५ मार्च, २०२१

What is FAIR?

Because I follow the Twitter feed of the erstwhile NYT columnist Bari Weiss, I noticed that there's a new group that calls itself FAIR — The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism. Here's their video:

 

That's on such a high level of abstraction that it hard to understand what's really going on there. The assumption is that you'll recognize at least some of the names/faces and trust their authority. They seem to be banding together as a correction to the excesses of social-justice activists. But what exactly? Are we to trust them as experts, with details to come later?

I found their website, here, and the front page has that video embedded next to the words "What is FAIR?" So I'm stuck in a loop. "What is FAIR?" is the question I had after watching the video. So I watched it again. As far as I can tell, based on the words spoken, it is a forthright demand for the old-fashioned color-blindness approach to racial justice: There is "one race, the human race."

Given the famous names who've joined together — Steven Pinker, John McWhorter, Glenn Loury, Bari Weiss, etc. — I would expect news coverage of this organization, which seems to have been announced yesterday. But when I did a Google News search, only one thing came up, a NY Post item titled "Booksellers were unprepared for Dr. Seuss ban as sales skyrocket." 

That's not an article about FAIR, just a reference to it at the end of an article about the Seuss crisis:

A Web site has sprung up called BannedSeuss run by the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism that says: “Erasing books is insanity. Stand up for our common humanity.”

Here's the BannedSeuss website.  Ah! It has the full text and pictures of "And To Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street" (a book, that, I think, is cancelled because of the line "A Chinese man who eats with sticks" and the picture of a man whose eyes are represented by short angled lines when everyone else in the book has eyes represented by dots). 

Back to the NY Post:

The Foundation behind it claims to be a non-partisan organization “dedicated to advancing civil rights and liberties for all Americans, and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding and humanity.” It did not return an email from Media Ink seeking comment. None of the banned books could be found at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan’s Union Square on Thursday even though an associate said he believed the store had “And To Think I Found It on Mulberry Street” in stock as recently as Wednesday. Other Dr. Seuss books were still available for purchase, however.

How quickly the mind erases the past. At the NY Post, the title has already deteriorated from "And To Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street" to "And To Think I Found It on Mulberry Street." Just imagine how racist this book would become if we lost access to it! 

I celebrate the BannedSeuss website. I'm not a copyright expert, but I encourage the defense of the practice of publishing the entirety of a book that has been banned. It's fair use, no? It's only by seeing the whole thing that we can know how little was even questionable about this 70-year-old book.

Now, back to the FAIR website. I click through to the "About" page. There's some specificity here. I'll select the most usefully specific material: 

We advocate for individuals who are threatened or persecuted for speech, or who are held to a different set of rules for language or conduct based on their skin color, ancestry, or other immutable characteristics....

We believe bad ideas are best confronted with good ideas – and never with dehumanization, deplatforming or blacklisting.

We believe that objective truth exists, that it is discoverable, and that scientific research must be untainted by any political agenda.

We are pro-human, and promote compassionate anti-racism rooted in dignity and our common humanity.

There's a pledge: "I seek to treat everyone equally without regard to skin color or other immutable characteristics. I believe in applying the same rules to everyone, and reject disparagement of individuals based on the circumstances of their birth... I am open-minded. I seek to understand opinions or behavior that I do not necessarily agree with. I am tolerant and consider points of view that are in conflict with my prior convictions.... I recognize that every person has a unique identity, that our shared humanity is precious, and that it is up to all of us to defend and protect the civic culture that unites us."

There seems to be an effort to infuse the work with the kind of religion that Martin Luther King Jr. brought to the civil rights movement. They seek "redemption and reconciliation" and "to defeat evil." And: "Suffering can educate and transform. We will not retaliate when attacked, physically or otherwise. We will meet hate and anger with compassion and kindness. Choose Love, Not Hate. We seek to resist violence of the spirit as well as the body. We believe in the power of love."

११२ टिप्पण्या:

wendybar म्हणाले...

Because it isn't PROGRESSIVE enough for them....The left doesn't WANT fair, when calling half the country RACISTS or White Supremacists works so well for them.

wendybar म्हणाले...

And about that "Love Trumps Hate" slogan. The only hate and violence so far has come from the left who chanted that like they mean it....They LOVE HATE. It shows.

TML म्हणाले...

