Where AOC Goes Wrong on “Anti-Racism”

I agree with Colin Wright here. I often agree with AOC, but not here. If fewer people on the left actually took more time to get to know the opinions of people on the right (instead of mocking them at a distance for being reincarnations of Hitler), we could have better conversations about HOW to teach our children about racism in our schools.

As I've opined many times, it is a terrible approach to "teaching" to divide 8-year olds into "colors," telling the "white" ones that they and their families are irredeemable oppressors while telling the "black" children that they forever destined to be victims. This deplorable approach has been documented by many dozens of first-party/whistle-blower accounts and leaked teaching materials. Whether you want to call it CRT or neo-CRT or something else, I consider this approach (which also proudly goes under the name of "anti-racism") child abuse. If you doubt that this divisive approach is being taught in many schools, check out these materials and good luck finding any "anti-racists" teachers who extol the teachings of Martin Luther King in the year 2021.

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Attorney with Stellar Career with NY Legal Services Dares to Have an Opinion that Counters the Woke Narrative.

Here’s an example a good-hearted intelligent attorney who has been cancelled by fringe left-wing ideologues. This type of problem started off as a few rain drops (e.g., the case of Steven Pinker), but now we’re in a torrential storm. There are so many other stories emerging too. Many people have personally communicated to me that they are afraid to express their opinions--they are afraid to like my FB posts, even though they agree with many of them.

This is the case of Maud Maron, a Legal Aid Attorney who has had a long and stellar career in NY, but how dare she express an opinion that counters the prevailing narrative! Off with her head! She has filed suit against her office. The allegations described in this article by FAIR are extremely disturbing. Here's an excerpt from FAIR's article:

As a committed public defender with an exemplary record for over two decades, Maud has represented poor and low-income New Yorkers of every skin color in criminal court. But when she wrote an op-ed disagreeing with Robin DiAngelo’s illiberal claim that all white people are racist, her employer and union publicly attacked her in racially-charged social media posts about her alleged “white superiority,” what she must think simply because she is, in their words, a “white practitioner,” and how she participates in “white supremacy” and “oppresses” others solely because of her skin color. By claiming they are “ashamed that she works at the Legal Aid Society” and emphatically stating, “Enough is enough,” they made it clear she was no longer welcome at her job.

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The Need for Absolute Moral Purity on Transgender Issues: The Story of Milli Hill

The story told by Milli Hill is stunning, disturbing and increasingly played out these days. Here the comment that caused her to become the object of intense hate by trans rights activists:

“Thanks. Good to see this post. I would challenge the term ‘birthing person’ in this context though, especially on international day to end violence against women. It is women who are seen as the ‘fragile sex’ etc, and obstetric violence is violence against women. Let’s not forget who the oppressed are here, and why.”

This comment was the match that lit the gasoline.

Hill recently tweeted:

Last Nov I expressed the view that obstetric violence is violence against women. It happens to women 'because they are female'. The resulting pile on was horrific. I've finally decided to tell my story and shine a light on this misogynistic bullying.

Hill is an eloquent and sensitive thinker and writer, but that didn't protect her. Despite being the target of a hate-fest, Hill is maintaining her position and her measured state of mind. I end here with this excerpt, but I highly recommend here article, "I Will Not be Silenced."

By sharing this story, I am aware I am laying it in front of you for your judgement. You may decide that my views about obstetric violence or the distinction between sex and gender are wrong. And that’s OK. It should be ok for us to hold different views and to respectfully discuss them. When we do so, it’s sometimes even possible to change people’s minds. Alternatively, we don’t change their minds, but our own clarity of thought benefits from the dialogue, and we develop and grow from the experience of sharing our views and disagreeing. We discover branches of thought we have not yet explored, we enter into grey areas, we see new perspectives. This is the kind of nuanced discussion that elevates humanity and promotes ideals such as peace, progress, growth and tolerance.

The opposite happens when we decide it is acceptable to mistreat, silence or bully people with whom we do not agree. It should never be acceptable to threaten individual’s livelihoods in the way that is currently happening to so many women. I can see that the tide is currently beginning to turn on this, as more women speak out – and this is my main motivation for speaking out. But I also hope that at some point there is a period of reflection on just how far the policing of women’s thoughts and opinions was allowed to go before anybody really noticed. To those of us in the eye of the storm, it felt completely dystopian, and this was exacerbated by the fact that the majority of people seemed to have no idea that a modern day ‘witch hunt’ was happening – or perhaps they did know, but looked the other way.

