Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media

New York Times Column Calls For End To “Color-Blind Logic” In Defense of Free Speech

Freedom_of_SpeechI have been writing for years about the rising wave of intolerance for free speech that has swept over Europe and is now reaching our own shores in the United States.  Attacks on free speech are increasing from the left which has cracked down on speech deemed offensive or intimidating to any group.  Thus far, the United States has been a bulwark against this trend, but an editorial in the New York Times this week is a chilling example of how voices against free speech are now becoming mainstream. The editorial was written by K-Sue Park is a housing attorney and the Critical Race Studies fellow at the U.C.L.A. School of Law.  Park criticizes the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for what she views as blind fealty to free speech and suggests that it is time to stop defending Nazis because sometimes standing on the wrong side of history in defense of a cause you think is right is still just standing on the wrong side of history.  Of course, many of us believe that the wrong side of history is the side where free speech depends on what you want to say — and whether people like Park agree with it.

Park chastises the ACLU that “[b]y insisting on a narrow reading of the First Amendment, the organization provides free legal support to hate-based causes. More troubling, the legal gains on which the A.C.L.U. rests its colorblind logic have never secured real freedom or even safety for all.”  Park’s disdain for “colorblind logic” is unfortunately increasingly common among university professors who are abandoning core principles of free speech and association to achieve their goals for social advancement and “real freedom.”  It appears that “real freedom” for Park is found somewhere without true free speech.

Park insists that the ACLU “perpetuates a misguided theory that all radical views are equal. And it fuels right-wing free-speech hypocrisy.” It appears that Park’s own radical views on free speech should be deemed superior because . . . well . . . she is just right.  She wants the ACLU to calculate who it supports in court to fight “right-wing power” and presumably allow the more enlightened left-wing power to flourish.  It is constitutional law meets Animal Farm where “all radical views” are equal but some are more equal than others.

Park’s views may reflect her teaching of Critical Race Studies at the U.C.L.A. School of Law, but they are inimical to the core protections that define our Constitution . . . and the ACLU.

207 thoughts on “New York Times Column Calls For End To “Color-Blind Logic” In Defense of Free Speech”

  1. This is a coutry where a Jewish lawyer has defended a Nazi or a kkk member. As far as I’m concerned this is what ameri a is about.

  3. Is it any wonder that white nationalists are able to recruit dupes into their fold? This is the exact thing they can point to as an example.
    Hateful and stupid policies often bring hateful and stupid backlashes. Jim Crow spawned black nationalism but it also motivated the non violent Civil Rights movement. Hopefully this idiocy will not just inspire more hate.

  4. Here is a good example of left media censorship. I just posted this on the LA Times article outlining the time line of events in Charlottesville. Right after I posted this, which made it’s way to the forum, all my posts were flagged as “awaiting moderator approval”.

    BTW: The LA Times website lets you Pay, yes Pay to move your post to the top of the forum. Funny that all the posts at the top are anti Trump. ALL OF THEM.

    Here are a few facts missing from the Charlottesville Free Speech argument .

    First, I do not support the KKK or Nazi White Supremacists, nor do I support Anti-Fa or Black Lies Matters”. What scares me is the fact that those on the left are using criminal tactics to prevent lawful Assembly and Free Speech. Removing historical monuments, regardless of what they stand for, is literally bringing forth the “1984” News Speak” and a modern version of the “Ministry of Truth”.

    If you wish to label me, I am a Constitutional Conservative. I could care less what you do in your bedroom. Your right to abortion is between you and what ever deity you may or may not worship.
    I support Israel, believe all Americans have the right to chase whatever dream they choose and the God given rights to self defense. I could care less what color you are and will help you move in next door, provided you paid for the house yourself and not with tax payer money.

    You cannot call yourself a Patriot and go out of your way to censor another American’s right to Free Speech, no matter how hateful it might be to you, or their right to Assembly,and the Right to Bear Arms.

    You cannot force these fascist restrictions on people, while at the same time claiming you are Anti- Fascist.

    Here are some facts that almost none of the MSM Media are publishing in their articles.

    1. Why is the former leader of the uber left “Occupy Wall-street” and Uber Obama street leader, Jason Kessler , suddenly the leader of the new “Unite the Right” movement, as identified by the uber left “Southern Poverty Law Center?

    Wow, that is a gigantic swing from one end of the political spectrum to the other in just a couple of years. (Sorry folks, this smells like a RAT)

    http://www.dailywire.com/news/19747/reports-man-behind-unite-right-was-occupy-wall-james-barrett

    Jason Kessler insisted that all the members of the “Unite the Right” bring shields and clubs. Very convenient.

    2. The “Unite the right” group did have a permit, approved MONTHS in advance. The City council and the State revoked it. Unite the Right went to court and a Federal Judge FORCED the state and City to allow the march to go through, citing Constitutional Right to Free Speech and Assembly. Right before the march took place, the Governor declared a state of emergency and revoked the permit AGAIN.

    3. The Charlottesville Police and State Police were told to stand down. Many officers have stated this off the record for fear of reprisals. This a.llowed the riots to escalate until they were out of hand. Since the driver of the car that killed the woman was from Ohio, the Justice Dept now has the right to investigate the entire matter. This WILL come out.

    4. The left and the Main Stream media have declared that no protestors from the left started any violence. Yesterday, the Charlottesville Chief of Police said in a press conference that the left groups stared violence just as much as the right. Not one of the left Media has reported any account of BLM or Anti-Fa starting violence. Youtube video of Afti-Fa and BLM inciting violence are widely available.

    5. VA Governor Terry Mcauliffe, former inner player in the Clinton Administration, declared that the Unite the Right Groups hid firearms caches all over the area and were found during police sweeps. The next day, the Virginia State Police came forward and said the exact opposite, stating they found NO weapons caches anywhere.