I really wish that video wasn't so terribly produced and dopey because I like and respect the people in it, and this just makes them look like they're in a video for the Flat Earth Society. I tell my clients all the time that quality matters for your brand work. Don't look like you got your commercials from an algorithm and stock photos.

jim म्हणाले...

Maybe they could have contest: spot the picture or passage that got the book banned. Sort of like where's Waldo, but with slanty eyes instead of specs.

Kai Akker म्हणाले...

Pendulum slowing down.

Soon it will stop.

Then... love is everywhere!

(Except the Pelosi house.)

rhhardin म्हणाले...

Mulberry Street is an allegory for white leftist elite discovering hitherto hidden racism, except for the last page.

mikee म्हणाले...

"A Chinaman who eats with sticks" was reportedly the original version of the supposedly offensive line. For goodness sake, don't tell the censors about Cardi B song lyrics.

Tommy Duncan म्हणाले...

"Fairness" and "equity" are distinct terms. Progressives don't want fairness. In fact, they want the opposite of fairness.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

No one is more intolerant than white liberals. Karens on steroids.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

On their front page they feature the racist Martin King, who advocated race-based affirmative action and other government programs for blacks.

Are they ignorant or hypocritical?

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

Your search - site:fairforall.org "affirmative action" - did not match any documents.

IOW, they have no comment on what is by far the most predominant form of racism and the only form of systemic racism in the US.

tcrosse म्हणाले...

There's room for debate about what constitutes an immutable characteristic. Being an asshole? (particularly if one was born that way).

Howard म्हणाले...

Liberals policing themselves standing up to the divisive and intolerant wokesters. You people should hope they fail.

RMc म्हणाले...

Think I'll join the Anti-Human Movement instead, thx.

Todd म्हणाले...

When a group like this does not make it clear what they stand for or what they do, assume the worst and you will not be disappointed and likely it will be far worse than the worst that you did assume...

Caroline म्हणाले...

It’s great that they’ve linked to this charming book. I wasn’t familiar with it. Nothing offensive about it all. No. What really offends Asians is discriminating against them in education and hiring.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne म्हणाले...

Speaking of cancel culture; I ran across this yesterday, can't say I'm surprised by anything anymore.

Federal Court Unseals Complaint Detailing Secret Plot To Damage Papa John’s Founder And Company Brand

iowan2 म्हणाले...

“dedicated to advancing civil rights and liberties for all Americans, and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding and humanity.”

"fairness" is an indefinable word. When ever I see it used, I know the author is running a scam.

I treat the people I interact with, with love, acceptance, and respect. Give it try sometime.

frenchy म्हणाले...

This will not be anywhere near enough to deter white liberals from their militant virtue signaling.

I'm Not Sure म्हणाले...

"fairness" is an indefinable word. When ever I see it used, I know the author is running a scam.

Isn't "promoting a common culture based on understanding and humanity" enough? Why is "fairness" in there?

Ice Nine म्हणाले...

>>They seem to be banding together as a correction to the excesses of social-justice activists...I found their website, here,<<

But it won't be there long.

Chris म्हणाले...

Thanks for linking to the Banned book. I have not read that for nearly 50 years. So I couldn't quite remember what was supposed to be so offensive. Not that I have seen it again, I am still not sure what is supposed to be so offensive. Perhaps it is offensive to animals since they are used to pull the wagon.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"We trust that the universe is on the side of justice"

So the universe is "fair"? I don't think so. Seems odd in any case for secular thinkers to affirm.

And they talk about "compassionate anti-racism."

Trying to each the not-crazy progs, perhaps, but the fact that even anti-prog liberals have to tiptoe this way tells you where we stand.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

A 70-year-old book ought to be in the public domain. If copyright holders won't keep a book in print, that's an indication that the public interest lies in letting it go into the public domain. Anything old is likely to have some problems of language and ideas that have gone out of fashion. If the property owners are going to be moved toward suppression of material that they've been bullied into being ashamed of, it would be better to set the writings and drawings free.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

According the Nancy's woke army - MLK was a racist.

Judging people on the content of their character is so ... RASSSISSSST!

Francisco D म्हणाले...

frenchy said...
This will not be anywhere near enough to deter white liberals from their militant virtue signaling.

The dumb ones may think of themselves as liberals, but they are really college trained Marxists.

Original Mike म्हणाले...