I also hope that people take time to consider why those who are being dragged to the pyre are not just women, but in most cases, lifelong left-leaning, open minded, educated and tolerant women, often with a history of supporting minority groups or working in areas concerned with justice and fairness. Either there is something in the water that has caused these usually rational and inclusive women to turn into hateful bigots overnight, or they have a point that’s worth listening to.

Meanwhile, J.K.Rowling stepped in to offer some words of support for Hill, somehow increasing her attractiveness as a target for venom:

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Why We Need to Re-Teach the Importance of Free Speech to Each Generation

Jonathan Rauch, author of The Constitution of Knowledge, discussing free speech with Andrew Sullivan:

Books like mine, I hope, and work like yours [Sullivan's], will sound the alarm and show the way out, show that our arguments are strong, that pluralism is really the only path to a peaceful, productive and knowledgeable society. What the purists have to argue is only eternal warfare, in which arguments are not resolved. And the casualties are either physical human bodies, or ostracism, or ignorance, or chilling.

Even if we don't win that argument right now, I keep pointing out to people: Remember the notions of free speech and free thought and all the rigors of science? These things are profoundly counterintuitive. The idea that speech is blasphemous, heretical, wrongheaded, offensive--add your adjectives--that speech is like that? That ideas like that should not only be allowed, but affirmatively protected, is the strangest and weirdest, and probably the craziest social idea that was ever invented. And it's only rescued by the fact that it's also the most successful social idea that was ever invented by a country mile. I would argue that it put an end to the creed wars. It gave us knowledge. It gave us finally some peace. And the result of that counter-intuitiveness is that you and I and our children, metaphorically, and our grandchildren and their grandchildren, will have to get up every morning and defend these ideas from scratch against a new generation that, for whatever new reason, emotional safety-ism or critical race theory or something else, that they don't get it. And we just have to be cheerful about that because, historically speaking, we've done incredibly well for about two and a half centuries. This is a template in the history of the human species.

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Andrew Sullivan Explains What has Changed on the Political Left

Andrew Sullivan is perplexed and deeply concerned. I'm talking about same Andrew Sullivan who was far ahead of the curve on gay marriage. He supported Barack Obama. He has leaned left on many issues. To call him a conservative (or a liberal) cannot be done without a huge asterisk. I've followed Sullivan for years and I value his heterodox viewpoints. I share his concern with what is happening to America's political left. Here's an excerpt from his article, "What Happened To You? The radicalization of the American elite against liberalism."

“What happened to you?”

It’s a question I get a lot on Twitter. “When did you become so far right?” “Why have you become a white supremacist, transphobic, misogynistic eugenicist?” Or, of course: “See! I told you who he really was! Just take the hood off, Sully!” It’s trolling, mainly. And it’s a weapon for some in the elite to wield against others in the kind of emotional blackmail spiral that was first pioneered on elite college campuses. But it’s worth answering, a year after I was booted from New York Magazine for my unacceptable politics. Because it seems to me that the dynamic should really be the other way round.

The real question is: what happened to you?

. . .

Look how far the left’s war on liberalism has gone.

Due process? If you’re a male on campus, gone. Privacy? Stripped away — by anonymous rape accusations, exposure of private emails, violence against people’s private homes, screaming at folks in restaurants, sordid exposés of sexual encounters, eagerly published by woke mags. Non-violence? Exceptions are available if you want to “punch a fascist.” Free speech? Only if you don’t mind being fired and ostracized as a righteous consequence. Free association? You’ve got to be kidding. Religious freedom? Illegitimate bigotry. Equality? Only group equity counts now, and individuals of the wrong identity can and must be discriminated against. Color-blindness? Another word for racism. Mercy? Not for oppressors. Intent? Irrelevant. Objectivity? A racist lie. Science? A manifestation of white supremacy. Biological sex? Replaced by socially constructed gender so that women have penises and men have periods. The rule of law? Not for migrants or looters. Borders? Racist. Viewpoint diversity? A form of violence against the oppressed.

Continue ReadingAndrew Sullivan Explains What has Changed on the Political Left