We recently discussed the apology of the New York Times for publishing a column from a leading United States Senator on the possible use of troops to quell rioting after the death of George Floyd. That decision, and the sacking of the opinion page editor, represented one of the lowest moments in American journalism. It made echo journalism the official policy of one of the oldest news organizations in the United States. The lesson was not, it appears, lost on young college journalists at Syracuse University who sacked a columnist because she questioned claims of “institutional racism.” Adrianna San Marco notably did not write her opinion in The Daily Orange but she was canned for challenging this widely held view. My greatest concern is the lack of specificity from the editors on the objections to her column beyond “reinforcing stereotypes.” Such actions demand a clarity in the standard being applied to writers.
As will come as no surprise to most on this blog, my interest in the controversy at Syracuse is not the merits of the underlying column or its research but the implications for free speech and the free press. In her piece published by LifeZette, she argued that institutional racism is a “myth” and that claimed statistics indicate that police do not target African-Americans. She discussed the findings of a study by the National Academy of Sciences that in late 2019 found “no evidence of anti-Black or anti-Hispanic disparities” across police shootings.
There are ample arguments against such claims, including some referenced by San Marco in her column. It is the type of argument that once defined the intellectual discourse of higher education. Indeed, such topics were often raised precisely because they generated passionate and probing analysis.
This is not those times. Now, the New York Times apologizes for publishing opposing views and young journalists fire colleagues because they hold opposing views. Daily Orange editor-in-chief Casey Darnell seemed to rip a page out of the “new” New York Times:
“Dismissing the existence of racism, whether institutional or otherwise, dismisses the lived experiences of people of color, especially our black community members. San Marco’s article reinforces false and dangerous stereotypes of Black people as criminals, and dismisses that police officers kill black people at disproportionately higher rates than white people.”
Darnell insisted “[w]e aren’t afraid of controversial views, but we have a responsibility to avoid promoting harmful ones. We don’t censor conservative columnists. In fact, we have already hired a conservative columnist to replace San Marco.”
While I applaud the editors for their sensitivity to these issues, I respectfully believe that Darnell misses the point. The concern is the San Marco was sacked because she held an opposing view on “institutional racism.” The challenge is not to select a “conservative” but support writers in holding opposing views, including those expressed in other publications. The decision appears to be based entirely on this one column and San Marco contesting the widely held view of systemic and institutionalized racism. Rather than sack the writer, the question is whether a newspaper can still publish opposing and even upsetting columns as part of its contribution to the national debate. Otherwise, we are enforcing orthodox views or stipulating that only a narrow range of opinions will be tolerated.
I thought that the statement of the editors constitute an excellent and powerful rebuttal. They could go further in specifically addressing San Marco’s statistical arguments. That would make for an important and substantive exchange.
Again, I return to my admittedly fading “old school” view of free speech that, rather than silencing a columnist, a newspaper can be a forum for a variety of views, including those at the extremes of the debate. In the past, I have defended academics accused of anti-white or intolerant views from the left. I would rather have such views freely expressed than engage in selective censorship to silence those with whom we disagree.
Student journalists must decide how to meet the challenge of free speech and free press in an age of rage. They can either yield to calls for censorship (like the New York Times) or they can stand on the defining principle that the solution for anything deemed bad speech is more and better speech. Once again, they would be wise to heed the words of Louis Brandeis in his concurring opinion in Whitney v. California (1927) when he declared “If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the process of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.”
Mobs are ignorant and violent.
Antifa et al destroyed the 123-year-old Glory Monument, while memorialized the 54th regiment, black soldiers who fought for the Union.
How do you reason with the irrational hatred of the Left? They are like Al Qaeda, destroying architecture and art. God help us if they go international, because literally every historical artifact and archeological site hails from an unwoke era.
“The Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment Memorial, a sculpture dedicated to black soldiers who fought in the Civil War, was damaged after thousands of protesters descended on Boston Common to protest police brutality against black people, according to Boston NPR affiliate WBUR.
