Is Cornel West a martyr to institutionalized racism? Or is he an insatiable egomaniac with a morally suspect readiness to play the race card whenever and wherever he can? You make the call.

Here's an archive of his recent antics.

Exhibit A: The CD. You can download chunks of West's hiphop debut at www.cornelwest.com. MC West received a caustic--but entirely fair--review from Rod Dreher at National Review Online. Don't let the conservative bent of NRO throw you--the poor quality of the music and West's grammatically-challenged lyrics ("They and us will never forget you") are just as offensive to liberal ears.

Exhibit B: The website for the CD, www.cornelwest.com. It's arrogant: "In all modesty, this project constitutes a watershed moment in musical history. The combination of the oratorical passion and unmatched eloquence of Dr. Cornel West with the particular musical genius of Derek D.O.A. Allen has produced an auditory theatrical experience. ... It is through the marriage of the talents and passion of these two geniuses as well as the writing talents of Mike Dailey and Clifton West that this masterpiece is born." And it's illiterate: "Dr. West's passionate oratory and deep grasp of a multitude of subject matter (from hiphop culture to a treatment on Nihilism and Nietzsche) has rendered him one of the most sought after lecturers in the country. ¬ÝHis presence is a mainstay in the American media. So much so that he has virtually become a household word. His dedication to enhancing the lives of ordinary people and people of color is in the tradition of the freedom fighters of the past."

Exhibit C: West's tangle with Harvard President Lawrence Summers. There is a lot on the web about this, but you can get a sense of both West's position and that of outspoken West critics from CNSNews.com's recent piece. There are also several detailed articles in The Chronicle of Higher Education (search the current volume for "Cornel West"). And The Harvard Crimson has been keeping close track of West's very public outrage and subsequent deliberations about whether to defect to Princeton (this week he announced that he will).

Exhibit D: The Crimson's staff editorial for today, which withdraws support for West and declares him a "spoiled child."

Exhibit E: Cornel West himself. Read these articles and ask yourself what is really motivating West. Notice how quick he was to turn the conversation with Summers into a racial incident. Notice how emphatic he is that the single greatest issue in all this is his honor and his pride--not academic freedom for Harvard professors, not the difficult balance between being a scholar and a public intellectual, not the complex problems of accountability posed by the tenure system. Notice, too, how Harvard's public, abject apology did not appease West, and how the signatures of over a thousand Harvard students begging him to stay did not even warrant his acknowledgement. Notice how West cites as an example of Harvard's disrespect the fact that Summers only sent him a single note when he was recovering from prostate surgery last winter. Princeton, by contrast, called him weekly. Notice how West meets Harvard's statement of regret at his decision to leave with public statements comparing Harvard's president to Ariel Sharon. Notice how West--who prides himself on being a role model for the black community--has not once shown any concern for how his actions might play to black students, black faculty, or black citizens watching the affair from afar. West is among those black intellectuals who have expressed strong support for slave reparations. But his actions over the past year suggest that in his heart of hearts there can be no such thing as reparation. Instead, he sends the powerfully disempowering message that no insult, however slight, however unintentional, can be transcended. That no apology--however public, however sincere--can ever compensate for wounded pride. That no retaliation--however libelous--is out of bounds. That petulance is political. And--perhaps worst of all--that personal dignity and unrelenting arrogance are the same thing.