EDITORS' CORNER
OPINION: USC race ‘expert’ slams Trump admin’s version of events; liberals’ narrative OK, however, because ‘they saw what they saw’
Is there something in the water at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education?
A month ago, a pair of Rossier professors argued for “drag pedagogy” in teacher preparation programs. The profs – or the school – were so proud of the work that they took down the article about the study following The Fix’s coverage.
When asked why — crickets.
Now, the school’s Shaun Harper, also founder of the USC Race and Equity Center, wrote an op-ed for Inside Higher Ed in which he worries students will be influenced by the Trump administration’s alleged racing to conclusions about the Renee Good shooting.
For Harper, people “saw what they saw, that it was real and that an egregious crime had been committed.” The video evidence is right there in front of us all, he says, and that’s why so many took to the streets to protest.
While conceding some evidence “potentially shows” that Good “may have struck” the ICE agent with her SUV, the race and gender “expert” says the Trump administration’s take is an “alternative set of facts.”
Make note that Harper’s op-ed was published this past Monday, well after videos showed Good indeed had smacked into the ICE officer with the front of her car in what looked to be an attempt to flee. The officer was treated for “internal bleeding,” according to reports.
Nevertheless, Harper persists: Only Trump and Republicans “heartlessly politicize the loss of life.”
Defending the federal government’s actions is seemingly more important than is empathy for Good, her wife and children, and those in her community who witnessed what happened on a snowy Minnesota street that day.
The lesson for students is that partisan loyalty and the advancement of a White House administration’s policy agenda (in this case, the mass deportation of immigrants) justify cruel responses to a citizen’s death. Also, they are learning that just about anything rationalizes the relentless pursuit of a partisan mission, regardless of who gets hurt and what crimes are committed.
As opposed, of course, to the Democrats’ policy agenda of unencumbered illegal immigration, abrogation of laws and law enforcement, establishment of sanctuary cities/states, and claims of state sovereignty that would make Gov. George Wallace proud.
Oddly enough, in a piece Harper wrote a week before his current op-ed, he claims to “proudly live among the people” and tries his “hardest to not be an out-of-touch, ivory tower academician.” (He also notes 2025 was a “disorienting, stressful, devastating and overwhelming” time for him that necessitates a break to “reflect and recharge.”)
But “the people” among which Harper “proudly lives” must be exclusively progressive Democrats as, according to Quinnipiac, over three-quarters of Republicans believe the ICE agent’s shooting was justified given the circumstances.
Has he talked to any these folks? Actually listened to their points of view? Unlikely.
After all, Harper ties in views of the Good shooting to January 6, which he still dubs an “insurrection” and “case study in white privilege” despite five years of available contradictory evidence.
(And speaking of 1/6 Prof. Harper, was Ashli Babbitt’s killing justified? All she did was enter — unarmed — through a broken glass panel … and then a cop shot her dead.)
Who ever made this Ashli Babbitt meme is a comic genius. pic.twitter.com/vUnVfy2NZD
— Gary Gelormino 🌊🌊🌊 🇺🇸 🇵🇸 🍉 (@GaryFGelormino) January 7, 2026
This man of the “people” refused to answer lawmakers about whether a speaker with alleged “hateful and poisonous messages” (i.e. things he doesn’t like) should be allowed to speak at a campus event. He said opposition to affirmative action is a “threat to democracy” and that journalists should “respect” campus protesters’ “space” (since they’ve been “disrespected” for “so many years” by the media).
He also claimed a campus crime report which included the race of the subject made him feel “incredibly unsafe.” He refused to define “equity.”
But by all means, let’s listen to him about the country’s students being unduly influenced by a non-progressive administration.
MORE: Harper: Trump administration fighting affirmative action ‘reinforces white supremacy’
