JK Rowling
the Struggle for the rights of the oppressed and minorities turns out to be a violation of freedom of speech and of thought, denial of free public discourse — sure of more than 150 well-known writers, journalists, philosophers, scientists and other public figures. All of them signed an open letter, published in Harper’s magazine, and denounced the pervasive fashion for the public shaming and ostracism. Among the signatories were writers JK Rowling, Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood, chess player and politician Garry Kasparov, linguist Noam Chomsky, feminist Gloria Steinem and many others.
the Free exchange of information and ideas, which for a liberal society is a source of vitality, every day becoming more limited… it’s too common to hear calls for swift and severe retribution in response to the dissent,— the authors of the letter.
JK Rowling
In recent months, a number of famous people were subjected to fierce attacks in the network statements on the themes of racial issues, gender and sexuality. The authors give examples of dismissals for dissent.
Editors fired for publishing the so-called controversial articles; books withdrawn because of suspected unreliability; journalists are forbidden to write on certain topics; professors lynched for quoting literary works; a scientist is fired for the dissemination of research, and heads of the organizations were suspended from their posts for random and clumsy mistakes. In June the editor of the New York Times resigned because of outrage over the article, the Republican Senator, calls to send the armed forces into the city, where anti-racism protests escalated into violence, the authors write collective appeals.
They welcome the civil rights movement, but emphasize that it does not negate open debate in society.
Salman Rushdie
Margaret Atwood