""And To Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street" (a book, that, I think, is cancelled because of the line "A Chinese man who eats with sticks" and the picture of a man whose eyes are represented by short angled lines when everyone else in the book has eyes represented by dots)."

THIS is what passes for racism these days? Good grief. These people are clowns. Dangerous clowns.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

IOW, they have no comment on [affirmative action]

I bet everyone will be relived to know that I withdraw my whining about that, since Fair mostly does't seem to have comments or positions on any well defined or substantial issues, because they're new, I think. Apparently the people on the board are against it, e.g. one of the clearest examples is Pinker's "The Ivy League is broken and only standardized tests can fix it".

Michael म्हणाले...

In this case I do recognize some names and trust their authority: John McWhorter and Glenn Loury, specifically. If the video "needs improvement" that just means these people are more concerned with substance than presentation (unlike some...). Let's hope they will see they need both.

Jalanl म्हणाले...

It really is a binary choice - 1) We are all animals to be classified by some system - gender or skin color or whatever, or 2) We are all individuals with 7 billion combinations of unique (and precious) attributes.

Either one gene defines us (skin color) or you "believe the science" that says there are an infinite number of valid human DNA combinations possible.

The essence of racism is each group is identified by their "race" classification. This only leads to hate and envy and, ultimately, mass murder.

The essence of individual freedom is it always leads to the maximum of cooperation, love, joy and human prosperity.

There is no paradise - some people are bad and cause problems in either system. In the "race" system all people are bad because some people are bad; in the individual system everyone is responsible for their own behaviors.

Jamie म्हणाले...

It seems they're trying to thread the needle - to retain the old meaning of "liberal" while not acknowledging that today's liberals by that definition reside, by and large, on the political right. Maybe they're doing it out of pride, or maybe it's because they know they have no shot at getting anyone on what is apparently now the mainstream left to listen unless they can hang onto the label.

Whatever. I'm happy to have them stand up to (and against) the illiberal, intolerant progressives, even if many of them hesitate to acknowledge that they and I have many more values in common than they and those progressives they are (possibly) trying to influence. That they're indulging in loosy-goosy language and dumb bumper stickers like "objective truth exists" (without qualification such as "in some areas, whereas in others there may be salient facts, but the interpretation of the meaning and consequences of those facts can reasonably be debated") seems to me to mean only that they're speaking the language of the progressives - it doesn't tell me why they're doing it. Again, is it pride, or is it the understanding that without that shibboleth they'll get nowhere?

Wince म्हणाले...

Howard said...
Liberals policing themselves standing up to the divisive and intolerant wokesters. You people should hope they fail.

Nobody should. Conservatives are okay with free and fair debate among classical liberals.

It's the illiberal left that utilizes the distraction and fear of cancel culture, precisely to avoid that open debate. We should all hope they fail.

MacMacConnell म्हणाले...

When I see "fairness" or "equity" I think equality of results. The left seems to think our elites are societal wizards that can produce some undefined nirvana. Not defining it leaves a lot of wiggle room, but always makes the rich elites wealth and spreads the poverty equally among the rest of us. In the end it's a hell scape.

That said, I'll give FAIR some slack. I think they are trying to say the American tradition is to incrementally strive for equality to achieve equality as the Constitution's goal as opposed to critical race theory. Critical race theorist are directly opposed to MLK's teachings. I'm surprised they aren't advocating destroying MLK's monuments and desiccating his corpse.

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

Good. At least they're trying. Let's see what they do.
I'm skeptical they'll actually be non-partisan, but we'll see.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

THIS is what passes for racism these days?

The problem is not just comical books for children who have little or no reading ability, there are also bedrooms, chess, Jesus, mermaids, tomboys, cosmic objects, bras, Anglo-Saxons, Toy Story 4, Mary Poppins, Jogging, Italian fashion, image-cropping algorithms, free speech, uncles, dating apps, Dungeons & Dragons, Muppets, mittens that are racist, according to the Scholar and Educator Titania.

Oso Negro म्हणाले...

These people are what I would call "classical liberals", and I applaud their effort, though I expect they will be classed as "counter-revolutionary" by the wokerati. I like much of their statement, save for a couple points:

"I seek to treat everyone equally without regard to skin color or other immutable characteristics."

No, I am not going to get on a bus driven by a person with an I.Q. of 35. No, I am not going to react to a group of Hasidic teens walking down the streets of New York the same way I will a group of black teens. But I don't mind if they do.


