Seems as though I'm alone in worrying more about Russian aggression in Europe than about rooting out and punishing
obnoxious racial opinions expressed in private. But still -- I'm starting
to worry about freedom of speech and it's de facto abuse even though
that abuse isn't coming from the government.
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire Police Commissioner
Robert Copeland was overheard sounding off in a restaurant last March,
complaining that he hated watching television, because every time he
turns it on, he sees “that f-cking n-gger.” TFN, of course, being the
president of the United States Barack Obama. There has been, as you
might expect, a call to have him resign or be fired, but the town just
isn't having any part of that and a fellow commissioner claims he's a
"very nice person." No doubt he is on matters other than insulting our
country and its president, our citizens of African ancestry and
basically everyone else who finds such public speech to be unacceptable
and particularly by an elected official entrusted with public safety.
Am
I the only one who finds that far more egregious than a private phone
conversation, taken out of context and without permission and involving a
businessman acting jealous with his would-be girlfriend? It won't get
the publicity of course, because it doesn't involve one of the sacred
games our nation cares about more than anything else, but whether or not
Copeland decides to step down with or without the support of his peers,
perhaps the people's right to censure, if not censor such speech will
be exercised at the polls and TFR that f-cking racist will have to find
an honest job somewhere else. I strongly defend the right to hold an
opinion as well as I defend my right to use any legal means to make sure
the holder thereof isn't on the public payroll.
It seems that your opinion is two-fold here. In your personal blog, you take exception to Kareem Abdul Jabbar's rant against racism in the heart. I agree it is an over-the-top and unnecessary exercise in race hostility. As have you, Jabbar has lived quite a bit longer than I have and has probably seen first-hand a great deal more discrimination, prejudice and hatred than I could ever imagine. Yet when he is not willing to let go of the sins of the past and reach out in love and friendship, he is only widening the chasm. We all need to love each other to work through this. We are all pained by the persistence of racial hatred in this country. But we are slowly leaving the haters behind us. We move forward in love and faith in each other. Perhaps he has good reason to feel bitter. Maybe he just is truly hurt by Sterling's actions and words.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the police chief. Honestly, who really cares? Of course it is crude and despicable. But he is not really a person of any importance. Obviously he would be out of a job overnight in almost any other municipality in the U.S. But he seems safe and sound in his little whites only world. This is doubtless what emboldens him to be so intransigent. Maybe the town will come to its senses and at the very least censure him. He will not likely be re-elected.
In the case of Sterling... Pride cometh before a fall. This guy is abusing his wealth and power to buy prostitutes, making a complete mockery of any sense of decency. Purest hubris as well as hatred of women. He has built his empire in a sport that was revolutionized by black American athletes, in particular, the most loved and cherished Magic Johnson, a basketball legend, courageous HIV survivor and a public persona seldom equalled in sports or any other profession or discipline. Ruthlessly trashing him like he was not even a human being. I really don't understand who recorded what conversation or how the hell it came out, but I'm not particularly interested. Apparently, the major player in this entire fiasco was the pimp who arranged the meeting with the current GF that he was hoping to control with his childish rant and jealousies. Just goes to show you that money can't buy love. This guy made his own bed. There is no reason that those who love the Los Angeles Clippers should ever forgive him.
I'm glad that you agree that we are slowly leaving at least some kinds of haters behind us and in some ways it may be proof of that that so many people are obsessed with this one guy whose obnoxiousness is coupled with a sh*tload of money. Even so, I'm sensitive about huge campaigns to ruin somebody for his opinions lest they turn into that American tradition of the Witch Hunt. Very sensitive and I remember when lives were deliberately ruined for having read Marx or listened to a speech or simply having been accused of leftist leanings.
DeleteSmall town officials, and the people you have to deal with every day far outnumber some doddering old geezer like Sterling though. And then, shouting the N word in public is a bit worse than some drunken, phone conversation. They can still and do still make life less than a dream for an awful lot of people. It's what people do of course, that's important and I have to respect the right to have unpopular and wrong opinions else I'd have to shut myself up and that ain't gonna happen.
If only Sterling were the only example of himself out there, but of course he isn't, he's the one getting all the publicity because he's involved in sports and because he's rich. It probably is obvious that I don't give a shit about sports, but I do care a bit about the people we grant power over us, including the power to point guns at us and lock us up and invade our privacy and all too often to shoot us. Public employees owe us, their employers more than Sterling owes us.
The selectivity of the media in what they choose to elevate over the really scary and pivotal events in world history truly pisses me off too. Russian bombers cruising off the California coast? Never mind, you see this guy used racist language! This guy is insulting a basketball hero. Hey, is the President of the USA chopped liver? How recently was it that we were traitors and haters for insulting George Bush by pointing out verifiable deeds? I just think it's a bit selective and I think it's sad that we select things to make a fuss about for reasons of ratings.
Last week, a conservative friend and colleague sent me this article: Will Conservatives Soon Be Sent To Re-Education Camps?. Oh no! Not that “free speech” trope again. See, here’s my problem with such commentary:
ReplyDelete“Silly me! I thought free speech was legal in America. I thought this was a republic with a Constitution guaranteeing our right to express ourselves? I didn’t know speaking your mind or expressing your opinions could result in the end of your career or the confiscation of your property.”
Here is what the First Amendment says: “Congress shall make no laws …”
The Constitution says nothing about a corporation, or a newspaper columnist (there is also a free press guarantee), or sports league. The Constitution does not require a news kiosk to stock copies of the Communist Daily Worker. It does not require a blogger to post comments that violate a blogger’s comment policy and/or sensibilities. The Constitution does not require a sports league to hire racists, anti-Semites, homophobes, or misogynists.
“Don’t look now, but it’s happening — if you’re a conservative.”