“This monument is considered one of the nation’s greatest pieces of public art and the greatest piece to come out of the Civil War,” Liz Vizza, the executive director of the Friends of the Public Garden, said. “It was, amazingly enough, dedicated 123 years ago on May 31 — the day it was defaced.”
The Shaw memorial depicts likenesses of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the first black volunteer infantry unit in the Civil War, which fought after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/george-floyd-rioters-deface-16-boston-statues-including-memorial-honoring-black-civil-war-regiment
Karen, your claim that “Antifa et al destroyed the 123-year-old Glory Monument” is false. It wasn’t “destroyed.” It was defaced, and it’s been repaired: “Vizza said the Friends and the city rallied quickly to carefully clean all 16 damaged works.” – https://www.wbur.org/artery/2020/06/03/16-statues-memorials-damaged
CTHD:
Thanks for the additional information. I thought repairing the damage would remove layers of concrete and statuary. I don’t think it will be the same as before, but you are right that it wasn’t a total loss.
Karen:
I wouldn’t apologize to this sophist. He thinks he actually conversing when all he’s doing is propagandizing.
mespo727272 — That was unkind.
You’re welcome.
It was thoughtful of them to pass the bill to taxpayers.
Pssst: what is George Soros address? Asking for a boogaboo friend
You must take a loyalty oath to BLM, and to the Democrat Party, hereafter referred to as The Party. There is only Party-approved opinions.
Dissent is punishable by dismissal and public humiliation.
Comply or be destroyed.
You must take a hyperbole oath to the right wing and the GOP, “hereafter referred to as The Party. There is only Party-approved opinions. Dissent is punishable by dismissal and public humiliation. Comply or be destroyed.”
“Dissent is punishable by dismissal and public humiliation. Comply or be destroyed.”
The Turley column to which you are replying is explicitly about a woman who was dismissed for noncompliance.
However, it was not conservatives or Republicans or those on the right who dismissed her for noncompliance.
Karen responded with hyperbole. I was pointing out her hyperbole.
Kodikos
Commit — Thanks for the attempt at reason with Paul C Schulte, but I fear that he is Not All There. He just made up that I owe him anything, and is unable to let go.
David Benson is the God Emperor of Making Stuff Up and owes me forty-five citations (one from the OED, one from the town ordinances and two from the Old Testament), an equation and the source of a quotation, and his mental health professional certificate after eighty weeks, and needs to cite all his work from now on. – David, you are delusional and I am not Making that Up. And you still owe me 45 citations.
Rhodes — Do a test yourself. Encyclopedia Britannica is available online.
Squeeky Fromm —
“It is important to remember that nonmarital births are a function of class, not race.”
https://whyy.org/articles/rate-of-births-to-white-single-moms-accelerates/
LOLOLOLOL
And the sun rises in the west……………..
All my replys to commenters end up at the top of the comments. This is a result of the poor quality computer programs running this site.
I don’t know why it only affects me.
It doesn’t effect only you. I often have the same problem, but not consistently. I don’t know whether it’s related to the browser one uses (I’m using Firefox for MacOS) or something else. It’s really annoying. I wish they were using a commenting system with better functionality, like Disqus.
no problem on an IBM machine., lol
Twitter Flags Trump Video Claiming To Highlight ‘Fake News’.
But Video Is Fake Racial Commentary
Just three weeks after President Trump clashed with Twitter over its fact-checking policies, the social media platform has again flagged a post from the leader of the U.S.
The social media platform tagged a video he posted Thursday night with a warning label — “manipulated media” — after finding that it deceptively doctored footage in a way that was “likely to cause harm.”
The video fakes a CNN segment that depicts a white toddler running after a black child of similar age, scoring the images with screechy, scary string music. Beside CNN’s reproduced logo, a false, misspelled chyron declares “TERRIFIED TODLER RUNS FROM RACIST BABY.” Then, it reads: “RACIST BABY PROBABLY A TRUMP VOTER.”
