152 Prominent Artists & Scholars Pen Letter Warning of the Dangers of Cancel Culture (1 Viewer)

[NoPartyMike]

https://harpers.org/a-letter-on-justice-and-open-debate/

But this needed reckoning has also intensified a new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that tend to weaken our norms of open debate and toleration of differences in favor of ideological conformity.

censoriousness is also spreading more widely in our culture: an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty.

But it is now all too common to hear calls for swift and severe retribution in response to perceived transgressions of speech and thought. More troubling still, institutional leaders, in a spirit of panicked damage control, are delivering hasty and disproportionate punishments instead of considered reforms.

This stifling atmosphere will ultimately harm the most vital causes of our time. The restriction of debate, whether by a repressive government or an intolerant society, invariably hurts those who lack power and makes everyone less capable of democratic participation. The way to defeat bad ideas is by exposure, argument, and persuasion, not by trying to silence or wish them away.

I have to agree with them. Something seems off about the latest heavy handed approach to everything. I kind of liken it to the beating of children to get them to behave or act accordingly. Ultimately, it can have the opposite of the desired effect, and bring forth additional negativities.

 

[LA - L.A.]

Yea. I'm not trying to be difficult - seriously.

I am *staunchly* anti-censorship. I've battled colleagues and parents and site and district administration over things I was teaching.

So I am generally sympathetic to this notion of shaming into silence.

But I'm being 100% serious when I say I have no idea how to have the conversation, because the core phrase and definition is such a moving target.

In my experience, this is not a signal to actual discussion about a problem, but rather just a decontextualized talking point that becomes nothing more than an umbrella term to consolidate exaggerated victimization.

From my viewpoint, most of the people that make accusations and criticisms in which they label people as "politically correct," "virtue signaling," and "cancel culture" are childishly name calling using grown-up names.

Some people only know how to call someone a name when they don't understand, agree with, or like them. They have no idea how to speak openly, honestly and respectfully with people they don't understand, agree with, or like.

The saddest thing about it is that they also have no idea how to be open, honest and respectful with themselves. I think that the biggest problem we have as a society is that people see and treat others as they see and treat themselves.

 

[TheRealTruth]

Who is firing JK Rowling? What is she being fired from? Who is firing her? I don't see any of that happening to her. So, the definition that you propose doesn't fit the great example that you single out - which is exactly the problem I am trying to illustrate.

It's pretty evident you did not read the article, because the article is about Gillian Phillip being fired for expressing support for JK Rowling on twitter.

From the article:

A bestselling children’s author has been sacked after expressing support for fellow writer J. K. Rowling in the bitter row over transgender rights.

In the latest example of ‘cancel culture’, novelist Gillian Philip was last week jettisoned from her role writing titles for a major publishing company.

It came after the writer, who has penned a popular series of books for eight-to-12-year-olds, added the hashtag #IStandWithJKRowling to her Twitter handle.

 

[Ayo]

It's pretty evident you did not read the article, because the article is about Gillian Phillip being fired for expressing support for JK Rowling on twitter.

From the article:

What?

I didn't see Gillian Philips referenced in the post I quoted initially, which is where the question I originally asked (and repeated) came from. The article "This is not a drill: it’s time to #cancel JK Rowling"

Did I miss something:

Here is an example of the radical left cancel culture. I think the left does it on a much grander scale, maybe because of their reach with the media and the culture, but then again, I am extremely biased. I am also personally not buying certain products so the right definitely does it.

 

[Farb]

https://www.thewrap.com/160-journal...letter-on-cancel-culture-they-miss-the-point/

More than 160 journalists and academics on Friday rebuked an open letter published in Harper’s this week about the “intolerance of opposing views” for failing to recognize those who have been “silenced for generations” and said the critics of cancel culture “miss the point.”

“They miss the point: the irony of the piece is that nowhere in it do the signatories mention how marginalized voices have been silenced for generations in journalism, academia, and publishing,” the response, published in the newsletter The Objective, said.

“The signatories, many of them white, wealthy, and endowed with massive platforms, argue that they are afraid of being silenced, that so-called cancel culture is out of control, and that they fear for their jobs and free exchange of ideas, even as they speak from one of the most prestigious magazines in the country.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One thing to notice, there are a lot of 'unsigned' on that list. Why? Could they be worried about the blowblack from the cancel culture?

