On Charlie Kirk and Rational Responses
It may be difficult, but in times like this, it's important to keep a level head.
I wrote most of my thoughts about the assassination of Charlie Kirk in a column for the newspaper I write for. It's a subscribers-only website but I will try to share a link later on.
But I will sum it up by saying this: While I did not follow Charlie Kirk closely, I understand he was an ardent defender of free speech and wanted to have conversations, even with those who had difficulty having a simple conversation.
What happened to Kirk was wrong and those celebrating his death are way off base. But I will add that while it's understandable that people will react a certain way to those who mock or celebrate Kirk's death, our responses need to be done with a level head.
I would recommend listening to a few people who had things to say about what happened — people who were levelheaded and had sobering thoughts about what they knew about Kirk and about being careful with your responses to it, lest you find yourself going down a path that doesn't lead to the destination you think you'll reach.
Scott Horton and Darryl Cooper
In the column I wrote for the paper, I also referenced a FIRE.org survey of college students, in which some of the statistics they cited are troubling. In particular is that one in three students said that violence was acceptable to stopping a campus speech and that a majority of students said that six different controversial speakers — three with a view on the left and three with a view on the right — should not be allowed to speak on campus.
I may have more to say on the subject of free speech and how it's handled on college campuses later on, but I will say it's greatly concerning that not only do we have more college students who oppose discussing any controversial idea and support violence as a response to stopping speech.
Furthermore, it's concerning that the response from others is to go out of their way to find people who made unkind remarks about Charlie Kirk and get them fired from their jobs — particularly when these people have little to no influence over public policy.
I find statements celebrating Kirk's death abhorrent, but the reality is this: The only reason you know about people who celebrate his death is because we live in the era of social media. Go back in time to the killings or attempted killings of other famous people and there were likely people who had nasty thoughts about said famous people, but the only reason you never knew about that was because social media didn't exist.
I've made this comment to others about social media: It's the new means of talking back to the TV. There are those who, when they watch a news report on television, will say something out loud about the report as they watch it. For many, that has been replaced by running their thumbs over a smartphone keypad and hitting "send."
This is not to say that certain remarks are acceptable; rather, it is to remember that sometimes human responses are unpleasant. And my concern is that everyone who seeks to have people removed from their jobs for unpleasant things they said is just going to make the situation worse.
At any rate, I do hope people listen to the thoughts that Greenwald, Smith, Horton and Cooper had to share and that, as people go about their lives, they are good to one another. And while it may be difficult, remember that rational responses will help more than giving in to your worst impulses.