Carol Lasser is a Professor of History at Oberlin College. Her faculty profile says:

“I am continuing scholarly work on abolitionism, women, and the public sphere, while also moving ahead in my project with Gary Kornblith, on the making of race in Oberlin, Ohio.”

RACIAL IDEOLOGY

Lasser partnered with Kornblith to publish a book called “Elusive Utopia: The Struggle for Racial Equality in Oberlin, Ohio” in which they discuss the abolition of slavery and the “changing perceptions of race” among Oberlin residents. 

In a book interview with Oberlin Campus News, Lasser was asked, “Did Oberlin’s commitment to racial equality change over time, and if so, how?” Lasser responded:

“The people who make up Oberlin change, and their understanding of their relationship to racial equality changes … After the Civil War, Oberlin needs to reevaluate its raison d’être, and it pulls back from that commitment to radical racial egalitarianism … Over time, the people who have come to inhabit the town [no] longer see that the job of eliminating prejudice falls to them … There’s a kind of amnesia and a supplanting of the original vision.”

Oberlin’s history confirms a strong Evangelical and abolitionist sentiment toward the freeing of slaves. The city’s main page states, “Every chance given they opposed the Fugitive Slave Act and did everything possible to make sure enslaved blacks were not returned to the south … After the Civil War, Oberlin [College] continued its tradition with admitting students ‘irrespective of color.’”

In the interview, Lasser and Kornblith hardly offer any statistical evidence that shows racial segregation, discrimination or violence increased toward black people over the last century. Instead, Lasser simply claims the white people who moved to Oberlin after the Civil War were “different” in that they were no longer “motivated by abolitionism.”

ANTI- 1ST AMENDMENT

In a 2016 publication from Yale University, Lasser discussed how she feels about finding her profile on Turning Point USA’s Professor Watchlist. Following the 2016 Presidential Election, Lasser said, “As a member of Historians Against Slavery, I have followed the current post-election situation with great anxiety and much thought about what happens when the American political system is under stress.”

Lasser continued:

“As I learned earlier this week, I am on the ‘Professor Watchlist’ … Although I consider myself honored to be recognized for my lifelong efforts to teach against racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and many other varieties of oppression, I am deeply distressed by the Watchlist, not only because it may have a chilling effect on academic freedom, but also because it is, like so much in the Age of Trump, fact free, letting loose a barrage of hate based in manipulated emotion.”

Lasser also mentioned how Project Veritas exposed her while she served in her role as the “director of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Students at Oberlin.” The hidden camera captured an Oberlin staff member shredding a copy of the U.S. Constitution after an undercover journalist claimed to be “triggered” by the document. Moments later, Lasser is recorded stating:

Send tips, updates, and information on Carol Lasser to Watchlists@tpusa.com.

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Updated – July 2024