Freedom of speech hinges on ones color and wealth? Seems kind of bigoted to me.

 

[SaintForLife]

Here is an excellent example of the cancel culture on the left that some people try to claim doesn't exist. It's also better than most things the NYT has published on their opinion pages.

Resignation Letter — Bari Weiss

www.bariweiss.com

 

[Farb]

Here is an excellent example of the cancel culture on the left that some people try to claim doesn't exist. It's also better than most things the NYT has published on their opinion pages.

Resignation Letter — Bari Weiss

www.bariweiss.com

"But the lessons that ought to have followed the election—lessons about the importance of understanding other Americans, the necessity of resisting tribalism, and the centrality of the free exchange of ideas to a democratic society—have not been learned. Instead, a new consensus has emerged in the press, but perhaps especially at this paper: that truth isn’t a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else."

Probably one of the best summaries of the state of journalism I have read in a while.

 

[SaintForLife]

"But the lessons that ought to have followed the election—lessons about the importance of understanding other Americans, the necessity of resisting tribalism, and the centrality of the free exchange of ideas to a democratic society—have not been learned. Instead, a new consensus has emerged in the press, but perhaps especially at this paper: that truth isn’t a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else."

Probably one of the best summaries of the state of journalism I have read in a while.

There are some other good points in her letter.

But the truth is that intellectual curiosity—let alone risk-taking—is now a liability at The Times. Why edit something challenging to our readers, or write something bold only to go through the numbing process of making it ideologically kosher, when we can assure ourselves of job security (and clicks) by publishing our 4000th op-ed arguing that Donald Trump is a unique danger to the country and the world? And so self-censorship has become the norm.

...Or perhaps it is because they know that, nowadays, standing up for principle at the paper does not win plaudits. It puts a target on your back. Too wise to post on Slack, they write to me privately about the “new McCarthyism” that has taken root at the paper of record.

All this bodes ill, especially for independent-minded young writers and editors paying close attention to what they’ll have to do to advance in their careers. Rule One: Speak your mind at your own peril. Rule Two: Never risk commissioning a story that goes against the narrative. Rule Three: Never believe an editor or publisher who urges you to go against the grain. Eventually, the publisher will cave to the mob, the editor will get fired or reassigned, and you’ll be hung out to dry.

 

[SaintForLife]

Since some people are claiming cancel culture doesn't exist I'll post some examples.

How Non-Existent Cancel Culture Works at Princeton and Elsewhere

Last week in Quillette, a Princeton Classics professor, Joshua T. Katz, published an article criticizing a letter signed by some of his institution's

reason.com

* A 54-year-old government contractor was fired after the Washington Post outed her in a 3,000-word article as having attended a Halloween party two years prior in a blackface costume satirizing Megyn Kelly's racial views.

The Washington Post's Halloween Costume Hit Job Is a New Low for Cancel Culture

A few years ago, something mildly embarrassing occurred at a Halloween party hosted by a Washington Post cartoonist: A white woman painted her face black

reason.com

* A San Diego Gas and Electric Co. employee was fired days after a stranger took a picture of him in his truck making with his fingers an "OK" sign that was interpreted as a white power gesture.

On Cancel Culture and Civil Liberties

There have been a series of recent incidents in which individuals who offended one or more members of the far left have been "canceled," i.e., social

reason.com

* A 28-year-old political scientist was fired from his Democratic consulting firm days after tweeting respectable research indicating that violent protests are less effective at changing policy in the preferred direction than nonviolent protests.

The 1793 Project Unmasked

Anyone who still doubts that woke progressives can pose a material threat to the pursuit of truth should consider the case of David Shor. A week ago, as

reason.com

* Philadelphia Inquirer Editor Stan Wischnowski resigned Saturday after a staff revolt stemming from an opinion piece headlined "Buildings Matter, Too."

Stan Wischnowski resigns as The Philadelphia Inquirer’s top editor

Publisher Lisa Hughes said a search will begin to replace Wischnowski as the executive editor.

www.inquirer.com

* Variety Editor-in-Chief Claudia Eller was placed on administrative leave after she (a) wrote a self-critical column about not doing enough to diversify her newsroom, then (b) called one of her subsequent you're-still-not-doing-enough critics "bitter."

