So you like free speech?

So you like free speech, eh? I thought I did too but apparently my definition is different than many institution's that I have been corresponding with. For those who know me, you'd know me perhaps more from the letters I write rather than my blogs like this one. I write numerous emails per week to those who've done wrong and maybe a few who've done right. 

Sometimes I write my letters about a third party to a media outlet (ie. newspaper, etc.) in order to publicize the issue. Other times I write directly to the person or organization. Of course I don't expect to receive a reply. If I do, it's a bonus. Likewise if my letters aren't published, it's still all good. Hopefully they've read it. I usually send copies to my contacts so in any case I do get my messages out. 

I found out years ago after getting a reply from one of  my first emails that free speech can and is often abused. After chastising a university for employing a professor who was blatantly antisemitic right here in my country, Canada, I received a standard reply that went something like this: 'The administration at this university champions free speech and as such we don't necessarily agree with professor X but we stand behind his right to speak freely and allow freedom of expression. 

In that case the professor was teaching history while denying the Holocaust. I tried to tell them that I too champion free speech but what does that have to do with hiring professors who are teaching revisionist history and proudly lying about six million Jews who were brutally murdered by the nazis? That is not education. That is misinformation. Again I received the same pat reply. It was probably semi-automatically generated when they received a negative comment from me. 

Since that day I have received pretty much the same pat reply from most universities and other organizations both private and public. I can see that in some cases perhaps the situation isn't black and white. For instance there have been many cases of employees who are vocal racists or worse (they have committed race inspired crimes). 

My intention in writing to their employers, be they schools, government or private businesses is first to inform them. They might not know anything about the person. Hopefully if this is the case they will take appropriate action (ie. fire them). But instead I often receive a reply that goes something like this: 'Thanks for reaching out to us. What our employees do in their private lives is their own business. Have a nice day!' 

So if company X hires John Doe as VP of sales and John Doe posts 'I hate Jews!' on his Facebook page, that's ok. Except it's really not. There should be consequences for being a racist. One of them should be that you either keep your racism to yourself or else you might not be employed. I've certainly noticed (and I'm sure that anyone who is looking for a job lately would notice this too) is that how you behave on social media is usually scrutinized by prospective employers. If you are applying for a corporate job (ie. bank teller, IT, etc.) and their HR department finds you hanging a moon (baring your bum) on FB or calling blacks lazy in a rant on Twitter, chances are they won't be calling you back for a second interview. 

Here's a current example of my dialogue with the Provost of USC after I discovered that one of their professors taught his students that Israeli zionists were terrorists:

It has come to my attention that your professor Kang is teaching at the very least a biased, revisionist version of events and at worst a bigoted,antisemitic and anti-American ‘teaching’ class. I urge you to distance yourself from him immediately by dismissing him from USC.

Their reply to me:

Thank you for sharing your concerns with us.

Professor Kang has chosen to issue his own statement on this matter in which he said he was intending to foster a discussion about how and why groups and individuals are labeled terrorists. He said that the slide in question was written to “point out that national heroes of all types are called terrorists by their opponents.” 

As you may know, one of the core principles of any university is that of academic freedom. The views of our faculty members are not endorsed by the university; indeed, we sometimes profoundly disagree with them. Nevertheless, we protect and support their right to express those views.

So what can one determine from all of this? Far too often being a vocal antisemite or Israel hater (they are one and the same thing) is acceptable. It's a minor, overlooked blemish or perhaps its employers are even sympathetic. Jews are partly to blame for this cultural norm. Because we ignored it for far too long. Which means we accepted it. We gave the world a pass to condemn us. I can certainly understand it. We are so often physically attacked (recall the Holocaust) that mere words are much easier to swallow. There is also the 'let's not rock the boat' syndrome. And many more complex reasons. 

That's exactly why I do speak out and I'm speaking out here. I want this stopped. There are two standards. One applied to us and another applied to everyone else. I'm sick of getting the standard 'free speech' excuse when I point out what honest people would admit is plain out wrong. Yes I believe in free speech as much as anyone and I'll defend it until I die. If you want to accuse Israel of being an apartheid state and shout it out on the street, you are free to do so. As long as you don't obstruct traffic, are not violent and do it legally. But this scenario is far different from a racist teacher or boss who teaches his students or employees to hate. Those students who wish to pass the course and those employees who wish to retain their jobs are forced to listen to their BS. This is a clear form of abuse. 

I would love to see how a university president would reply if a professor at the school  would post 'Kill all university presidents' on FB. Would the professor get a free speech pass? I doubt it.