The video then rewinds and plays more of the footage, showing a viral video from last year in which the two toddlers run toward each other and embrace, after introducing the new scene as “what really happened.”
“America is not the problem. Fake news is,” says the video that fakes CNN footage.
Edited from: Twitter Flags Video Shared By Trump As ‘Manipulated Media’
Today’s NPR
Peter – here is why the President tweeted it out.
https://youtu.be/SsnY65g5_8o
Paul, that explanation makes no sense.
Peter – did you not get the point of the video? I did.
“Twitter Flags Trump Video”
Twitter flags lots of conservative videos. This is normal.
Then conservatives need to start their own Twitter.
“Then conservatives need to start their own Twitter.”
I agree.
However, Twitter falsely claims that it is an unbiased “public billboard”, in order to get section 230 protections from liability.
Since Twitter has repeatedly demonstrated that it is overtly biased against conservatives, it should be stripped of its protections, and become legally liable for its content.
DEATH to all Social Media .They are the bane of our existence.
It wasn’t flagged because it’s conservative. It was flagged because it was edited in a misleading/dishonest way (and by someone who doesn’t know how to spell “toddler”).
Committ – There is a very funny one today on Twitter of CNN accusing the Todler video of causing a war. 😉
Why doesnt David Benson reply to commenters underneath their posts?
What is it about Benson that is so nutty and seeks to be at the top of comments?
🕺🏽
💊
He may be using a browser that does not get along with WordPress.
The version of Firefox on my phone causes my replies to pop out at the top instead of under the person I replied to (yeah, yeah, I know, update my phone). I also have Chrome on my phone and it works as it should, so I use it for this blog rather than Firefox.
1. Because David Benson only replies to peers, and since we aren’t faculty, we do not merit any engagement.
2. Because he actually doesn’t know much about public affairs,.
3. Because he’s getting dotty, being nearly 80 years old.
“President Trump tweeted Friday that “protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes” who show up at his Tulsa rally this weekend “will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle or Minneapolis,” promising “a much different scene.”
Why it matters: The right to peaceably assemble is guaranteed in the First Amendment, and Trump himself has claimed to be “an ally of all peaceful protesters.”
Tulsa has implemented a curfew for the areas surrounding the rally site both before and after it is held.
The city’s order said that “individuals from organized groups who have been involved in destructive or violent behavior in other states are planning to travel to the city of Tulsa for purposes of causing unrest in and around the rally.”
Yahoo
Anon,
Oklahoma is a Constitutional Carry State.
American hating Commie/Fascist types should think twice about bring their violence, looting & arson to down here.
Squeeky Fromm, no, Paul C Schulte was at best half right:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashanti_people
Note that there are many Ashanti people in Jamaica due to the slave trade. Did Pelosi’s clothing come from there?
David Benson is the God Emperor of Making Stuff Up and owes me forty-five citations (one from the OED, one from the town ordinances and two from the Old Testament), an equation and the source of a quotation, and his mental health professional certificate after eighty weeks, and needs to cite all his work from now on. – David, at best, you have a 50/50 chance of Wikipedia being right. Get another legitimate source.
There are Asshanti people in Jamaica because African Tribal leaders in Africa captured and sold their fellow countrymen (ya know, the ones we see cared about sooooo much every night on the news from da hood) to Arab slave traders who sold them to British marketers who sold and shipped them to British planters in the British colonies. Some of the Africans sold into slavery by their African tribal leaders ended up in Asshanti.
Fascism Lives with the Left
……
Protest Erupts Over Police Funding at Cincinnati Budget Hearing
CINCINNATI BUDGET HEARING PROTEST ERUPTS OVER POLICE FUNDS … Forces Abrupt Ending
The final public hearing for Cincinnati’s 2021 budget turned into total chaos after a resident tried to make a case for directing more funding toward police.
The wild scene played out Thursday evening at the Duke Energy Center, where a Cincy resident sparked boos from the crowd by getting on the mic and laying out reasons to increase law enforcement’s budget.
