Weekly Roundup
Don’t Judge a Book by its Author
For FAIR’s Substack, Jordan Randall writes about how a local bookstore canceled his book launch because he is not trans.
It is ironic how accurately my book depicts the exact situation I now find myself in. Much of the struggles I am going through are directly parallel to Pinkface. Busboys and Poets' decision to illegally break our contract and cancel my book event because the characters in the book don’t precisely align with my identity is emblematic of the publishing landscape authors are now being forced to navigate. Busboys and Poets is a reference to Langston Hughes, and almost all the artists depicted on the bookstore’s walls are prominent black artists. Meanwhile, the owner is Middle Eastern. But that doesn’t matter to me. Why can’t they apply the same principles to people of different genders?
The Supreme Court Is About to Decide the Future of Free Speech
For Persuasion, FAIR Advisor Nadine Strossen writes about how a cluster of rulings this month could define online communication for years to come.
Current moderation policies have warranted strong critiques, including for unjustifiably disfavoring certain expression and speakers. Yet legitimate government efforts to regulate these policies, even for the asserted purpose of making them more fair, in turn raise serious free speech problems. Government control of the companies’ editorial decisions violates the free speech rights of not only the platforms themselves, but also of all of us who use them. Four cases on the Court’s current docket address these critically important issues: three cases that directly involve social media, which the Court has not yet decided, and one that involves an analogous offline situation, which the Court decided last week.
In Defense of Violent Rap
For The Free Press, Kat Rosenfield writes about the investigation into Diddy and the importance that we preserve the ability to distinguish between cruel words and bad deeds.
Does evil hide in plain sight? Perhaps sometimes. Mostly, though, it just hides, and we can only imagine where and how. But the people who would collapse the distinction between artist and art, or art and artist, seem to put little stock in imagination. Indeed, the most extreme rhetoric from these corners would eliminate fiction as a category entirely—and with it, the ancient catharsis that comes from giving voice to the darkness that lurks in human hearts.
Are DEI programs really the problem?
For The Hill, Sheena Michele Mason writes about why she believes DEI is not the problem, even if it’s sometimes used ineffectively.
We can create a future without as much of the injustice, inequity, sameness and exclusion that we all maintain, even if unintentionally. First, be bold enough to imagine it’s possible. Second, hold with conviction that everyone deserves to grow intellectually, thrive socially and live purposefully. Then, we can chart a course with less fighting over the symptoms of our ailments and focus on root causes like social and economic class hierarchies.
Canada’s Assault on Free Speech
For Persuasion, Jeffrey Cieslikowski writes about the The Online Harms Act.
Free expression is the mechanism by which citizens in a democracy seek this knowledge and understanding that Meiklejohn references. A democracy, by definition, derives its consent from the people. When the government gets in the business of regulating ideas and opinions, the citizenry can no longer debate and deliberate freely, and, thus, the basis of democracy crumbles.
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Yes, DEI is the problem. When I see the word equity, I know the rot is still in the concept. We can't all be 5'10", blonde, and beautiful. Nor should we all be. Equality = opportunity to be your best
Equity = outcome
Shall I demand to have my legs stretched and hair dyed forever to be like previous example? No. And, I shouldn't and don't want to do that, either.
If you really want to make a difference and unearth what goes on in our educational systems and how teachers and students are treated by ultra-woke administrators and/or colleagues, then dive into Fresno Unified, Central Unified and Clovis Unified of Central California. A great case is Wawona Middle School in FUSD where my friends teach and chronic campus violence and threats of violence are disregarded. In one of a long list of examples is a kid with a horrific record of bad behavior came to class and said; “I’m gonna shoot every mother fucker here.” The teacher called campus security to have him removed. It was thought that student would be expelled. He wasn’t even suspended. When my buddy earnestly inquired as to why this threat, and other threats, were not only ignored but not even recorded by the administration, they replied; “He didn’t mean it.” And; “He comes from a bad background at home.” Followed, as usual, by excuses for ANY bad or dangerous behavior by ANY student and particularly if they are a minority.
Padrig20@gmail.com