but our journalists and politiciansrnmanage to graduate from collegernunscathed by the histories, languages,rnand literatures of any people, includingrntheir own. If they were to read thisrnscreed, they M)uld take to outputtingrntheir files on human rights and the globalrnvillage. “You, you’re laughing,” saysrnHorace, “but the joke’s on you.”rnl b insist upon openness and equalityrnis to deny others the right to be themscb’cs.rn”I am what I am and that’s allrnthat I am,” was the creed of Popeye thernsailorman, but in today’s world Olivernand Bluto and Swee’pea would all bernlodging suits alleging victiiuization,rndiscrimination against bullies, andrnspinach deprivation. Besides, Popeye’srnconduct after Pearl Harbor constitutesrnJapan-bashing and race-baiting.rnAmerica has come a long way sincernthe 1940’s, and the NBA recently inductedrnUlyona Semvonova, a 7’2″ Russianrnfemale, into its Hall of P’ame.rnWhat nation, exactly, does the NBArnrepresent?rnIf the Japanese are smart, they will dornmore than impose the weight limit theyrnarc contemplating. They will find somernapparentlv innocent way to declare, inrntlicir charmingly xenophobic way, thatrnsumo wrestling is a Japanese folk art thatrnis not open to foreigners. Men wanted,rnno foreign devils need apply. ThernJapanese, as we have known them forrnthe past hundred years, are an enemyrnworth our admiration and, occasionally,rndeserving of our animosity. If theyrnarc foolish enough to open themselvesrnup to an American takeover, they willrndeserve the contempt we ordinarily reservernfor ourscKes, who have practicallyrnnothing left to sell out.rn—’I’homas FlemingrnOBITER DICTA will be an occasional,rn”by the way” column in Chronicles.rnAppearing at the end of Cultural Revolutions,rnit will report on past and futurerneents of interest and on the comings,rngoings, and doings of friends of Chronicles.rnThis month, for example, wc wouldrnlike to note that Bill Kauffman andrnDavid R. Slavitt are now listed as correspondingrneditors on our masthead. Authorrnof the novel Every Man a King, Mr.rnKauffman will contribute a scries of articlesrnto Chronicles on the old MiddlernAmerican culture. Having already writtenrnfor the magazine on such subjectsrnas Sinclair Lewis, Henry W. Clune, andrnthe struggles between Upstate andrnDownstate New York, Mr. Kauffman is arnwelcome addition to our force. As is Mr.rnSlavitt, who has written bimonthlyrnmovie reviews for Chronicles for severalrnyears now.rnWe are also pleased to see that thernNational Humanities Institute’s Humanitasrnhas taken on some extra pagesrnand is now a thin journal. The additionalrnspace will, as its editors reason inrna statement entitled “HUMANIIAS:rnRethinking It AH” for their Fallrn1992AVinter 1993 issue, allow for morern”scholarship that challenges uncriticalrnassumptions and can set the humanitiesrnon a more promising course.” Humanitasrnaims to “oppose the facile classificationrnof ideas in political terms and . . .rnencourage articles that go beyond an obsolescentrnleft-right distinction”—goodrnnews for anyone interested in the futurernof the humanities.rnFinally, we would like to report onrntwo conferences organized in part byrnChronicles: the third annual John RandolphrnClub meeting, which was held inrnChicago last December 11 and 12, and arnsnraller gathering to discuss Europeanrn(and American) politics, which will takernplace in Chicago from March 26 to 28.rn”Bosnia, USA: Ethnic Conflict atrnHome and Abroad” vas the fiery topicrnof this year’s John Randolph Club conspirationrn(somehow “conference” docsrnnot seem the appropriate word), duringrnwhich club members demonstrated theirrnintellectual and oratorical strength byrndelivering engaging and (more or less)rnrelevant talks, often at literally a moment’srnnotice. Not even blusteringrnblizzards on the East Coast (which preventedrnseveral of the scheduled participants,rnincluding the keynote speaker,rnfrom attending) could stop the clubrnfrom engaging in its (sometimes heated)rndebate. With scholars like RalphrnRaico of the SUNY at Buffalo, AntonyrnSullivan of the Earhart Foundation, andrnLeonard Liggio of the Institute for I lumanernStudies filling in for snowed-inrnmembers, panels on subjects like “ITrnCAN’T HAPPEN HERE: The Threatrnto Liberty” and “BLADERUNNER:rnL. A. and the Aftermath” provided amplernfood for thought. As did WavncrnLutton, associate editor of the SocialrnContract, and Samuel Francis, a columnistrnfor the Washington Times and a contributingrneditor of Chronicles, with theirrndiscussions of the consequences of massivernimmigration and the possibilities ofrnwhite reaction to ethnic violence, respectiveh.rnTheir panel, entitled “INVASIONrnUSA: Ethnic Conflict in America,”rnleft the audience crying for morerndiscussion time as the meeting broke forrnlunch. Jared Taylor, who graciouslyrnfilled in for the stranded keynote speakerrnthe second night of the conference,rngave attendees a preview of his recentlyrnpublished book Paved With Good Intentions:rnThe Fadure of Race Relations inrnContemporary America. The John RandolphrnClub, which was founded by thernRockford Institute and the Ludwig VonrnMises Institute to encourage exchangernbetween traditionalists and libertarians,rnplans its next nreeting for this fall. Forrnmore information about the club, pleasernwrite to: Burton Blumert, 87S MahlerrnRd., #150, Budingame, CA 94010.rnThe upcoming “New Polities” conference,rnwhile probabh somewhat tamerrnthan the JRC escapade, proves to bernequally engaging. Bringing together arnsmall number of writers and scholars torntalk about the nationalist, regionalist,rnand populist movements of Europe andrnthe Ihiitcd States, the conference aimsrnto initiate a continuing dialectic amongrnintellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic.rnConference participants will includern(among others): Alain de Benoist,rnhead of CRECE (Grouping of Researchrnand Studies for European Civilization)rnand editor of the journals Krisis andrnNourelle ecole; Robert D’Amico, professorrnof philosophy at the University ofrnFlorida; Thomas Molnar, author of thernrecent Phdosophical Grounds; Paul Piccone,rneditor of Telos: A journal of CriticalrnSocial Ihought; Cado Ruzza, a visitingrnprofessor of sociology at thernUniversity of Surrey in England whosernhome is Como, Italy; and TomislavrnSunic, professor of European politics atrnJuniata College in Pennsylvania. crnAPRIL 1993/7rnrnrn