"I believe in applying the same rules to everyone, and reject disparagement of individuals based on the circumstances of their birth... I am open-minded."

They are gonna have to define "disparagement" here. It seems to me it leaves the opportunity to have the vapors over seeing a caricature of the helpers from Zomba-ma-Tant, to pick a contemporary example.

"We will not retaliate when attacked, physically or otherwise."

Oh, hell no! My cultural heritage includes ferocious retaliation in the event of attack and I intend to go right on practicing it.

Nonapod म्हणाले...

They certainly seem to be saying a lot of things that I agree with. It'll be interesting to see if they can make any kind of dent. I'm not optimistic. I hear Ebay blocking people selling the banned books now.

I feel like the world has gone insane. So many things seem broken. So many recent events seem unreal.

As one example, there's been some recent polls that indicate that a majority of people are opposed to “require[ing] schools to let biological boys who identify as girls to participate in girls sports, and vice versa.”, which seems sane. But it was only 55% of respondents, 45% percent seemed to apporve. It seems to me that in a less crazy world, it would be more like 90% of respondents who would dissapprove of what is essentially ending girls and womens competitive sports.

Yeah, I know I should probably mistrust such polls, and I do... somewhat. But while I'm seeing some pushback to all this clear insanity, it feels like there should be a hell of a lot more. Perhaps we're all being "gaslit" or whatever, I don't know.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

The woke left ban Dr. Suess... as they crank up the volume on the music made for Hunter Biden(D-tax payer funded & above the law).

GatorNavy म्हणाले...

All this woke nonsense of banning, thought, word and people really makes me wish George Carlin and Sam Kinnison were still alive. Though, I do believe Carlin would be ill with the thought that conservatives are fighting against this evil censorship.

Side note, where are our so called elected officials who claim to be conservative?

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

The anti-bigotry crusade went psychotic way back in the 70s when rich white suburban women, like Althouse, started claiming they were “oppressed just like blacks under Jim Crow.”

This was a evil, obnoxious lie.

The way out of this is to ditch the anti-bigotry crusade entirely.

A start would be for Althouse to admit that she was bullshitting when she was a kid and she just got carried away with her own drama queen act.

There is no epidemic of bigotry to fight. Everybody STFU, go home and stop ranting about this absurd shit.

Oso Negro म्हणाले...

Blogger iowan2 said...

"fairness" is an indefinable word. When ever I see it used, I know the author is running a scam.


My experience is most people like the idea of things being "fair". But half of people think that "fair" means "the rules apply equally to everyone" and the other half feel "fair" means "everyone is treated as an individual". It's hard to find a balance, and so we have perpetual grievance, whether real or perceived.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

If you can identify with MLK's ideas, you have it made.

They can try to take him down, but he is impregnable. His ideas about race relations make too much sense. Don't believe me? Ask J. Edgar Hoover. Ask Richard J. Daley. Ask David Garrow. MLK's personal foibles are irrelevant. No one wants to hear about them. No one wants to believe them.

So, if you want to promote something that is true but controversial, like color-blindness in race relations, hop aboard the MLK express.

RNB म्हणाले...

On Facebook this morning, a friend endorsed a meme denying that the un-publication of six Dr. Suess books was not censorship, but an example of the Suess estate 'learning better' about racism. After all, there are plenty of other Suess books still available to the public. Memory-holing these six was like growing beyond your thirteen-year-old self's love of parachute pants. My friend agreed with this and blamed the hooraw about the withdrawal of the books on 'Republicans' (and particularly the Governor of Georgia).
.
The sad thing? This friend is a writer. I can only guess that he believes MinTruth will stop with six Dr. Suess books. Like how only statues of Confederate generals will be pulled down.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

When they support the repeal of affirmative discrimination, hate crime laws, and everything else that has shat upon the ambitions of a color-blind and equal society, economy, and justice system, I'll stop yawning.

Until then, this is as useful as a Benedict Option bedtime story for former Times employees.

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

I repeat... there is no problem here to solve.

There is no great epidemic of bigotry to fix.

I’m fed up with dumb motherfuckers ranting about bigotry.

We don’t need another group of dumb motherfuckers ranting about bigotry from another perspective.