Claudia Eller, Variety editor in chief, placed on leave after Twitter spat

Variety editor in chief Claudia Eller was placed on a two-month administrative leave this week for calling a South Asian writer “bitter” during a Twitter beef about an op-ed she wrote a…

nypost.com

Variety Editor Claudia Eller is placed on leave of absence

The move comes a day after Eller engaged in a Twitter dust-up over newsroom diversity.

www.latimes.com

* Several news organizations, after tweeting or sending out messages of support for the protests and/or Black Lives Matter, were met with "name and shame" campaigns for not doing enough.

Journalists of color are fed up and speaking out | CNN Business

The lack of diversity has long been an issue in the media industry. But this week, more journalists than ever are speaking out about it in ways they have not before.

www.cnn.com

James Bennet's Resignation Proves the Woke Scolds Are Taking Over The New York Times

James Bennet resigned as editorial page editor of The New York Times on Sunday, following a successful campaign by irate staffers to oust the person who

reason.com

The Revolution is Eating its Own

Jonathan Chait has a stunning article in New York Magazine describing and criticizing what has become known as (but he doesn't refer to as) the cancel

reason.com

 

[V Chip]

It's interesting that the right was the originator of "cancel culture" (just it wasn't called that back then), but now that the left is using it (and yes, abusing it just as the right has done), now there's blowback against it and it's a horrible, horrible thing.

 

[Farb]

What do you mean 'originator' of cancel culture?

I am not dismissing it, I just want some examples if you can. I am not in anyway saying the right doesn't do it too. I have admitted that I do it against certain companies and I think I lean a little more to the right
I am also biased but I think the left is more active in this while I do think the right is making a concerted effort to do it as well to 'beat the left at their own game' type deal.

 

[V Chip]

What do you mean 'originator' of cancel culture?

I am not dismissing it, I just want some examples if you can. I am not in anyway saying the right doesn't do it too. I have admitted that I do it against certain companies and I think I lean a little more to the right
I am also biased but I think the left is more active in this while I do think the right is making a concerted effort to do it as well to 'beat the left at their own game' type deal.

Conservatives have been cancelling things and people for centuries -- they originated things like book burning, witch burning, ostracization of blacks, women, gays, atheists (or other religions). There's tons of examples if you simply think about it. Liberals were generally part of the ostracized, being excommunicated from churches, cast out of society, or punished for "thought crimes." Cancel Culture is simply a current name being given to things that have happened for a really long time. It's not just the purview of social media.

 

[bdb13]

Conservatives have been cancelling things and people for centuries -- they originated things like book burning, witch burning, ostracization of blacks, women, gays, atheists (or other religions). There's tons of examples if you simply think about it. Liberals were generally part of the ostracized, being excommunicated from churches, cast out of society, or punished for "thought crimes." Cancel Culture is simply a current name being given to things that have happened for a really long time. It's not just the purview of social media.

Remember when "Support the Troops" was constantly used to silence the slightest criticism of the second Gulf war? That's actually one of the more egregious examples now that I think about it.

 

[SaintForLife]

Here are a few more examples.

 

[Farb]

Here are a few more examples.

All for saying that the museum will still buy art from 'white' artist. I am glad he was stopped and canceled. He was a week away from invading Poland.

 

[MT15]

You guys are actually funny in this. I’m sorry, but we are discussing literally centuries of oppression and you both have zero to say. You don’t think anyone other than liberals practices these types of things. Yet these examples of injustice from the left just completely outrage you. Or so it seems, anyway, maybe not?

Okay, seriously, yes people shouldn’t be arbitrarily punished for things that are pretty innocuous. Although I won’t ever feel bad for criticizing someone who promotes white supremacy or feel bad if they get fired. Nobody has to be a racist, it’s a choice.

Now, just imagine being punished for something that is out of your control. Being discriminated against, being persecuted or even killed for the way you were born. It’s still happening today. But your focus is entirely one sided.

So, no, cancel culture isn’t anything new, it’s not the end of the country. It’s been practiced in this land since before this country existed. It’s just that now the tables have turned a bit. Does it go too far sometimes? Absolutely. Is it outrageous? Well, yes, but only when taken in entirety. Not when you focus only on certain injustices and ignore all the others. Make up a new name for it so that you can point fingers and claim victim hood.

I think you are both good guys, really. But just take a step back and try to look at the whole picture. Try to get out of your own heads and shrug off the narrative that you are being fed and really see the whole picture. Just a thought.