Cancelling Dr. Seuss

[larryc]

I saw this in a tweet the other day:

Conservatives: My views are being censored!

Me: Wait, your views in favor of lower taxes are being censored?

Conservatives: No, not those views.

Me: So is it your views in favor of less government regulation?

Conservatives: No, not those views either.

Me: So what view are being censored?

Conservatives (laugh nervously): Oh....you know.

[mahagonny]

I saw this in a tweet the other day:

Conservatives: My views are being censored!

Me: Wait, your views in favor of lower taxes are being censored?

Conservatives: No, not those views.

Me: So is it your views in favor of less government regulation?

Conservatives: No, not those views either.

Me: So what view are being censored?

Conservatives (laugh nervously): Oh....you know.

What's far more common than actually being 100% censored for your views that are politically center or right-of-center is the likelihood that you censor yourself in order to remain popular enough in the academic world. I'm beginning to think it's a bad trade. People who have different views from the far left should speak out more. Here's an example of where it carried a price, but the price ended up being worth it.

From the link I posted just before LarryC:

'Last fall, Katherine Lauer at the University of Kansas was placed on probation by her sorority Kappa Alpha Theta for showing "unbecoming" conduct because she shared her conservative views on social media. The sorority ordered her to "keep track of your individual social media posts" and "assess their alignment with the Kappa Alpha Theta online social media contract" and required her to watch a video selected by the sorority's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. She brought her story to Fox News: "I still don't know exactly what I've done, and to me, I feel like they're really trying to suppress me and silence me."
'Lauer added that many of her sorority sisters thanked her for speaking out: "I've had actually a lot of Thetas reach out to me and thank me for my post and say that they really appreciated my bravery because a lot of the conservative friends that I have do not feel comfortable speaking their opinion." She quit the sorority and started a NeW chapter at her school.'

Italics and bolding are mine.

[ciao_yall]

I saw this in a tweet the other day:

Conservatives: My views are being censored!

Me: Wait, your views in favor of lower taxes are being censored?

Conservatives: No, not those views.

Me: So is it your views in favor of less government regulation?

Conservatives: No, not those views either.

Me: So what view are being censored?

Conservatives (laugh nervously): Oh....you know.

What's far more common than actually being 100% censored for your views that are politically center or right-of-center is the likelihood that you censor yourself in order to remain popular enough in the academic world. I'm beginning to think it's a bad trade. People who have different views from the far left should speak out more. Here's an example of where it carried a price, but the price ended up being worth it.

From the link I posted just before LarryC:

'Last fall, Katherine Lauer at the University of Kansas was placed on probation by her sorority Kappa Alpha Theta for showing "unbecoming" conduct because she shared her conservative views on social media. The sorority ordered her to "keep track of your individual social media posts" and "assess their alignment with the Kappa Alpha Theta online social media contract" and required her to watch a video selected by the sorority's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. She brought her story to Fox News: "I still don't know exactly what I've done, and to me, I feel like they're really trying to suppress me and silence me."
'Lauer added that many of her sorority sisters thanked her for speaking out: "I've had actually a lot of Thetas reach out to me and thank me for my post and say that they really appreciated my bravery because a lot of the conservative friends that I have do not feel comfortable speaking their opinion." She quit the sorority and started a NeW chapter at her school.'

Italics and bolding are mine.

She didn't "share conservative views." She retweeted a virulent racist anti-vaxxer accusing the BLM movement of fraud with no evidence.

[mahagonny]

I have not seen what she posted. Can you show us?

ETA:  Does retweeting someone else's tweet mean you agree with 100% of it? and...

I don't do twitter, but it's not an academic forum. It's just people sounding off and making conversation. My experience is on social media people get called frauds and phonies all the time. Doesn't make it libelous.

Did she purport to speak on behalf of the sorority?

My opinion, BLM has poor priorities, is pretentious and is not doing good for their community, although they are sincere. So it would be easy for me to agree that they are vastly overrated and it's well past time to hear from others, Rob Smith or Kandall Qualls, for example.

[Wahoo Redux]

These things are easy to find:

https://fox4kc.com/news/ku-sorority-member-punished-says-anti-blm-social-media-post-was-misinterpreted/

[mahagonny]

These things are easy to find:

https://fox4kc.com/news/ku-sorority-member-punished-says-anti-blm-social-media-post-was-misinterpreted/

Yes, I saw that in the interim, but because there is nothing racist in Owen's statement I thought there had to be something that I missed... Owens believes that BLM leaders have been exploiting the bleeding heart public for their own material gain, which is true.*
Of course one could choose to believe that not declaring one's wholehearted support for BLM and its activities shows that you are a racist, and one can have a sorority full of people who think that way. But then getting kicked out would be a favor to one like Lauer, more than punishment, on balance. Come out of the closet, folks!

ETA: *...and doing so while declaring you are a trained Marxist is asking for an accusation of fraud, maybe not legally, but in terms of plausibility (though I don't see the word 'fraud' in the post.)

The sorority is absolutely intolerant of these particular (popular) conservative views, which is their right I guess. True, Candace can a get a little shrill, but hey, it's show business after all.

[apl68]

What she re-tweeted is an egregiously foolish post, but suspending somebody from a sorority for it seems excessive--and does somewhat open them to a charge of treating support for BLM as something of a shibboleth.  This is one of those cases where it's hard to say that either side comes out looking very good.

[Wahoo Redux]

Well mahagonny, as I've posted before what worries me is when institutions, particularly employers, dictate what we say off the job or, in this case, when not participating in a social event for a social organization.

As you point out, this young woman was not specifically representing her sorority.  So what business is it of theirs what she does on her own time?

