America, You Don't Understand Academics at All

I write with some urgency because there has been a misunderstanding and a painful one for me and people like me. I'm an academic and have been for 40 years. I'm by no means an academic star, nor am I a public intellectual. I'm what you might call a "rank-and-file academic." It's quite uncharacteristic of me to even write such a letter as this one. But I'm moved to say my piece.