Everybody shut up. This is the solution. Stop the fucking bigotry ranting.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

Amadeus: Garrow is indeed among the few who understand the difference between MLK's private foibles and his public agenda. I like my politics relatively New Critical. It's the policy that matters, not the vessel it came in.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

You hadn't heard of them before...

So just another grift without a good PR firm?

I love how liberals always use these stupid names for organizations and bills in congress.

I mean, what Neanderthal could ever be against anything that's fair?

Oso Negro म्हणाले...

@Althouse - Bari Weiss did write an interesting column lately that I saw in the Deseret News.
I wondered if you had seen that, NYT aficionado that you are.

https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2021/3/2/22309605/the-silenced-majority-bari-weiss-new-york-times-cancel-culture-free-speech-democrat-republican


WK म्हणाले...

They did a good job on the acronym however. An org that was something like “Stop Hate and Intolerance on Twitter” would likely not gain many followers.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

That ATTTISIOMS is brilliant. The Chinese fellow is part of a jolly, imaginary crowd. And of course, the variations on eyes go way beyond dots. There are swoops of eyes closed in satisfaction. There are all sorts of expressions. How would you depict a Chinese person in your childish imagination?

Sheesh.

Browndog म्हणाले...

I read recently the Dr. Seuss estate is the second highest in annual income, second only to the Michael Jackson estate.

Openidname म्हणाले...

It's not fair use. Publishing an entire work is not fair use.

The Copyright Clause says that copyright exists "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." The argument I would like to see -- in a test case regarding Dr. Seuss, maybe -- is that it does not protect the right not to publish a book at all.

Terry di Tufo म्हणाले...

Bizarre that the website has so little on their history and activities. You can see from CEO Lukianoff's wiki page that FIRE has been around for decades: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Lukianoff

Gusty Winds म्हणाले...

First, the Asian Characters seen pretty happy in the Dr. Seuss book. Of course this is all ridiculous, but leave it to LA Mayor Garcetti to throw support behind more book burning.

But a real conundrum is what do you do about the “It’s a Small World” ride at Disney World? The entire ride is made of cultural caricatures that are simply stereotypical to the location of the culture. It's exploitation of the oppressed. The Eskimos look like Eskimos. The kids in Africa are hanging out with elephants, giraffes, and other animals of the jungle. Has the ride implemented transgender characters yet?? (they could put a few in for the Madison, WI part of the ride).

Shouting Thomas is right. You can chase this bullshit forever.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Something else I saw on Mulberry Street -- a Chinese man who can't get into Harvard.

Browndog म्हणाले...

Liberals/progressives do not believe these books are racist. They don't believe anything they tell you they believe.

Yet, everyone wants to debate whether or not these books are racist, fighting another battle on the lib battlefield they prepared, and you cannot possibly win.

Churchy LaFemme: म्हणाले...

As far as I can tell *this* is the problem with McElligot's Pool: An incidental, happy, non-ethnic, Eskimo.

I'm Not Sure म्हणाले...

"But half of people think that "fair" means "the rules apply equally to everyone" and the other half feel "fair" means "everyone is treated as an individual"."

You forgot the half that think "fair" means that "everybody gets the same thing". Usually, that ends up being "government cheese".

wendybar म्हणाले...

You can still buy Mein Kampf on EBAY and on Amazon Priorities, I guess....sometimes I think Regressives are doing these things just to piss off the masses.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

Liberals/progressives do not believe these books are racist. They don't believe anything they tell you they believe.

Absolutely right, Browndog. It's all about moving the goalposts and watching as the naive and gullible struggle to keep up. The only way to counter this idiocy is to refuse to play their game.

narciso म्हणाले...

Across the pond


https://melaniephillips.substack.com

MacMacConnell म्हणाले...

Dr. Seuss estate has found a new Dr. Seuss manuscript in a trunk in their attic titled "Wet Ass Pussy".

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

As far as I can tell *this* is the problem with McElligot's Pool: An incidental, happy, non-ethnic, Eskimo.

It says "Eskimo fish". "Why You Probably Shouldn't Say 'Eskimo'"

Using Sherlock Holmes books as a reference, you should say "Esquimaux", and don't pronounce it some weird Frenchy way.

Caligula म्हणाले...

"It's not fair use. Publishing an entire work is not fair use."

I'd have to agree. Even though if I were on a jury I'd opt for nullification, as there's no way I'd vote to award damages to a publisher who'd refused to make the work available.

