Evelyn Beatrice Hall famously paraphrased Voltaires position on free speech as I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. That doesnt mean racism in cartoons deserves applause. We must stand up to racism wherever it lives along with other disguised or unrecognized forms of hatred and fear. I am not a fan of everything that has been published, and the occasional use of the guise of satire to cover for meanness or hatred and fear doesnt change that, but I stand by their right to publish it. I also believe we have the right and often obligation to critique and argue against ideas if we feel they are wrong or incomplete. When we see racism and hatred sneaking by in humorous form we must remember that many jokes contain at least a grain of the speakers truth and that is worth reflecting and commenting on. As I mentioned in my post about the killings, I believe the only cure to this conflict is to shed light fearlessly wherever darkness takes hold and that includes in the subtle fear and racism that sometimes masquerades as honesty or straight talk through satire. In that vein I found this post to be very thoughtful and I appreciate that they are asking us not to lose our sense of judgement and critical thinking in the wave of emotion we feel around Hebdo. We must all feel and think for ourselves, but I sincerely hope we all do both. https://medium/@asgharbukhari/charlie-hebdo-this-attack-was-nothing-to-do-with-free-speech-it-was-about-war-26aff1c3e998
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 02:10:38 +0000
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