And More…
Don’t fit neatly into our categories but worthwhile exploring.
Killer Mike on Free Speech: Free Speech Let’s Me Know My Enemy
Delivered in April 2023 at the FIRE Gala, rapper Killer Mike tells the story of how he learned the value of free expression, why listening to and speaking with those we disagree with makes us better, and why it is up to all of us to preserve a culture of free speech in America. Watch the video
Brief Interviews with Dangerous Amateurs
An interesting interview with Christopher Lasch's Angry Ghost, an anonymous Twitter voice, on the power of anonymous media critics and public thinkers, communal voices, and a new left aligned with global capitalism and focused on the global multitude— there’s “a repositioning of neoliberalism and institutional legitimacy around the idea of inclusivity and equality…an attempt and perhaps a sincere one by corporations, universities, civil service…to reorient the mission of capitalism from profit-making toward saving the world.”
The Classically Greek Roots of Civilizational Self-Doubt
In this excerpt from Western Self-Contempt: Oikophobia in the Decline of Civilizations, Benedict Beckeld goes back to the ancient Greeks to show how Okiophobia, or “the fear or hatred of one’s own society or civilization” takes over a society. Beckeld’s analysis reveals a fascinating parallel between ancient Greek society and western civilization today. “The rise itself contributes to the fall, and what was strength, namely diversity and openness in adopting new ideas, becomes weakness and fragmentation.”
Who Really Benefits From the First Amendment?
Former ACLU president Nadine Strossen argues “the purpose of free speech is to give the marginalized an escape hatch from the status quo, not to entrench political power.” Strossen writes that those who suppress “disfavored ideas” invoke “the false and dangerous equation between free expression and physical violence,” pointing specifically to what his happening on college campuses. Strossen’s main warning is that “powerful people and popular ideas don’t need First Amendment protections; marginalized people and unpopular ideas do.”
What the Reactions to Clarence Thomas Post-Roe Reveal
An insightful read for those who want to understand how the racist, post-Roe attacks against Clarence Thomas only serve to validate his beliefs. “The reactions… [are] a clear vindication of Black nationalists’ longstanding suspicion that… many self-described ‘allies’ are themselves deeply racist and simply use the Black cause as a convenient vehicle for shoring up their own power and influence.”
Learning From Asian-American Success
Arnold argues that shrinking disparities by penalizing high achievers helps no one. “Life is not a zero-sum game. The successes of some should inspire others to do better, not fuel bitterness and envy.”
The Other Inflation
Wai Wah Chin argues that “inflated grades and lowered standards, often in the name of ‘equity,’ are destroying educational excellence from kindergarten through college.”
NBA China Critic Enes Kanter Freedom announces civil rights foundation
“Kanter Freedom, the NBA’s resident China critic, says he will soon launch a foundation that will fight for civil rights in countries like China and Turkey.” The non-profit will be a full-time focus for the retired player.
Critical Race Theory Wasn’t Always Like This
Kay reflects on CRT at Yale Law School in the mid-90’s— “The original version…contained a persuasive critique of the US legal system.” However, “even CRT’s original theorists generally didn’t regard themselves as social-justice priests who could exorcise racist white demons through grandiose acts of consciousness-raising. They were simply intellectuals offering an analytical tool that could help us more fully capture the effect of race in American life.”
How DEI Ideology Undermines National Security
In this opinion piece, Mason Goad argues that universities are threatening U.S. national security. “University administrators are doing everything in their power to produce graduates who bear no allegiance to the United States—the first guideline for security clearance adjudications—and they are succeeding.”
FIRE’s Broadened Focus Challenges ACLU
Multiple Outlets
The Foundation of Individual Rights in Education has changed its name to the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression, broadening its focus beyond campuses. As Politico states, “Some backers see FIRE moving to take on fights ceded by ACLU.” Matt Taibbi hails FIRE as the “new champion of free speech.” Sarah Lawrence professor and Harvard alum Samuel Abrams (AM ‘07, PhD ‘10) speaks to the nation’s “socio-political zeitgeist” and joins the FIRE board.
High School Students Value Free Speech but Feel Uncomfortable Speaking Up
High school students strongly appreciate viewpoint diversity, have studied the 1st Amendment, are open to free speech and don’t favor cancel culture or censorship, yet censor themselves. “The findings of…[a] just-released report…should worry us. The report…finds that high school students censor themselves at levels currently seen on collegiate campuses.”
The Mill Center Turns Down the Heat on Controversial Topics
Congratulations to FAIR HA+’s very own Membership Director, Ellie Avishai (EdLD ‘18), for this spotlight piece. Ellie is part of the ambitious team behind The Mill Center, an important new project “dedicated to teaching the skills needed to inspire intellectual risk-taking, expand empathy, and deepen conversations in educational settings.” The Fall Term deadline for the Center’s inaugural Teacher Institute for High School Educators is 6/15/22.
The Books That Taught a Harvard Debate Champion How to Argue
Harvard alum and former Harvard debate team coach explains that "through reading, I learned that disagreement can be a source of good, not ill, even in our polarized age.” He recommends 10 books to help us better understand our own ideas, opposing ideas, and advocate for our positions. The larger message is one that supports debate as essential to a healthy democracy.
How Really to be an Antiracist
What do “antiracist” efforts such as BLM at School, Teaching People’s History (Zinn Project) and the 1619 Project curriculum have in common? “They start with an impossible premise: that the students of these recommended texts actually know how to read.” Hymowitz argues that a true “antiracist educator” would teach kids to read. “The tragedy [of illiteracy] for black children and their families, as well as a nation trying to reckon with racial disparities rooted in its own history, can’t be overstated.”
Disturbing, even Inaccurate, Speech Must be Protected
Thomas Balch argues, “Hearing opposition to one’s beliefs and actions is uncomfortable… But when we are ‘protected’ from challenges to what we think we know, our intellects stagnate in the bubble of agreed beliefs and assumed facts. To paraphrase John Stuart Mill, we risk preferring the life of a contented fool to the life of a dissatisfied Socrates.”
How Disagreement Became ‘Disinformation’
Swaim warns of the dangers of a “hopelessly simpleminded worldview” that “the primary factor separating…[one] side from the other side isn’t ideology, principle or moral vision but information—raw data requiring no interpretation and no argument over its importance.”
The Certainty Trap
Redstone describes the problem with “the Certainty Trap—a resolute unwillingness to recognize the possibility that we might not be right in our beliefs and claims…The Certainty Trap tells us that there are two possibilities for an opinion we disagree with: ignorance and hateful motives.” Redstone prescribes a solution that can help resolve broken conversations— “recognizing the profound limits of our own beliefs” in order to move forward with trust and openness.
Welcome to the United Free Press (UFP)
The U.K.’s brand new free press association, bringing together independent journalists from all over the U.K. to network and support freedom of speech, freedom of the press and journalistic ethics.
The Case for Courageous Truth-Seeking
HxA’s Zach Rausch and Princeton’s Robert George “explore the flawed human tendency to reject and censor opposing arguments — especially when they contradict values and beliefs that are held with conviction.”
Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid
In this buzz-generating piece, Haidt explains, “The story of Babel is the best metaphor…for the fractured country we now inhabit… We are disoriented, unable to speak the same language or recognize the same truth.” Haidt’s focus is the fragmenting impact of social media and the “structural stupidity” within America’s Right and Left. As for the best hope to save our democracy? American’s determination to fix things that aren’t working.