He was almost immediately drowned out by a chorus of boos, and city council member David Mann announced he was ending the hearing 5 hours early, which only seemed to pour lighter fluid on an already heated situation.
After the abrupt end to the public forum, dozens of folks charged the stage in protest. Council members tried to resume the hearing, but Mann beelined out of the room and, ironically, police were called in to restore order.
Angry folks headed outside, intending to start a march, and they were again greeted by cops on the street. Things still haven’t cooled down … law enforcement’s closed off the ballroom to the public and council members are trying to complete the budget hearing.
TruthHertz001 — Wikipedia is as good as any other encyclopedia. This has been tested.
One can always go deeper by reading the references…
“Wikipedia is as good as any other encyclopedia.”
Wikipedia is a joke.
If it’s been “tested”, let’s see the data.
LOL No.
Friday: Trump Promises New Effort To End DACA
President Trump said Friday that he will once again attempt to end a program designed to protect young immigrants from deportation, one day after the Supreme Court said his earlier efforts to do so were arbitrary and improper.
In September 2017, Mr. Trump moved to terminate the Obama-era program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, making good on a 2016 campaign promise in which he called the program an illegal executive amnesty. On Thursday, the court said the administration had not followed the rules required to end the program, allowing it to remain in place for now.
In a tweet Friday morning, Mr. Trump vowed to try again.
“We will be submitting enhanced papers shortly in order to properly fulfill the Supreme Court’s ruling & request of yesterday,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Within moments, one of Mr. Trump’s top immigration officials at the Department of Homeland Security, tweeted that the administration is eager to terminate the protections for the young immigrants in a way that will pass muster with the court.
“We are on it at @DHSgov Mr. President!” wrote Kenneth Cuccinelli, a deputy secretary at the department and one of the president’s most hard-line immigration advisers.
Cracking down on illegal immigration was at the heart of the president’s first campaign, and Mr. Trump has spent much of the last three years waging an assault on the nation’s immigration system in an attempt to reduce the number of foreigners in the United States.
The decision to end DACA was a centerpiece of those efforts. Put in place by former President Barack Obama, the program allows about 800,000 young immigrants who were brought to the United States as children to live and work legally without the threat of immediate deportation.
Surveys show that most Americans — including a majority of Republicans — support allowing the young immigrants, known as Dreamers, to stay. But the president’s hard-line advisers, including Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration agenda, have urged the president to follow through on his promise to his conservative supporters.
A new effort to kill the program would draw another legal challenge that would be unlikely to be settled before the election. Mr. Trump’s announcement that he intends to again seek an end to the DACA protections sent a clear message to Capitol Hill, where top lawmakers acknowledged that legislative action will be needed to permanently address the fate of the group of young immigrants.
Edited from: “Trump Says Administration Will Try Again To End ‘Dreamers’ Program
Today’s New York Times
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
One has to ask why Donald Trump is so eager to expel the Dreamers. 61% of the American public wants a path to citizenship for these youths. But in Trump’s America majority sentiments mean nothing. Trump only cares about the wishes of his narrow base; a group who racial views are constantly ‘misunderstood’.
Bring it Trump. Let’s see if he can stay below 40%.
Forgotten is the fact that there was a compromise Senate bill on DACA which included McConell and Lindsey Graham in it’s bi-partisan support that Trump’s veto threat killed.
“Trump Promises New Effort To End DACA”
Excellent!!
Obianuju Ekeocha Slams Dems for ‘Cultural Appropriation’ as They Knelt in Kente Cloth
The woke crowd forgot what wokeness is.
Twitter users were up in arms Monday, after Democratic lawmakers donned Kente cloth — an indigenous Ghanaian textile from the Ashanti tribe — as they knelt in the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C.
Pro-life author Obianuju Ekeocha posted a response to the pandering move, intended to show unity with the Black Lives Matter movement, telling the Democrats: “Don’t treat Africans like we’re children.”
