Really, really disappointed to read this account of the ACLU’s firing of an employee for using language that in some subtle way– too subtle for most of us to grasp– implied a racist attitude.
In one instance, according to court documents, she told a Black superior that she was “afraid” to talk with him. In another, she told a manager that their conversation was “chastising.” And in a meeting, she repeated a satirical phrase likening her bosses’ behavior to suffering “beatings.”
There are multitudes of progressive organizations out there ready to attack anyone who dares oppose their advocacy of nothing but rainbows and flowers for those of minority sexual preferences or racial identity. The ACLU, until now, has been generally willing to fight for everyone’s right to speak truthfully even when expressing unpopular opinions. But the entire story about the firing of Kate Oh over statements that only in the mysterious realm of paranoid ultra-sensitivity constitute any kind of racial animus is truly discouraging. It’s not about a weird deviation from their core values. It’s about the corporate culture at the ACLU becoming mind-numbingly parochial.
One of the things I had always liked about the ACLU– and which I agree with wholeheartedly– is that unpopular speech has a right to be heard. And then mocked and ridiculed, if necessary, but heard. And the mockery and ridicule itself must be protected. When a university bans a speaker because they are not politically congenial with the culture of the administration and faculty, we all lose, even if we hate the speech. Let them speak. If they are idiots, we can let them know after we know what they are actually saying.
But– this is important– please take care to note when these speakers are not actually banned (as Anne Coulter claimed to have been from a Canadian University) but merely playing the martyr for their home-town crowd. Conservatives seem to adore this trope and play it for all it’s worth in their own media echo-chambers.
I am even opposed to “hate-speech” and “hate-crime” designations. Either it is a crime or it isn’t. “Hate” is an entirely subjective pejorative. Inciting violence is a crime. Libel is a crime. Fraud is a crime. Shouting “fire” in a crowded theatre can be a crime. But making something a “hate” crime is being a nanny.