Standing on solid ground in uncertain times

As the cultural pendulum swings violently in a new direction, we must strive to catch it in the center

Creator: tiero | Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Since its inception, we at FAIR have prided ourselves on an authentically diverse membership that represents a broad range of perspectives, opinions, and beliefs across the political spectrum. We may not agree on all issues, but we find common ground on our core principles: a commitment to classical liberal values that are embraced by the broad “Center” of sensible Americans who lean right, lean left, or lean no direction at all. One of FAIR’s greatest strengths, and the reason for much of its success, lies in the support we have received from this powerful coalition.

Adhering to our core principles has been challenging at times. FAIR’s advocacy for the safety and protection of women in sports, prisons, and other spaces has highlighted the difficulty of honoring universal equality when doing so deprives others of essential rights and liberties.

We have remained steadfast in our mission by focusing on the issues, not the identity or political allegiance of those advocating for or against them. We have never hesitated to call out intolerance and racism, even when emanating from the political Left that claims to abhor this behavior. We have accepted the burden of being maligned and misrepresented when our positions have coincided with the political Right.

Above all, we have held firm in our convictions because we understand that the foundational values we defend are absolutely critical to any free society.

Since the 2024 presidential election, and especially in the last six weeks, the landscape we navigate has changed profoundly. As the balance of power has shifted, we’ve seen increasing support for positions FAIR has long advocated, especially in education and medicine. We enthusiastically welcomed the new administration’s efforts to eliminate identity-based practices and other policies and programs that deny Americans the right to equal dignity and respect. We supported measures protecting children from potentially irreversible medical interventions that may have unknown lifelong consequences and efficacy. In doing so, we again assumed the risk of being mislabelled as “right wing” or GOP apologists.

Yet in the past few months we’ve also witnessed something disturbing: the rapid rise of conservative extremism that some commentators have dubbed the “Woke Right.” Recent events have made it painfully clear that intolerance and racism in the form of bullying, harassment and name calling aren’t confined to the Left; they are inherently human impulses. Plus ça change.

Nowhere is this reprobate behavior more apparent than on social media that dominate social and political discourse. On X, conservative posters invite users to ignore the perspectives of non-Anglo Saxons. Biracial children are derided as “repulsive” and “failed Jewish science experiment[s].” According to journalist River Page, “Hate against Indian people is normalized on X now, as is hate against gays, women, blacks, Muslims, Jews, and practically any other conceivable minority.” Outside of social media, Republican lawmakers in five states, including Michigan, have recently introduced resolutions urging the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark case that established same-sex marriage rights nationwide. As Bari Weiss noted in her recent address to the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, just “[a]s the left defaced and desecrated statues of Churchill, the vandals on the right desecrate his name and his memory.”

Some might dismiss these developments because they don’t represent state action; X users lack control over institutions or the well-entrenched cultural power that progressives have wielded for years. While this is certainly true, it’s important to keep in mind that the abuses of the Left didn’t occur all at once; they accumulated over time as the party gained political power. We are only four months into a new political dynamic that’s still evolving.

During that time, the Trump administration has charged federal agencies with the task of assessing “the number of new DEI hires,” a potentially discriminatory exercise that may call into question an employee’s skills, abilities, or merit based solely on their identity. Despite an Executive Order aimed at restoring freedom of speech and ending government censorship, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression found that the White House has already “taken an extraordinary number of actions implicating a range of First Amendment concerns.” In other words, the seeds of state action have been sown.

What’s happening now isn’t entirely unexpected. Fringe elements on both ends of the political spectrum have been responsible for much of the division that has polarized our country. Thankfully, this extremism does not represent the vast majority of conservatives who share FAIR’s core principles and commitment to treat all human beings with dignity and respect.

Yet what’s happening also demands our urgent attention. Just as we are willing to highlight intolerance and racism on the radical Left, we must be equally vigilant in identifying the transgressions of an emboldened extreme on the Right. As the cultural pendulum swings violently in a new direction, we must strive to catch it in the center.

It is incumbent upon us to hold fast to the classical liberal values embraced by the broad “Center” – not just because they are the common ground upon which all sensible Americans stand, but because the success of FAIR’s mission relies on our ability to maintain the support of this vital coalition.

We won’t retain credibility to effectively challenge intolerance and racism on the Left if we ignore the same behavior on the Right. We can’t support our brave members on the ground in progressive states if we do not defend these values, unequivocally and unapologetically, when they are under attack elsewhere.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously warned that “[i]njustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” As we navigate this challenging new landscape, let us carry in our hearts a willingness to hold those we support, and those we oppose, to the same standards. The values we hold dear cannot possibly endure if we choose to adhere to them selectively.