“Excuse me, dear Democrats,” Ekeocha explained. “In your tokenism, you didn’t wait to find out that this thing that you’re hanging around your neck is not just some African uniform — it’s actually the kente material. The kente belongs to the Ghanaian people, mainly the Ashanti tribe.”
“Excuse me, Democrats,” she continued. “Don’t treat Africans like we’re children. These fabrics and these colorful things that we have within our culture and tradition, they all mean something to us. I know you look at us and you say, ‘Oh, Africans are so cute in all of your colorful dresses.’ Well, some of those dresses and patterns and colors and fabrics actually do mean something to us.”
Ekeocha, who didn’t weigh in on the racial unrest in the U.S. “because I am not an American,” wasn’t the only one to criticize the politicians for wearing Kente cloth.
Frederick Joseph, an author and former campaign surrogate for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), ripped House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for the “disrespectful and appropriative” move.
“You have a great deal to learn,” he added.
You’d be hard pressed to explain how this doesn’t perfectly fit the progressive left’s definition of “appropriation.”
– BET
Squeeky Fromm, I have been in 3 black neighborhoods, Pasadena, Chapel Hill/Carrboro, and in Portland, Oregon, which was quite nice. No iron bars in any of those 3.
Oh yes, also drove through some in New Orleans. Didn’t notice any iron bars there, either.
Ever been to Memphis? Ever been to Atlanta?
Iron bars everywhere.
As to Nola. I lived In Nola. Iron bars everywhere.
“I have been in 3 black neighborhoods”
The media refers to those as “high crime neighborhoods”…or sometimes “neighborhoods with bad schools”.
Well, if you are driving thru NICE black neighborhoods, you probably will not see a lot of iron bars. Those are probably blacks with some class, who got married before having babies and stayed in school. But there is another 75% who didn’t, and those are the neighborhoods where you should go. I would say at night, but that would be dangerous, so go during the day. Make sure you have car gassed up, your cell phone charged, and if possible, an AK47 with 4 or 5 extra magazines. Also a handgun is nice, and maybe a Samurai sword, if you have any experience with them. Put a Smith&Wesson knife or two in your boots. The HRT type. If you can rent a Humvee, that would be nice too. A vehicle with a higher ground clearance so you can gun it out of there and traverse the bodies of any attackers. A flak jacket is cool, and maybe a few stun grenades, or even real ones if you know anybody who can supply them.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Republican Blocks Senate From Removing Confederate Statues From Capitol
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) on Thursday blocked the Senate from passing a bill to remove Confederate statues from the Capitol.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) tried to pass the bill by unanimous consent, which allows legislation to pass without a vote but also enables any one senator to block it.
The measure would remove statues of individuals who voluntarily served in the Confederacy from the Capitol.
Booker called keeping statues of Confederate figures in the Capitol a “painful, insulting, difficult injury.”
Schumer added that passing a bill to remove the statues would be one step toward confronting the “poison of racism.”
But Blunt objected, noting that Congress had an agreement with states and that he wanted time to consider giving the issue a hearing in the Rules Committee, which he chairs.
“I’d like to … get the opinion of people who are taking similar statues out of the building. I’d also like to find out what other states have in mind as their part of this agreement,” Blunt said.
The presence of Confederate statues has emerged as a point of contention in the Capitol.
There are 11 statues of Confederate figures displayed in various quarters of the Capitol complex as part of the National Statuary Hall collection. Each of the 50 states contributes two statues to the collection, which they can replace if a change is approved by their state legislature and governor.