There is, BTW, plenty of software in this category: it's been abandoned by its publisher; you can no longer buy it from them or even pay them to use it. But it's still copyrighted.

Because, "limited term" has been interpreted to mean, the term is "limited" so long as it's not infinite. Thanx, Disney.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
daskol म्हणाले...

I twitter follow most of those folks. I wish them the best. It's a group of people who have in common a hostility to orthodoxy being imposed on them and others. They are also ambitious and accomplished, and if they can find a way through FAIR to align their ambition and careerism with doing something beneficial, that would be great. Because as a rule, I don't think careerist academics/writers are the most risk-taking, self-sacrificing courageous bunch individually.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

The corrupt left promote racism, hatred, violence, and segregation with their lies.

Nearly half of the surveyed liberals estimated between 1,000 & 10,000 unarmed black men were killed in 2019 by American police. The actual number is 27. BLM-Antifa play on this ignorance—exacerbated by biased media—to incite political violence & uprisings.

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

This shit is happening because several generations of prog liberal arts grads see this bigotry crusade as the ultimate scam on the taxpayers.

They get paid to wear a halo and to be activists.

Adding a layer of assholes on our sides wearing halos and being activists doesn’t stop this scam. It amplifies it.

The thing to do is to starve the prog of its non-profit and tax money, although I’ll admit to being vague on the details about how to do it.

There is no great, interesting intellectual conversation to have here. This is dumb bullshit.

Keep you money out of the hands of the people on both sides looking to make a career out of this bullshit. Try to find a way to starve them to death. Tell them to shut up.

Tarrou म्हणाले...

Refer to this twitter thread for what is meant by "love"

Protip: it has the same relationship to actual love as "antiracism" has to actual anti-racism.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/157293655714037760/796892184737349672/S0VBtwWBVA.png

John henry म्हणाले...

Wendybar

I think you are missing an apostrophe.

Shouldn't it be "love Trump's hate"

The there is the question of whether it's a command "you shou love Trump's hate"

Or a silent implied I as in I love Trump's hate.

I love Trump's hate and I love the way he directs it at America's and my (birm) enemies.

John Henry

John henry म्हणाले...

He’s a great kid. He hates the same way I do.

– Joseph P. Kennedy

Speaking of son Bobby

John Henry

Leon म्हणाले...

Dr Seuss drew in a "comic type style". Doing so by necessity accentuates defining characteristics of a person's race as a means of shorthand. In the forties we fought a war against The Japanese in the fifties and sixties the Chinese were commis none of which would'n necessarily engendered particular respect.

I'm interested to know how many of the contemporary DC or marvel comic books will hold up to this sort of scrutiny.

Daniel Jackson म्हणाले...

Fair is the other F-word.

Gahrie म्हणाले...

On Facebook this morning, a friend endorsed a meme denying that the un-publication of six Dr. Suess books was not censorship, but an example of the Suess estate 'learning better' about racism.

I experienced the same thing.

The sad thing? This friend is a writer. I can only guess that he believes MinTruth will stop with six Dr. Suess books. Like how only statues of Confederate generals will be pulled down.

Mine is a history teacher. She was also fine with pulling down statues. I asked her today to cite a time in history when the book banners were the good guys.

Richard म्हणाले...

Boy, this is a tough crowd. You are not being fair to FAIR. Don't expect this organization to approach this issue from a conservative point of view. The members are traditional liberals. We should applaud the fact that they are willing to stand up to the Leftist bigots, and not try and find fault with what they say because in your opinion they do not go far enough to fight against the censorship of the left.

MadTownGuy म्हणाले...

"A Chinese man who eats with sticks"

But they're recyclable!
Making chopsticks into house furnishings (BBC)

"ChopValue collects 350,000 used chopsticks from Vancouver restaurantsevery week.

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

No one group is going to be able to turn this around, but at least their hearts are in the right place. And they may make it easier for others in media and academia to stand up as well.

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

Really, folks, you’re not getting it.

The problem here is lazy people with no real job skills trying to get a payday.

Fabricating some sort of social problem has become the default method of generating a scam.

This has become a national psychosis, on every side of the political spectrum.

The only way to stop this is by bleeding the money out of it, ridiculing the parasites and ignoring their fabricated problems.

pacwest म्हणाले...

FAIR - Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Clark म्हणाले...

