"Americans, on the other hand, relish their differences. Tolerance is created by confronting their differences, then discovering that they share many of the same values and concerns. Americans understand, rightly, that tolerance is a product of free speech. The First Amendment allows them to get past their differences, correct misconceptions, and move on to more pressing issues."
Well said! Suppression of free speech is similar to covering an infected wound. The infection only festers when it could have been aired out and cleansed at the beginning.
I can’t put my finger on it precisely, but this essay feels contrived. Maybe it’s just the awkward number of stereotypes portrayed in it. ‘Unreconstructed’ southerner meets civil rights activist and their common enemy is Republicans? Yeah right. If the author is going to use stereotypes so much in his logic then he should at least bring them up to date. The south is filled with red states, mostly Republican country these days. The days of the Dixiecrats are long gone.
The author also incorrectly assigns the concept of personal responsibility in regards to freedom of speech as a leftist ideal, he couldn’t have gotten it more wrong. The left is the one who is concerned with political correctness, it is Republicans who fight for ‘personal repsonsibility’ on all fronts.
We won’t be so tolerant for long is the Party of Tolerance gets its way.
We won’t be so tolerant for long if the Party of Tolerance gets its way.
Yeah, and American "human rights experts" want to get all the Colleges with Indian names, like my Central Michigan Chippewas, to change their names. The Saginaw-Chippewa Indian Tribe donated the land to Central Michigan University and have permanent slots for Chippewa kids to go to school at CMU. Last year was the first time a Chippewa student started on the football team and he said he was so proud to play for the Chippewas, named for his tribe. The Leaders of the Saginaw-Chippewas have personally told the NAACP to cut the cr*p, the Chippewas support the Chippewas of CMU.
What would the "human rights experts" say about changing all the names in America from the original Indian language names? Wouldn't that be seen as trying the erase Indians from American history? But changing college mascot names is not erasing Indian influence?
These people are insane.
I agree with the one guy who said that the article feels a bit contrived. I too felt that it was to stereotypical. Fiction to prove a point? We have a Canadian portraying southern Americans as radically racist, although nice guys deep down inside. It was too contrived to believe. Journalists, regardless of political agenda, have been using this technique for ages, from Janet Cooke to Jayson Blair. But having said that, I agree with the writer’s premise. There was a Dutch writer who said that Europeans are not tolerant, they are just indifferent. I feel that Canadians are also indifferent. Unlike in the USA where government has historically played a minor role in life, in other parts of the world the government is central to everyday life. Canadians, like Europeans, are not more tolerant than Americans (as empirical evidence proves—we hardly needed Obama to prove this), they are simply more defeatist than Americans.