Daryl Davis Takes Center Stage at FAIR: Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism.

Musician Daryl Davis has long been a hero to me. He single-handedly dismantled much of the KKK using love, patience and kindness. He is back in the limelight as one of the spokespersons for FAIR: Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism. His message is spot-on. To end hatred, we must be pro-human.

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Another Look at Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility

First, some statistics:

White Fragility became a New York Times bestseller for more than a year. In September 2019, Slate noted that "White Fragility has yet to leave the New York Times bestseller list since its debut in June 2018, making it the fastest-selling book in the history of Beacon Press." In June 2020, during the George Floyd protests, it reached no. 1 on the New York Times list. The July 26, 2020 edition of the list marked the book's 97th week in the Paperback Nonfiction category, where it was ranked number 1.
Now, some facts about Robin DiAngelo, carefully and accurately reported by The Woke Temple:

Here is DiAngelo's thought process, in all of its glory:

That so many American news media outlets, universities and HR Departments could embrace this divisive, poisonous, pathological, infantile, baseless nonsense for the past couple of years should send a chill through every one of us. How is it possible that so many people supported her patently racist ideas and her repeated infantilization of blacks? The fact that this utter crap was ubiquitously touted by American elites at the same time that they refused to honor Martin Luther King's brilliant time-tested idea to judge people only by their content of character demoralizes me.

It's difficult to determine how to de-program the thousands of people who run our sense-making institutions who continue to tout this garbage.

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The Importance of Free Inquiry at the Academy

Heterodox Academy has released this 3-minute video arguing for something that 20 years ago would have puzzled most people.

This video advocates for

  • Free Inquiry at the Academy
  • Encouraging the Life of the Mind, and
  •  The Use of Evidence when taking positions, rather than relying on mere feelings.

But this is 2021, and we are, in many places, continuing our descent into a new Dark Ages where an increasingly acceptable way to win an argument is to silence one's opponents, using economic threats and brute force if necessary, even at the Academy.

I fully support the following ideas of Heterodox Academy:

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I fully support the above ideas in my role as a law professor and in my personal life. As an attorney affiliated with Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), I am willing to push back against persons and organizations violating these principles where they involve violations of civil rights, including violations of the First Amendment.

In fact, FIRE has now established a Faculty Legal Defense Fund to protect the speech of faculty members.  Here is how it works:

Public college and university faculty who face a threat of sanction by their institution or have been punished for expressive activity—whether it’s instruction, scholarship, or speaking on issues of public concern—can submit matters for FLDF consideration. They can do so through FLDF’s dedicated 24-hour Hotline at 254-500-FLDF (3533), or submit a case online. Our staff quickly review the matter and, if it falls within FLDF’s mandate, connect the faculty member with one of the experienced nearby lawyers in the FLDF network for assistance.

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