I saw yesterday on twitter an announcement about this group. It had photos and names of 30 people. I looked through the list and saw that 12 of the 30 are people whose work I follow enough to say I wholeheartedly support you (when it comes to free expression, civil rights, equality under the law, and pushing back against woke madness).

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Peter Boghossian
Andrew Doyle
Kmele Foster
Coleman Hughes
Megyn Kelly
Glen Loury
John McWhorter
Steven Pinker
Helen Pluckrose
Bari Weiss
Thomas Chatterton Williams

MadTownGuy म्हणाले...


John henry said...

"Wendybar

I think you are missing an apostrophe.

Shouldn't it be "love Trump's hate"

The there is the question of whether it's a command "you shou love Trump's hate"

Or a silent implied I as in I love Trump's hate.

I love Trump's hate and I love the way he directs it at America's and my (birm) enemies.
"

I think what they really mean is they "love Trump-hate." But I see your point.

johns म्हणाले...

I read the book at the link Ann provided. I'm surprised that it was not cancelled because there is not a single female depicted in the entire book out of scores of characters.

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

Being for fairness is a trial lawyer’s most powerful argument to the Jury. These guys also favor “the Human Race.” And that is the most powerful inclusion category one can use. Then only non-humans are eligible for extermination. And it is the expropriation of our life, liberty and property that we are fighting here.

mockturtle म्हणाले...

because there is not a single female depicted in the entire book

Oh, johns, you are so yesterday! Don't you know that terms like male and female are now verboten?

wendybar म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
n.n म्हणाले...

Diversity dogma, not limited to racism, is a structural, progressive condition.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"the 70s when rich white suburban women, like Althouse"

I was a rich white suburban woman in the 70s?

I was poor and I lived in Manhattan.

n.n म्हणाले...

The left doesn't WANT fair

The left is politically congruent ("=") with a Pro-Choice, selective, opportunistic, relativistic religion (i.e. behavioral protocol), a Twilight faith, and liberal ideology. A cult that serves the democratic/dictatorial duality of the 1% with hopes and dreams to consolidate capital and control. To that end, they indulge liberal license to play semantic games, prosecute conceptual corruption, and preach conflation of logical domains (e.g. inferential "science"). God, gods, or people... persons aspiring to be mortal gods and goddesses, choose your philosopher.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

What is fair? I think the best answer remains The Golden Rule. Nothing else really gets close.

n.n म्हणाले...

re: people... persons aspiring to be mortal gods and goddesses

The secular cults have historically been the leaders of violating human rights in plain and obfuscated sight, with emotionally-appealing indulgence and offers of secular lucre. From Great Leap to one-child to selective-child, a progressive path and grade.

n.n म्हणाले...

What is fair? I think the best answer remains The Golden Rule.

A reconciliation of individual dignity, intrinsic value, inordinate worth, and natural imperatives.

n.n म्हणाले...

Left-wing (i.e. totalitarian bent) ideologies are notoriously transhumane with "benefits".

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

Everybody thinks they have been treated unfairly on a daily basis, and they are right.

"Life isn't fair" may be the most accurate statement ever uttered, it's entirely natural, and impossible to fix. Even if somehow everyone was treated fairly for a day, few would agree it happened, and many would be pissed off about it. It would be better to look for a solvable problem to address.

hstad म्हणाले...

"Fair", AA, is just another political advocacy group (of thousands) funded by 'Monied Sponsors' spouting propoganda. Money has commercialized the 'Race Industry' beyond Sharpton and Jackson wildest dreams. In the future, it will be interesting when the monied crowd has to disclose their names publicly whether this industry survives.

GMay म्हणाले...

As if the Woke Nazis haven't been crawling up the Seuss estate's - and anything peripherally associated with it - ass for the last several years to provoke this totes voluntary act.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Tucker Carlson has pretty much captured what drives Democrats and their affluent white female liberal enablers (e.g., Peggy Noonan, Ann Althouse):

“They’re terrified that someday an army of tattooed high school dropouts in Confederate flag tank-tops is going to rise up from the trailer parks of West Virginia and take over the country,” Carlson continued. “They’ll storm the cities with their 75 calibre AR-15 assault weapon machine guns with flash suppressors, each one of which can fire over a million bullets per minute when mounted on the back of an F-150 pickup truck, plastered with racist bumper stickers. That is their nightmare. That is the monster under every liberal’s bed.”