Edited from: “GOP Senator Blocks Bill To Remove Confederate Statues From Capitol”
The Hill, 6/18/20
African Woman Responds to Pelosi with BRUTAL Message for Using Kente Scarf As Political Prop
Democrat politicians kneeling down of having around their necks
this colorful fabric which I’m sure they put around their necks as some kind of
mark or show of unity or solidarity with
black people so in other words they are
putting for what they came to material
or this colorful fabric they had around
their necks as there’s some kind of
placating sign or symbol to show that
they are not racist and they are
together with black people
excuse me dear Democrats in your tokenism you
didn’t wait to find out that this thing
that you’re hanging around your neck is
not just some African uniform it’s
actually a material the Kente
belongs to the Ghanaian people mainly the Ashanti tribe
excuse me Democrats don’t treat Africans like we’re children
these fabrics and these you know
colorful things that we have within our
culture and tradition they all mean
something to us I know you look at a
sign you say Oh Africans you’re so cute
in all your colorful dresses well some
of those dresses and patterns and and
colors and fabrics actually do mean
something to us some of them belong to
ancient tribes and made something to
them so why are you using it as your own
show of non racism or you’re unsure of
veteran why are you using the kinky
material to signal your vets you stop it
we are not children Africans are not
children and leave our tradition and our
culture to us
well she does have a fridge valued at over $50,000 and ice cream that costs over $15/spoonful. But hey, illegal minorities made it for her so she does unify her brainfreeze to their plight
Squeeky Fromm — You could have found this yourself:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_racism
Once again, I saw disparities disconnected from reality. One thing did get my attention though. That banks loan less for minority housing. That looks bad on the surface, but just dig little deeper. Homes in predominantly black neighborhoods go down in value pretty fast. Is that because of “racism” or because of other factors?
I would submit other factors such as too many blacks in the neighborhood which leads to too much crime, and too much property damage. I mean simply drive thru a black neighborhood and look at all the iron security bars on the doors and windows. They are not there to keep out white supremacists. They are there to keep out black democrats. Do you want to move to that neighborhood? Nope. There go the property values.
There is usually another good reason for the disparities besides “Structural Racism,” Answer an honest question. How many times lately have you heard anybody on the Left mention the 77.3% illegitimate birth rate among blacks? How many times have you heard anybody on the Left mention Structural Racism?
One is ZERO, the other is a bunch.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Thomas Sowell wrote an entire book on redlining and demonstrated the falsehood that racism was the cause.
Anyone that has had any doubts that Sowell was right should look at the destruction of businesses due to the rioting. That destruction increases the risk of loaning in those areas and other areas that are similar. Interrest rates are going to climb in such areas and people like David will blame the hike in interest rates on racism when the cause of the hike are BLM, Antifa, and other violent people that destroy property.
Wikipedia is not a reliable source for complex or nuanced topics.
This is not a secret.
Nothing is preventing you from becoming an editor and improving it.
It’s often a good starting point for an overview (including identifying terminology for further searches) and references to further reading.
Nothing is preventing anyone from going to real Encyclopedia. Wikipedia is not a real Encyclopedia.
This is:
https://www.britannica.com/
–
Wikipedia has entries about all sorts of things that are of interest to people and the Encyclopedia Britannica doesn’t have info about.
Here’s a simple example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_photo_op_at_St._John%27s_Church
If your “real encyclopedia” doesn’t have information that someone is seeking, being a “real encyclopedia” isn’t much help.
“Nothing is preventing you from becoming an editor and improving it.”
There are literally billions of things that nothing is preventing me from doing.
Of those billions, being a “Wikipedia editor” is near the bottom.
Communists, Bolsheviks, Nazis, Feminazis, Black Lies Matter, Brown Shirts, White Shirts et al. are all the same and none is distinct.
They are dictatorship.
The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights constitute the definitive document of natural and free mankind.
Dictators order citizens not to hold opinions on race.
Under the dominion of the Constitution, Americans enjoy the freedom of speech, thought, religion, belief, assembly, segregation, press, communication and every other conceivable, natural and God-given right, freedom, privilege and immunity per the Bill of Rights, with emphasis on the 9th Amendment.
Communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs) falsely and insidiously conflate holding opinions on race with property damage and bodily injury.
America does not need to nullify constitutional freedom of opinion.
America needs to nullify and neutralize, with extreme prejudice, the antithetical, anti-American and anti-Constitutional communists.
America needs to annihilate the enemy of American freedom until he is no more.