Heather Mac Donald
Encyclopedia
Heather Lynn Mac Donald is an American
political commentator and thinker notable for her advocacy of secular conservatism
. She has advocated her positions on numerous subjects including crime prevention
, immigration reform
, academia
, the art world
, and politics
. She is a prolific essay
ist addressing significant attention to urban problems, which caused columnist George F. Will to write that "no journalist now writing about urban problems has produced a body of work matching that of Heather Mac Donald." She is a John M. Olin
Fellow of the Manhattan Institute
. Critic Robin Finn of the New York Times described Mac Donald as an "influential institute thinker". In addition, she is a contributing editor to New York's City Journal. and a lawyer
by training. She has written numerous editorials in newspapers such as USA Today
and she is the author of several books. She believes in the power of ideas, and that bad ideas must be "fought at their origins".
. She attended Phillips Academy
in Andover
and graduated in 1974 as a member of the school's first co–educational class. She graduated from Berkeley College
, Yale
in 1978. summa cum laude, studying literary deconstructionism, which she later repudiated. She won a Mellon Fellowship to attend Clare College, University of Cambridge
, receiving an M.A.
in English literature
. She returned to Yale in 1980 to work on a doctorate in comparative literature
, but became dissatisfied with literary theory
and withdrew after a semester. She graduated from Stanford's law school in 1985, worked for liberal Judge Stephen Reinhardt
in the Court of Appeals
, and for the Environmental Protection Agency
. At present, she no longer practices law but is a full-time political commentator.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political commentator and thinker notable for her advocacy of secular conservatism
Secular conservatism
Secular conservatism is a type of conservatism that is indifferent to religion, or believes strongly in a separation of church and state, but is otherwise identified with conservatism. Examples of secular conservatives in the United States include Barry Goldwater and Heather Mac Donald....
. She has advocated her positions on numerous subjects including crime prevention
Crime prevention
Crime prevention is the attempt to reduce victimization and to deter crime and criminals. It is applied specifically to efforts made by governments to reduce crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice.-Studies:...
, immigration reform
Immigration reform
Immigration reform is a term used in political discussion regarding changes to current immigration policy of a country. In its strict definition, "reform " means to change into an improved form or condition, by amending or removing faults or abuses....
, academia
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
, the art world
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
. She is a prolific essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
ist addressing significant attention to urban problems, which caused columnist George F. Will to write that "no journalist now writing about urban problems has produced a body of work matching that of Heather Mac Donald." She is a John M. Olin
John M. Olin
John Merrill Olin was an American businessman. He was the son of Franklin W. Olin.-Early life:Born in Alton, Illinois, Olin graduated from Cornell University with a B.Sc. degree in chemistry and as a brother of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity...
Fellow of the Manhattan Institute
Manhattan Institute
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research is a conservative, market-oriented think tank established in New York City in 1978 by Antony Fisher and William J...
. Critic Robin Finn of the New York Times described Mac Donald as an "influential institute thinker". In addition, she is a contributing editor to New York's City Journal. and a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
by training. She has written numerous editorials in newspapers such as USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
and she is the author of several books. She believes in the power of ideas, and that bad ideas must be "fought at their origins".
Career
Mac Donald was born in CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. She attended Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
in Andover
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...
and graduated in 1974 as a member of the school's first co–educational class. She graduated from Berkeley College
Berkeley College (Yale)
Berkeley College is a residential college at Yale University, constructed in 1934. The eighth of Yale's 12 residential colleges, it was named in honor of Reverend George Berkeley , dean of Derry and later bishop of Cloyne, in recognition of the assistance in land and books that he gave to Yale in...
, Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1978. summa cum laude, studying literary deconstructionism, which she later repudiated. She won a Mellon Fellowship to attend Clare College, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, receiving an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
. She returned to Yale in 1980 to work on a doctorate in comparative literature
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
, but became dissatisfied with literary theory
Literary theory
Literary theory in a strict sense is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for analyzing literature. However, literary scholarship since the 19th century often includes—in addition to, or even instead of literary theory in the strict sense—considerations of...
and withdrew after a semester. She graduated from Stanford's law school in 1985, worked for liberal Judge Stephen Reinhardt
Stephen Reinhardt
Stephen Roy Reinhardt is a circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in Los Angeles, California. He was appointed in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter.-Education and practice:...
in the Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
, and for the Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
. At present, she no longer practices law but is a full-time political commentator.