JaimeRoberto म्हणाले...

To quote my high school math teacher, "There's no such thing as fair!"

The context was students complaining that their grades weren't fair, that the grades he gave them were too low. "I didn't 'give' you anything. You got the grade you deserved." I wonder if he would have survived in his job these days. I'm guessing that he would because there are enough tiger moms in the school district to back him up.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne म्हणाले...

Big Mike said...

Quoting Tucker Carlson...

“They’re terrified that someday an army of tattooed high school dropouts in Confederate flag tank-tops is going to rise up from the trailer parks of West Virginia and take over the country,” Carlson continued. ...That is their nightmare. That is the monster under every liberal’s bed.”

Which begs the question; why do Democrats keep doing things that seem geared towards making a mass uprising of the working and middle classes against them an inevitability?

Churchy LaFemme: म्हणाले...

Which begs the question; why do Democrats keep doing things that seem geared towards making a mass uprising of the working and middle classes against them an inevitability?

Why did the scorpion sting the frog?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne म्हणाले...

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Why did the scorpion sting the frog?

Touché!

I'm Not Sure म्हणाले...

"Life isn't fair"

Growing up, I heard this more times than I can count from my parents. For people who never went to college, they were quite knowledgeable about how things work.

n.n म्हणाले...

why do Democrats keep doing things that seem geared towards making a mass uprising

The democratic/dictatorial duality with a hope and dream of redistributive change, per chance retributive change, diversity, too, in pursuit of capital, control, and selfiesh fulfillment.

Francisco D म्हणाले...

Ann Althouse said... I was a rich white suburban woman in the 70s?

I was poor and I lived in Manhattan.


You paid your dues as did I living in shitty Chicago apartments at that time.

There is not reason to feel guilty about affluence if you earned it through intelligence, hard work and delaying gratification.

Paul From Minneapolis म्हणाले...

Howard, with that comment "You people should hope they fail" you've provided very strong evidence you don't understand the people you're addressing. I think that means you shouldn't despise us as much as you seem to, all too often.

n.n म्हणाले...

Fair is standing up to the normalization of diversity dogma, not limited to racism. Fair is Pro-Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

Diversity of individuals, minority of one.

Rory म्हणाले...

"Which begs the question; why do Democrats keep doing things that seem geared towards making a mass uprising"

I think that there's a lot more of genetics involved here than most people realize. There's such joy that can be derived by bringing someone else to heel, and we've developed a culture where millions can do that under the guise of good intentions. How likely is it that so many assholes are being driven to their behavior out of concern for others. More likely they're assholes first, with concern the necessary figleaf.

The Framers of the Constitution were incredible: without any notion of genetics, they knew these people were out there, and that they had to be frustrated and put at loggerheads with each other. We've waited too long, but we have to do that again.

Michelle Dulak Thomson म्हणाले...

Doesn't anyone else remember the last FAIR? I mean, "Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting"? That organization has been around for three decades at least. There's also the Federation for American Immigration Reform. I doubt members of any of these organizations are on speaking terms with more than one of the other two.

PM म्हणाले...

I feel it would helpful to narrow the vanilla band in Neopolitan ice cream.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

They want to walk a tightrope: oppose cancel culture but continue to make sure people to the right of them get cancelled. It’s a basic failure to understand the power dynamics of the mob and their own lack of courage.

Maybe when they grow up they’ll take positions on the issues that have brought us to this point But I doubt it. Issues are icky. Issues get your hands dirty.

But their decision to poach an acronym already associated with a group that has been widely cancelled merely for credibly and reasonably advocating against illegal immigration is a punch in the face to that group. It reveals either an utter lack of seriousness or a blinding case of belly-gazing by these people. Not encouraging. Put a bunch of pundits in a room, and what do you get? A room full of self-promoting pundits, saying nothing of value. As I said, the Benedict Option.

Baker म्हणाले...

Don’t Chinese men eat with sticks, most anyway?

bbkingfish म्हणाले...

This stood out in the NY Post article:

“I’d be surprised if they accounted for even one percent of the Dr. Seuss books we sell,” Daunt (CEO of Barnes & Noble)said of the six yanked titles..."

I wonder if the profit motive might have had something to do with the cancellation of those titles by Dr. Suess Enterprises.

Cormac Kehoe म्हणाले...

Who is blocking access to the video? You might want to find out.