At the same time, part of free speech (acknowledging that we aren't always talking about the legal definition) is not being forced to say or agree with something we don't want to say or agree with.

It is a conundrum.

Since Kappa Alpha Theta is a social entity, and not an employer, the social interaction of their members is important, kind of like a church which has a member invoking satanic rituals.

And conservatives such as yourself would find more support if you did not distort and minimize claims such as Democrats "using the faces of dead black people" to elect white politicians and calling BLM the "most flagrantly racist organization" in America.

As long as conservatives propagandize in this manner they deserve whatever drubbing they get.  Spew hate, get hate back-----something you need to either learn to live with or stop whining about.

[dismalist]

People tend to forget that free speech is a right that only the government can't abridge. Private institutions do so with reckless abandon. A club is an even better example than a firm. I sure as hell wouldn't want lefties in my country club, e.g. Membership in a club is voluntary, and is much, much less costly to leave than a job.

If I were Katherine, I would have resigned, having learned that this club has rules or enforcement mechanisms that I don't like.

There is likely sufficient variety among existing clubs to make this a very small deal. And if not, found a new club!

This is a wonderful example of being able to live peacefully with each other even though we disagree strongly.

I am not Katherine. My actual attitude is the same as G. Marx's:

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member. :-)

[mahagonny]

Well mahagonny, as I've posted before what worries me is when institutions, particularly employers, dictate what we say off the job or, in this case, when not participating in a social event for a social organization.

As you point out, this young woman was not specifically representing her sorority.  So what business is it of theirs what she does on her own time?

At the same time, part of free speech (acknowledging that we aren't always talking about the legal definition) is not being forced to say or agree with something we don't want to say or agree with.

It is a conundrum.

Since Kappa Alpha Theta is a social entity, and not an employer, the social interaction of their members is important, kind of like a church which has a member invoking satanic rituals.

And conservatives such as yourself would find more support if you did not distort and minimize claims such as Democrats "using the faces of dead black people" to elect white politicians and calling BLM the "most flagrantly racist organization" in America.

How did I distort this claim? I posted the question whether retweeting someone else's tweet means you agree with all of it, or maybe only some of it. No answer yet. I don't know the context of the exchanges in the twitter conversation. I maintain that even the shrill Candace Owens is much better grounded than most of the BLM activists. When she jumps on you she jumps with both feet. So what?
Support for BLM is on the wane. 'Defund the police' was their most noticeable blunder.

People tend to forget that free speech is a right that only the government can't abridge. Private institutions do so with reckless abandon. A club is an even better example than a firm. I sure as hell wouldn't want lefties in my country club, e.g. Membership in a club is voluntary, and is much, much less costly to leave than a job.

If I were Katherine, I would have resigned, having learned that this club has rules or enforcement mechanisms that I don't like.

I believe she did, and started a social organization of her own in the college community.

ETA: When Owens says BLM is racist, I'm pretty sure she means not that it espouses white-people hatred (though I'm sure notices that some of them do have the type of racism, but that is not primarily what she's concerned with) but that it promotes the view that black Americans are powerless to improve their lives until the mighty white man changes what he is doing. Which is crippling, insulting and false. Black Americans can put their faith in the nuclear family, stay away from drugs and crime, finish school etc. They've done it before as we know. that's what she's talking about. If you need the nuanced, genteel type of writing, check out Coleman Hughes, John McWhorter, Loury, et al.
Her expression may be antagonistic, but her spirit is optimism.
Con't
Going forward, the democrats will have to get used to fewer votes from the Hispanic community. More and more of them don't need to be "POC" victims of the system, want lower taxes and smaller government (small business entrepreneurs) and aren't in favor of uncontrolled 'immigration.' They did it the legal way and that was fine for them.
'Latinx' was the crowning achievement of botched pandering for votes. Keep 'em coming, democrats.

[dismalist]

...

People tend to forget that free speech is a right that only the government can't abridge. Private institutions do so with reckless abandon. A club is an even better example than a firm. I sure as hell wouldn't want lefties in my country club, e.g. Membership in a club is voluntary, and is much, much less costly to leave than a job.

If I were Katherine, I would have resigned, having learned that this club has rules or enforcement mechanisms that I don't like.

I believe she did, and started a social organization of her own in the college community.

Excellent! There is no problem if one respects the right of association.

[Wahoo Redux]

How did I distort this claim? I posted the question whether retweeting someone else's tweet means you agree with all of it, or maybe only some of it. No answer yet.

Fair enough. 

I was referring to the distortion in the original tweet.  This is one of those things that antagonistic, partisan people do not see and more objective people do see.  I am not about to spend any time explaining this.  BLM is a legit organization with a legit purpose that does not have good control over its members.  Calling BLM "racist" or accusing them of electing white politicians are gross distortions.

Yes, retweeting without context or comment is tacit agreement in the world of social media.

[mahagonny]

Yes, retweeting without context or comment is tacit agreement in the world of social media.

Well OK thanks for giving an answer at least. I am a little surprised. I would have thought it more like showing the quotations for one's perusal. But you'd know better than I.

[Wahoo Redux]

Yes, retweeting without context or comment is tacit agreement in the world of social media.

Well OK thanks for giving an answer at least. I am a little surprised. I would have thought it more like showing the quotations for one's perusal. But you'd know better than I.

I don't necessarily know anything.  This is simply based on observation.  The scenario under discussion is a perfect example.

Why would one retweet a statement unless one were amused by it, offended by it, or in agreement with it?

I have never had a Twitter account myself.

[mahagonny]

Why would one retweet a statement unless one were amused by it, offended by it, or in agreement with it?

Or drinking.

We need to approach each other with more tolerance.