Positions
Mac Donald has advocated a variety of political positions, including:- Secular conservatism. Mac Donald identifies herself as a secular conservative, and argued in USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
that conservative thinking is superior to liberalism by virtue of the ideas alone, and that religionReligionReligion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
should not affect the argument. Mac Donald has caused controversy in conservative circles by arguing that religion is not necessary for conservatism. She is not religiousReligionReligion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
herself, and has stated that it would be difficult for her to marry someone who regularly demonstrated pietyPietyIn spiritual terminology, piety is a virtue that can mean religious devotion, spirituality, or a combination of both. A common element in most conceptions of piety is humility.- Etymology :...
, though she could marry someone who could joke about her atheismAtheismAtheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
. She argued that conservatism doesn't need God.
- Victimization. She criticized the notion of treating boys as a new victim group, and criticized universities for seeking to hire "diversity consultants" to "help boys succeed."
- Philanthropic institutions. Mac Donald blamed philanthropicPhilanthropyPhilanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
institutions such as the Ford FoundationFord FoundationThe Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
and the Carnegie Corporation for advocating for a right of welfare, and because of this advocacy, "generations have grown up fatherless and dependent," she wrote in her collection of essays entitled The Burden of Bad Ideas. She wrote that the right principle to guide philanthropy was doing what you love.
- Immigration policy. Mac Donald criticized American immigration policy as "importing another underclass", referring to Hispanics, which has the "potential to expand indefinitely." Mac Donald's views that Hispanics have tremendous fertilityFertilityFertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
were criticized as being "hostile" and trying to tap into a "deep-seated fear" of minorities by conservatives, according to one writer in the Huffington Post.
- Divine intervention in human affairs As an atheist conservative, Mac Donald was profiled in the New York Times. She criticized John AshcroftJohn AshcroftJohn David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
for giving gratitude to GodGodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
rather than members of the U.S. Justice department.
- Urban panhandlers. Mac Donald criticized pan handlersBeggingBegging is to entreat earnestly, implore, or supplicate. It often occurs for the purpose of securing a material benefit, generally for a gift, donation or charitable donation...
in San FranciscoSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
as "aggressive young vagrants" with an "oversized sense of entitlement" who have grown more "territorial and violent." She praised a proposed ordinance called "sit-lie" which would ban persons from sitting or lying on city sidewalks from 7am until 11pm.
- Law and order. Mac Donald advocated improved policing procedures such as CompstatCompStatCompStat—or COMPSTAT— is the name given to the New York City Police Department's accountability process and has since been replicated in many other departments...
, a data–driven urban approach used by big city police departments in New York and Los AngelesLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
which focuses police activity on known crime areas, and holds precinct commanders accountable for results. She argued in 2010 that crime was not a result of economic hardship or poverty, and bolstered her analysis with statistics showing that crime had dropped during the 2008–2009 recession. She suggested "an increase in the number of people incarcerated had a large effect on crimeCrimeCrime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
in the last decade and continues to affect crime rates today." Mac Donald appeared on Fox News television to discuss her views about crime prevention with moderator Paul GigotPaul GigotPaul A. Gigot is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative political commentator and the editor of the editorial pages for The Wall Street Journal...
in 2010 and argued that successful crime preventionCrime preventionCrime prevention is the attempt to reduce victimization and to deter crime and criminals. It is applied specifically to efforts made by governments to reduce crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice.-Studies:...
statistics from 2008–2009 were a result of efficient policing, high incarceration rates, more police officers working, data–driven approaches such as CompStat which helps commanders target high–crime areas, and a policy of holding precinct commanders accountable for results. She contended that much of the decline of American cities, beginning during the 1960s, was a direct result of crime "spiraling out of control." In contrast to Mac Donald's views, some economistEconomistAn economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
s have argued that the dramatic reduction in crime was not a result of more efficient policing strategies, but was a result of a policy of legalized abortionAbortionAbortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
which began in the United States in 1973 following the Roe v. WadeRoe v. WadeRoe v. Wade, , was a controversial landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court on the issue of abortion. The Court decided that a right to privacy under the due process clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution extends to a woman's decision to have an abortion,...
decision by the Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. Chicago'sUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
Steven LevittSteven LevittSteven David "Steve" Levitt is an American economist known for his work in the field of crime, in particular on the link between legalized abortion and crime rates. Winner of the 2004 John Bates Clark Medal, he is currently the William B...
and Yale'sYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
John Donohue argued in a controversial paper entitled The Impact of Legalized Abortion on CrimeThe Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime"The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime" is a controversial paper by John J. Donohue III of Yale University and Steven Levitt of University of Chicago that argues that the legalization of abortion in the 1970s contributed significantly to reductions in crime rates experienced in the 1990s...
that crime began to fall eighteen years after the onset of legalized abortion. The writers suggested since most crimes were committed by males aged 18–24, fewer unborn males led to less crime.
