Let’s not forget MLK’s message of unity
For FAIR’s Substack, FAIR Advisor Monica Harris writes about how so much of our discourse today is predicated on highlighting our differences, and why she believes this is a stark departure from King’s message of unity and tolerance.
This piece was also published in the Billings Gazette, the largest newspaper in the state of Montana.
My unique personal experience has heightened my awareness of the need to find common ground in these challenging times. Without question, the Black Lives Matter movement and race essentialism have done the hard work of forcing America to reckon with inequities and injustices that have gone unaddressed for too long. But these efforts shouldn’t obscure the essence of King’s message: we’re stronger together when we transcend our differences. As we honor King today, let’s remember that the quest for racial equality should be a pro-human mission that unites all of us.
Life is Inherently Uncomfortable
For the Wisdom of Crowds, FAIR Advisor Shadi Hamid writes about a lecturer who showed a painting of the Prophet Mohamed to her art history class and subsequently lost her job.
The presumption of “safety” on campus isn’t just annoying in the way that a lot of “woke” stuff might be. It actually has potentially serious implications for how a new generation thinks about risk. Needless to say, if you’re in tech, then you probably have more reason to worry, since real innovation depends on a minimal degree of intellectual curiosity, individual resilience, and comfort with discomfort, as well as a willingness to put yourself in compromising positions when it comes to work-life balance.
To put it a little bit more starkly, I can understand why a tech start-up founder wouldn’t want a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion department to run amok internally, just as I can understand not wanting to hire Gen-Zers who say they need regular mental health breaks and the like.
Glenn Loury: We are fighting for western civilisation
For Unherd, FAIR Advisor Glenn Loury lays out his theory for modern anti-racism.
Finally, I want to say that equity is not equality. I could name them but I won’t: the writers in the US who are so prominent now — Ibram X. Kendi comes to mind — in promoting a certain ideology assert, “I see a disparity. I want equity.” And by equity they mean an equal representation. This is not equality.
If you use a different standard of assessment in order to achieve equity, you have just patronised me. You have just communicated tacitly that you don’t think I’m capable of performing according to the objective criteria of assessment as well as anybody else. I am now your client. I am now a ward. I go or come by your leave.
This argument that “We blacks must be made equal and you have to open up the doors and let us in! Never mind that our test scores are not as great” is pathetic. It’s a surrender of dignity. You will not be equal at the end of that argument even if you get what you ask for. There’s no substitute for earning the respect of your peers: if they grant it to you out of guilt or pity they have just reduced you, not elevated you.
In the spirit of MLK, we must rediscover the purpose of education
For The Hill, FAIR Advisor Daryl Davis and FAIR Founder Bion Bartning write about how King’s positive, inclusive message of nonviolent resistance to the horrible injustice of segregation and discrimination succeeded in changing hearts and minds where others had failed.
King’s hopeful message still resonates today, because it is based on natural rights, moral truths and the founding ideals of this country. Treat every person equally, without regard to skin color or other immutable characteristics. Tolerate and listen to diverse perspectives in pursuit of the objective truth. Recognize that every person has a unique identity, that our shared humanity is precious and that it is up to all of us to defend and protect the civic culture that unites us. Fairness. Understanding. Humanity. These are the unifying, universal values that should be taught in our schools.
So, what have we learned from this great visionary? That education is how we can bring about a world where all people are treated equally. That exposure to people with differing beliefs, viewpoints and solutions accelerates the journey on the path to human progress. And that it is our right, our responsibility, to ensure that schools and teachers bestow the next generation with both intelligence and character, as the young King advocated so many years ago.
Jamil Jivani: Martin Luther King Jr. proved progress depends on free speech
For the National Post, Jamil Jivani writes about why progress depends on free speech in order to flourish.
But it’s puzzling how institutions can celebrate some of his political ideas while also undermining free speech. In the United Kingdom, for example, the country’s largest university, Open University, celebrates King for his “radical” political ideas. Yet, it also advocates in favour of anti-free-speech cancel culture. According to The Telegraph, an Open University anti-racism training course offered at over 100 other universities teaches that “cancel culture” helps advance “social and racial justice.”
The contradiction is obvious. You don’t get King’s contributions to “social and racial justice” without free speech. Cancel culture is antithetical to what the U.S. civil rights movement stood for.
If Martin Luther King Jr. Day is to mean anything, then it must be an invitation to have an honest look at how progress has been realized over the past century. King’s legacy affirms why we don’t have progress without free speech.
What if Diversity Trainings Are Doing More Harm Than Good?
For the New York Times, Jesse Singal writes about the evidence base for DEI trainings and how they often seem geared more toward sparking a revolutionary re-understanding of race relations than solving organizations’ specific problems.
That’s partly because any psychological intervention may turn out to do more harm than good. The late psychologist Scott Lilienfeld made this point in an influential 2007 article where he argued that certain interventions — including ones geared at fighting youth substance use, youth delinquency and PTSD — likely fell into that category. In the case of D.E.I., Dr. Dobbin and Dr. Kalev warn that diversity trainings that are mandatory, or that threaten dominant groups’ sense of belonging or make them feel blamed, may elicit negative backlash or exacerbate pre-existing biases.
Free Speech: An Eternal Struggle
For Merion West, Aaron Tao writes about while we may be living in an age of unprecedented political freedom, it would be a mistake to assume these liberties are permanent or to take them for granted.
Staying true to principles and continuing to expand the circle of freedom is an eternal battle that went on throughout history and continues to this day. It is worth emphasizing that when compared to other liberal democracies, the United States Supreme Court has consistently refused to carve out a “hate speech” exception for speech doctrine and other protections covered under the First Amendment. To repeat: There is no hate speech exception to the First Amendment. Even as experts and laypersons debate whether Americans should follow international trends or cherish our exceptionalism, this is the current reality. Present-day Americans are indeed blessed to enjoy greater free speech protections, whether compared to their ancestors or people living in other countries.
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Love every single one of these. We desperately need commonsense again.