February 9th, 2014 → 6:29 am @ Lea // No Comments
“How cam’st thou in this pickle?” – The Tempest
Irina Rodnina, one of the athletes given the honor of lighting the Olympic flame at the opening ceremonies the other night, apparently posted a racist photo of Barack Obama on twitter a few months ago. When condemned for it, she unapologetically wrote “freedom of speech is freedom of speech,” and basically, get over it. I’m sick of bigoted, racist, sexist people posting offensive things and then acting surprised when the world reacts (another recent example, billionaire Thomas Perkins). Yes, there is such a thing as free speech (that’s why you could post it at all, Irina). But since when is free speech consequent free speech?? If you’re going to go off, just know that you are also going to be held responsible for what you say. Which is exactly how it should be, of course.
Chris Clark
10 years ago
I’m always surprised at how many people don’t seem to understand this simple concept: everything has consequences. That said, I’ve also been fairly consistently disappointed by non-profits that lash out when attacked in ways that scream ignorance to anyone paying attention. To me, it seems like the NPs are both damaging their own credibility and missing out on a potential teaching moment.
Lea
10 years ago
Are you thinking of a particular example? It feels as though your post is referencing something I’m missing…
Chris Clark
10 years ago
There are actually a few examples that come to mind, but I haven’t kept links or other documentation. I’ll hunt those up and send along.