- Many artists and personalities, who denounce the rise of “intolerance towards divergent opinions”, of “a taste for public humiliation and ostracism”, and a “tendency to dissolve complex political questions in a blinding moral certainty ”of activists committed“ in favor of racial and social justice ”.
- The text refers to several recent events which have created a series of red flags for signatories.
- Many of the signatories to the forum themselves have suffered waves of cyber harassment or mass criticism after expressing opinions that are not entirely in line with part of the anti-racist, pro-LGBT or feminist movement.
Is part of the anti-discrimination movement sinking into intolerance? This is the question posed by a forum signed by many artists and personalities, which denounces the rise of “intolerance towards divergent opinions”, of “a taste for public humiliation and ostracism”, and a "tendency to dissolve complex political questions in a blinding moral certainty" of activists committed "in favor of racial and social justice".
"The free exchange of information and ideas, which is the very engine of liberal societies, is becoming more limited every day," denounces this letter published in Harper’s magazine , translated by the newspaper Le Monde and signed by figures engaged against the discriminations such as the journalist Gloria Steinem, the creator of Harry Potter JK Rowling or the Algerian writer Kamel Daoud.
Cascade layoffs
Entitled "Letter on justice and public debate", the text refers to several recent events which have constituted for the signatories a series of red flags. “We are dismissing editors for publishing controversial articles; books are withdrawn under the pretext of a lack of authenticity; journalists are prevented from writing on certain subjects; teachers are investigated because of the literary works they cite in class; a researcher is fired for circulating a scientific article duly reviewed by peers; and we dismiss organizational leaders for mistakes that are sometimes just blunders. "
The director of the New York Times ' Opinion pages , James Bennet, was, for example, dismissed in June after validating a platform calling for the army to be dispatched against anti-racist protests. The same month, a political consultant lost his job after having tweeted in an entirely factual way an article on the impact of the riots which broke out in the United States after the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968. In recent years, works of art, books, films have been withdrawn from circulation or have been the subject of pressure to be withdrawn, such as recently the film Gone with the Wind , a boycott phenomenon called "cancel culture".
Harassed signers
Many of the signatories to the forum themselves have suffered waves of cyber harassment or mass criticism after expressing opinions that are not entirely in line with part of the anti-racist, pro-LGBT or feminist movement.
Novelist Margaret Atwood, author of a novel erected as a symbol of feminist struggle, The Scarlet Servant , faced a barrage of attacks in 2018 after criticizing the use of social media for justice: "Too often , women and other victims of sexual abuse for want of a fair hearing from institutions, including businesses, are using a new tool: the Internet, ”she wrote at the time.
British author JK Rowling was charged with transphobia and after mocking an article that replaced the word "woman" with "person who is menstruating". “I respect the right of every trans person to live as they please. I will walk by your side if you are discriminated against because of your transidentity. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being a woman. I don't think saying that is hate, ”she said.
"Argue and convince"
“We need to preserve the possibility of a bona fide disagreement without dire professional consequences. If we do not defend what is the very condition of our work, we cannot expect the public or the State to do it for us ”, argue the signatories.
Who deliver a counter-model: “To overcome bad ideas, you have to expose them, argue and convince them, and not try to silence them or hope that they will disappear. "
Culture
Matzneff case: "Separating the author's work is an aesthetic position that is not in the majority in society", underlines Gisèle Sapiro
- LGBT
- Racism
- Feminism
- Discrimination
- JK Rowling
- Culture