    6. A large portion of the Unite the Right , using their Constitutional Right to Bear Arms, openly and LEGALLY carried firearms for self defense. Strange that the left wing media blared that fact from the mountain top, using it as proof America needs to restrict the 2nd Amendment, yet never once did ANY MSM outlet mentioned the fact that not one single shot was fired. NOT ONE.

    7. I cant get away from the fact that Jason Kessler, “former Uber Obama Occupy Wall Street leader” just happened to be leading this “Right Wing” group into Charlottesville, AND was the driving force behind the entire movement. This fact smells to high heaven and smacks of Left Wing orchestration.

    8. All of the MSM article pictures I have seen so far show nothing but Confederate Flags being held by “Racist White People”. I have looked very hard at videos and pictures posted on Facebook, etc of the Anti-Fa and Black Lies Matter movement.

    I cannot find one single picture of them carrying an American Flag. Not One. They have a plethora of Anti-Fa Flags, BLM Flags, ISIS flags, Communist Hammer and Sickle Flags, Gay Flags, and Mexican Flags.

    Not one American Flag in the bunch. In fact, they only time I ever saw them with an American Flag was when they burned it.

    These points illustrate the overt desire by the media to censor actual events to craft a “Newsspeak” version of events, aka George Orwell 1984.

    And for anyone who shows up here and attacks anyone supporting the right of Free Speech and Free Assembly show their ignorance of the legal system and the 9-0 vote by the Supreme Court (I believe it was 9-0) directly outlining hate speech as the example used to outline why it is protected.

    For you would be college folks who think they know it all, I have been a fan of Jonathan Turley since he won the Supreme Court case against the Clinton Administration, forcing the Feds to not only admit Area 51 existed, but forced the Feds to release the classified information on all the chemicals the individual JT was representing had been illegally exposed to in order to treat the 5 or 6 different cancers the man had.

    JT’s speech to the Supreme Court about the rights of the individual outweighing the state made me proud to be an American!

    Believe it or not, I disagree with 50% of JTs political views, but he makes my heart swell with pride when he nails the meaning of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

    1. Aha! Drats, foiled again, there’s a mole in the klavern!

      This is to painstakingly producing incoherence junior

      1. Heh pal, if you cant understand what is printed, you too have a reading problem. If you cant understand it becasue your a liberal, then you have a slanted view of America.

      2. Plesae tell me why the leader of the uber liberal Occupy movement and Obama Street general is now the leader of the new “Unite the Right” movement?

        This was pointed out by the Southern Poverty Law Center, not me. They are not the average conservative think tank. In fact, they despise all conservatives and attack them regularly.

        1. Great comment, JR. In case you haven’t noticed, you don’t need to pay to get to the top of the comments here..it happens automatically. Keep the intelligent comments coming, JR. You’re not really Ken Griffey, JR. are you? Just kidding. I love that JR but he never struck me as a deep thinker.

    2. Nice work on the fact collection, JR. I’d say you might be a libertarian, but either position is ok. I think schools should get back to requiring students to read “1984”.

    4. Jr jr.

      I had the same problem at the NYTimes in the past. I would post something and it would be held for 24 hours or not posted while responses to my conservative opinion would be posted immediately. I spoke to the NYTimes moderators who admitted the problem existed. That happens on many blogs especially where leftists are concerned. It was very prevelent on the Ieft leaning Incidental Eonomist, a healthcare blog. They were proven wrong so many times they closed the list to comments. Many of the hit lists like Media Matters, at least in the past, won’t post comments that don’t fit their leftist views.

  5. “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the people discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy–to be followed by a dictatorship.”

    ― Alexander Fraser Tytler

        1. In a way yes, and Google, Facebook and others like them are starting to control how we think. Is Google making its search engine favor the left? It seems so. Is Facebook more critical of the right than the left? It seems so. Do the largest of companies help push the nation towards consolidation? I think so, because monopoly is their interest.

          Today, we can note that most of the companies lean towards the left.

          I brought up a question earlier about Ollie’s Barbecue SC decision (Katzenbach vs McClung) on discrimination. Like Ollies Barbecue does Google have a significant impact on interstate commerce and therefore provides Congress the power to regulate conduct?

  7. Trump is the last hope for this nation , maybe one of these days even JT will understand that and start realizing that media is full of corrupt morons

    1. If the last hope then there is no hope.

      “Abandon all hope, yee who enter here.”

    2. It occurs to me that the media could be full of corrupt morons, and Trump could be a corrupt moron, all at the same time.

      1. That’s why he defeated media plus clintons plus democrat and GOP establishment and the world combined ? Wow that must be some moron and you must be a genius

              1. A typical liberal response, right out of Saul Alynski, attacking the opponent’s character via his spelling, becasue the liberal is loosing the argument.

                1. Too easy, but I’m entertained by it; do you perhaps mean to say “losing?”

                  This is to “how do you spell his last name”? Junior

                  1. Yes, but it is late.

                    Constantly correcting the grammar in someone’s post is a classic symptom of your liberal belief of your superiority.

                    2. JR jr – correcting grammar is usually left alone on blogs, however correcting it can be used to needle people, especially if they made a stupid point.

                    3. “correcting grammar is usually left alone on blogs, however correcting it can be used to needle people, especially if they made a stupid point .”

                      Paul, can we call that type of behavior needlepoint?

                2. And he can never think about the thing called auto incorrections, these people are really something 😃

  8. This is a very well argued piece which includes an amazing self reflection from an unlikely source–a CEO!

    Oppressive Precedents Used Against Nazis Will Be Used Against the Left by Ian Welsh.

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