- Racism. Mac Donald argued that the high rates of African-American young males in America's jails was not a result of a racist policy by police and she wrote that "study after study has shown that the criminal justice system responds to the crime and the criminal history of the offender, not to his race." She criticized the thinking of African-American Jeremiah WrightJeremiah WrightJeremiah Alvesta Wright, Jr. is Pastor Emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ , a megachurch in Chicago exceeding 6,000 members...
for making racistRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
statements when Wright said that "blacks have inherently different learning styles". Wright was a pastor at the church where then–presidential candidate Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
attended, and Obama's connections to Wright became controversial during the campaign for the presidency in 2008. She sided with police when the New York City department was accused of racism in a lawsuit and wrote a book exploring the issue of racism in the police force.<
- Terrorism prevention strategies. Mac Donald advocated for increased use of computer database searches to catch terroristsTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
in a growing technology called data miningData miningData mining , a relatively young and interdisciplinary field of computer science is the process of discovering new patterns from large data sets involving methods at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics and database systems...
. She criticized privacy concerns about computer searches as "irrational paranoia" and argued that it was hypocritical to permit an individual human to examine files on a case by case basis, but a privacy violation if a computer was permitted to do it. To fight al Qaeda and terrorismTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, Mac Donald defended the Patriot Act and argued a case for secrecySecrecySecrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups, perhaps while sharing it with other individuals...
and speed as well as the sharing of information between departments within the intelligence community without worry about legal hurdles, although she agreed that it's important to weigh the benefits of government power against the risks of abuse. In contrast, in a debate with Mac Donald, Julian SanchezJulian SanchezJulian Sanchez is an American libertarian writer living in Washington, D.C.. Currently a research fellow at the Cato Institute, he previously covered technology and privacy issues as the Washington Editor for Ars Technica...
argued that government should take "reasonable" and "balanced steps" in fighting terrorism but he was concerned about giving government a broad and unchecked power to spy on "not only suspected terrorists but anyone," and was concerned about losing protections based on the Fourth AmendmentFourth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause...
. MacDonald argued for police investigations to use racial profilingRacial profilingRacial profiling refers to the use of an individual’s race or ethnicity by law enforcement personnel as a key factor in deciding whether to engage in enforcement...
on the grounds that "you cannot be an Islamic terrorist unless you're a member of the MuslimIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
faith".
- Torture. Mac Donald argued in 2006 in The Torture Debate that the Abu Ghraib fallout was overblown, and that opponents of President BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
used it to construct an exaggerated "master narrative" and asserted that the torture at Abu Ghraib was "torture lite" compared with more brutal atrocities such as the Inquisition of Pol PotPol PotSaloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
. She defended rough coercive interrogation techniques as necessary in some circumstances.
- Welfare. Mac Donald has criticized welfare programs as metamorphosizing into a "dysfunction enabler," as writer Robin Finn described Mac Donald's views in 2000. Mac Donald's position that the use of food stamps was a form of "unhealthy dependence" was criticized by several writers to the op-edOp-edAn op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
column in the New York Times.
- Politics. Mac Donald criticized talk radioTalk radioTalk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
for fueling "heightened rhetoric" and thinks that the right–leaning political attacks against president ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
have been overdone. She sees Obama as a moderate or "standard-issue" liberal, not a radical. She deplored hate gestures, in which the doors and windows of Democrats who voted in favor of a health care bill were broken, as "cowardly and juvenile" acts.
Reviews of her books
Mac Donald's book The Burden of Bad Ideas was reviewed in 2000 by New York Times critic Allen D. Boyer, who wrote "Among discussions of urban malaise, where so much hot air has been recycled, this book has the freshness of a stiff, changing breeze."Publications
- "The Illegal-Alien Crime Wave," "City Journal" Winter 2004 http://www.city-journal.org/html/14_1_the_illegal_alien.html
- The Immigration Solution, by Heather Mac Donald, Victor Davis Hanson and Steven Malanga
External links
- "Excoriating the Enablers, in 12 Chapters", By Robin Finn, New York Times, November 28, 2000
- Mac Donald biography at NNDB.
- Video of conversation between Heather Mac Donald and Glenn LouryGlenn LouryGlenn Cartman Loury is an American academic and author. He is the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences and Professor of Economics at Brown University.- Early years :...
at Bloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tv is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast online to viewers... - Video (and audio) of debate/discussion with Heather Mac Donald and Mark KleimanMark KleimanMark Albert Robert Kleiman is an American professor, author, and blogger who is a Professor of Public Policy at the UCLA School of Public Affairs...
on Bloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tv is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast online to viewers...