That Democrats will not hesitate to try and “cancel” people who have the audacity to disagree with them is not a new development. But the pace at which it is happening in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd should seriously alarm anyone who truly values diversity of thought and the free exchange of ideas.
The Free Speech Union is keeping a running list of people who have either been fired/forced to resign or who may be for daring to express criticism of the radical Black Lives Matter movement and/or their allies, or who have otherwise pushed back against established narratives. Here are just a few examples they cited, but make sure to check out the full thread, which they add to every day:
Professor Jacobson wrote a detailed post on what Cornell students are trying to do to Professor Collum and the backstory behind it, which you can read here.
Tucker Carlson, who is a frequent target of cancel culturalists like the left-wing provocateurs at Media Matters, found himself this week on the receiving end of yet another campaign to end his Fox News show by way of “rage mob” leftists who accused him of “racism” for pointing out some inconvenient truths Monday night about how Blacks Lives Matter and related organized social justice warrior mobs are motivated by the desire for absolute “power” and the intent to silence opposing voices in order to advance their radical agendas.
Here’s what Carlson said Tuesday in response:
Minutes after we said that, the mob came for us — irony of ironies. They’ve spent the last 24 hours trying to force this show off the air for good. They won’t succeed, thankfully. We work for one of the last brave companies in America. They’re not intimidated. We’re grateful for that. But the whole thing did get us thinking that we should be more specific about who this mob is, and what they’re doing. Who are the people trying to take over the country, cancel our rights, eliminate our centuries-long tradition of tolerance, yes tolerance, and free expression? And the truth is, we often don’t know their names. They’re mostly faceless political agitators who exist primarily online. They are trolls who thrive on cruelty. And yet suddenly they have immense power. Weak leaders now reflexively bow to their demands, no matter what those demands are.[…]“Who we are.” It’s a good question, actually. Who exactly are we? At this point, we’re becoming North Korea. We now believe in bloodguilt. We punish people for the sins of their relatives. We don’t allow individuals to have private thoughts. We hurt anyone who disagrees with orthodoxy. We demand that the innocent plead guilty to things we know they didn’t do, and then read their confessions in public, to prove they’ve been re-educated. And then we brag about doing it.Obviously, something terrifying has descended on America. It’s easy to see what’s happened: terrible ideas suddenly have free reign. Why? Because no one pushed back. They’re met with supine weakness. You’ve seen it happen a thousand times — Some professional activist says something crazy and destructive because that’s what professional activists do, always. “Defund the police!” What’s changed, what’s brand new, is that no one in charge has the stones to disagree. So the rhetoric gets even crazier and more destructive — “Kill the police!” OK, what next?
Carlson has been in rare form lately. Make sure to watch the full segment below:
Unfortunately, Free Speech Union’s thread on recent victims of the left’s ideological purging is likely to grow. The only question remains is how long will our society continue to tolerate it or look the other way as long as it’s not them on the receiving end of a cancel notice?
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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