Aww, what a pity! Poor, oppressed, and persecuted little conservative reserves the right to say anything, but resents any backlash or criticism in kind. I call this a double standard. Criticism of “political correctness” is merely an excuse that says in essence: Free speech for me … but not for thee.
“What’s next? Re-education camps, where our fellow citizens are taken away to be brainwashed into changing their views or attitude? Don’t laugh; it’s already happening… (skip) … does your employer have the right to suspend you from your job?”
Pure hyperbole conspires with a perennial straw man fallacy. A man makes a stupid and misplaced comment, but a football league is not allowed to discipline a player for conduct unbecoming of the organization? Since when is a football league the same as Congress? If you represent a team or a company or a school, then perhaps you should be more circumspect in your public comments. How does asymmetrical free speech constitute free speech?
(continued)
“This is a football team. Whether you are gay or straight should not matter. But neither should your views on two men kissing.”
ReplyDeleteThe only cogent phrase is this one: “Whether you are gay or straight should not matter.” Should Michael Sam be forced to censure himself in public? Why is it okay for a straight couple to kiss in public but not a gay couple? How does Don Jones’ “disgusted and offended” remark translate into freedom for Michael Sam?
“Is the free speech of a NFL player, or conservative CEO or courageous women’s rights crusader worth less than the free speech of a neo-Nazi group?”
More hyperbole, plus the logical fallacy of false equivalence rearing its ugly head again: I challenge anyone to find any neo-Nazi sympathizer in any position responsibility. Straw man arguments frankly offend me.
The religious conservative argument is also bunk. Religion has often been invoked as justification to discriminate, and discrimination - even on religious grounds - does not make citizens equal under law.
Finally, a word about hypocrisy: Conservatives should talk. Years ago, I wrote a post defending a conservative friend who was harassed by the far rightwing of her party, accusing her of being a RINO and a traitor to the cause:
“ Returning to the subject of political correctness, liberals prefer the term cognitive linguistics to describe the framing effect of language and word-choice in shaping the attitudes and actions of speakers and listeners. In concept, the abuse and misuse of language contributes to negative stereotypes that can restrict the rights, opportunities, and freedoms of people. One goal of cognitive linguistics is to render pejorative labels as socially unacceptable, thus encouraging us to view individuals on their merits as opposed to stereotypes …
In short, reactionary ideas and talking points have infected public discourse to such a degree that it is poisoning how we treat each other in our daily lives. It is a political subculture that shuns dialogue and the democratic exchange of ideas in favor of outright elimination of the opposing side through suppression, condemnation, ostracism, or extermination.”
At least "political correctness" affords us an opportunity to make ethical and moral choices, to distinguish right from wrong and good from evil. Rank hypocrisy and sour grapes from conservative ranks has accomplished nothing.
Everyone has a right to an opinion, but everyone includes the guy who thinks your opinion makes you an asshole, but when we label some opinion 'PC' we act as though it were otherwise. One has the right to feel any way one wants about Gay people or Tea Partiers or anyone else, but then he doesn't have the right to stop others from expressing annoyance at it. The whole mockery of PC thing is an attempt to pretend that there is nothing in the world but opinion and morality and decency and respect and the right to equal protection can be dismissed by calling it PC -- just as science can be dismissed as "opinion."
ReplyDeleteIn short I support the Nazis right to speak and I support my right to shout them down.
I do wish however that we wouldn't act as though these distractions were more important than some very scary stuff going on. I'm going to officially not give a shit about Sterling and the stupid opinions of stupid people and the stupid networks that ignore 98% of the news if the Russians start marching into Europe once again and all the economic horrors of 17th, 18th and 19th century Capitalism are revisited, all the horrors of cold war and repression and with all power and wealth concentrated in few enough people to fit into one black hole of a room.
Frankly I'm boiling over with pejorative labels.
Boiling with pejorative labels, indeed. My anti-Tea Pot boileth over.
DeleteOne more afterthought with respect to the above referenced article:
“Whether you are gay or straight should not matter.”
This is precisely the point missed by Wayne Allyn Root, writer for the Personal Liberty Digest of Indigestion: It should not matter; yet subject commentator passed on a chance to take an ethical and moral stand. I suppose distinguishing right from wrong is just too ‘PC’ and too inconvenient when you’re defending a specious argument.
Speaking of fallacious and hollow defenses of nothing, I add this falafel of fallacious reasoning: False attribution and false causality:
If a rightwing commentator criticizes ME for condemning Don Jones or Don Sterling over their callous and careless remarks, how does my exercise of ‘politically correct speech” – my taking an ethical and moral stand in the matter - make me responsible for any alleged job suspension or loss of property on their part?
Did my remark cause the censure of Don Jones, or did Don Jones do this to himself? Did my commentary cause the NBL to act against Sterling, or did Sterling do this to himself? Take responsibility for your actions, a meme often used and abused by conservative commentators but rarely put into practice. When I exercise my right to free speech, I have no control over actions taken by the NFL or the NBL or other entities, nor do I care.
Why should I check my free speech rights at the door just because some bigot-for-brains runs in front of a bus, while some Roote-for-brains blames liberals with a conscience for every half-assed conspiracy about re-education camps in Never-Never-Land? I’ve had quite enough of this bullshit!
I have no more interest in Sterling's words than anything else that comes out of his orifices. He violated a contract and is facing the consequences of that. Public outcry is just noise and media hype. Give to the corporations what belongs to the corporations, IMO.
DeleteThe only reason he gets more attention than some nasty local businessman is that it's profitable to give it to him. I refuse to participate and besides, the evil empire would criticize liberals for absolutely anything if it suited them. These people have no noble agenda, no interest in justice, the public good or in anything but power and money for themselves. Fork 'em, as the knife said to the spoon.