SALLY MORRIS: PART 3 - FREEDOM OF SPEECH 101: IDENTITY POLITICS AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Have you found yourself weighing every word you utter? Sometimes we hesitate to speak at all because we’re not sure what today’s acceptable term is. It changes. And if we misstep we often pay a steep price. There’s a reason. To a large degree this is the product of a movement known a the “Frankfurt School”, a seminal Communist organization. Because many of those involved were ethnically Jewish, they left first Russia during Stalin’s anti-semitic pogroms, then fled Germany as Hitler took power. They found a home in America at Columbia University and began their efforts to sell their ideology. Because what they had to offer didn’t thrive in a successful capitalist economy where people were not in want, they devised ways they could foster discontent and ultimately unrest by pitting one “special interest” group against everyone else. It didn’t matter that they had no solutions - they were into problems. While they were at it they become highly influential in our education system as well as our media and entertainment industries. Their greatest weapon has been “white guilt”. Black Americans, they urged, were still victims of the slave era and could never succeed in a capitalist system. Hispanics were victims of American imperialism, their lands “stolen”. Every group they could identify and isolate became a target of this campaign of complaint. But when they set their sights on the cause of women they hit the mother lode. If women could only be fulfilled by “escaping” their role as “mother” and move into the exciting and competitive world of typewriters and sewing machines! They got our own government on board - now they could tax not only a wife’s wages but the wages of the person caring for the child. It had the bonus effect of separating families in such a way that the chain of family tradition and custom which may have stretched back indeed for centuries, could now be broken. Today there is scarcely a child who lives in an extended family of grandparents, aunts and uncles. Many have little knowledge of family - or their country’s - history. In other words, given inadequate schooling by our public education system, rendering them intellectually dependent, and without the reinforcement of family, children are vulnerable to indoctrination as well. Today we see the results. There is a“sensitivity” industry now. Recently a professor was on an elevator. He jokingly asked for the “lingerie” floor. Unfortunately, a female Gender Studies professor was also present. She filed a sexual harrassment complaint. It made things worse when he tried to explain to the foreign-born lady that it was a punchline to an old joke. Now he was “mansplaining”! During a hearing, the Secretary of the Interior greeted a witness of Japanese heritage, “konichiwa,” meaning “good afternoon” - an insult to her ethnic background. Recently a young lady wore a Chinese-inspired dress to a prom and posted a photo on Facebook. She was roundly and bitterly criticized, critics alleging “cultural appropriation”. Think about the ramifications of joining non-Hispanic friends for tacos, or taking your occidental date for Peking Duck. Conversation is a minefield of “microaggressions”. But we only need worry about certain groups. Following is a chart to guide you. You need to worry about offending (in approximately this order): Muslims Blacks LGBTQs Women Hispanics Man-made Climate change believers Other minorities You DON’T need to worry about offending: Gun owners Pro-life advocates Christians Jews Veterans Man-made Climate change skeptics White males In Canada it is worse. Jordan Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, is taking issue with legislation requiring the use of artificial gender pronouns - “zee” and “zur”, and recognizing a non-human identity - “otherkin”. It’s no joke. Ezra Levant, Canadian commentator, was sued and had to pay $80,000 to a Muslim for calling him “anti-semitic” - which he is, in fact. The same Muslim is now demanding that his neighbor take down a cross from her backyard, which is certainly an attack on her expression. Mark Steyn was taken to court for criticizing Michael Mann’s phony “hockey stick” alleged climate change chart. Distinguished law professor Amy Wax wrote an op-ed about values. Colleagues demanded she stop teaching. We are becoming mute - isolated by social pressures.
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