March 4, 2021 - New Tolerance Campaign

Tell Amazon: Stop Selective “Woke” Book Censorship

Amazon, by far the world’s largest bookseller, has until recently promoted itself as an open marketplace of ideas, with all kinds of transgressive and provocative works for sale, including Hitler’s notorious book “Mein Kampf.” But on February 21, Amazon suddenly removed any trace of When Harry Became Sally, a book published three years ago by Ethics and Public Policy Center President Ryan T. Anderson. Described as “sensitive” and “fair-minded” by professors at top medical schools, the policy treatise takes a traditional stance on the controversial issue of transgenderism. Amazon did not inform the author or publisher of its decision, and the company has refused to comment on the sudden ban on a book published several years ago. Bizarrely, other books by Anderson are still for sale on Amazon as are books by other authors that take a similar stance on transgenderism. Amazon’s actions suggest that it has adopted an ominous new “woke” censorship approach where certain books suddenly become problematic and disappear. Others – like “Mein Kampf” – remain openly for sale, with no discernable universal standard. Amazon needs to hear from consumers like you that such arbitrary yet highly politicized censorship must stop before it spreads further. Sign the petition demanding that Amazon stop the hypocritical censorship and restore Anderson’s book to its virtual shelves! Update 3/15/21: Amazon issued a statement after several U.S. Senators issued a complaint. The statement claims that Amazon will not sell books that characterize transgenderism as a mental illness. Anderson contends that his book does nothing of the sort.

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Lessons from CPAC’s Choice to Let Young Pharaoh Go

admin / March 4, 2021

Last week the American Conservative Union (ACU) hosted their annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) under the theme “America Uncanceled” – a name that became somewhat ironic when CPAC canceled one of its speakers just before the conference started. The scandal was sparked by a Media Matters expose on a panelist named “Young Pharaoh” that revealed a slew of grossly anti-Semitic tweets. Within two hours, all traces of Young Pharaoh had disappeared from the event website. CPAC announced a speaker had been removed for “reprehensible views.” Young Pharaoh’s social media included claims that Judaism is a “lie” invented for political reasons, referred to Jewish people as “thieving”, and insisted “all the censorship & pedophilia on social media is being done by Israeli Jews.” After being disinvited, Young Pharaoh doubled down on his anti-Semitic comments and made a video claiming that the ACU reached out to him first and accused the organization of inviting him to have more minority faces in their program. If Young Pharaoh’s allegation is true, it would mark yet another example of how some civic groups overlook one type of bigotry while trying to address another – with anti-Semitism in particular given a pass in the cause of promoting other types of “diversity.” It is unclear how ACU missed the many red flags in Young Pharaoh’s tweets and videos, which often contain conspiratorial content. The larger issue raised by Young Pharaoh’s unceremonious exodus from CPAC is the seeming tension between opposing “cancel culture” and standing up to bigotry. “Cancel culture” is the extreme over-reaction by increasingly woke civic institutions and leaders that seize on a real or perceived grievance to destroy someone’s career. Refusing to give an optional platform to an unabashed anti-Semite, by contrast, is in no way an overreaction. Cancel culture is a problem, but so is overlooking blatant bigotry like Young Pharaoh’s. Opposing cancel culture and having standards are not mutually exclusive. Even those who believe themselves above “woke” traps can sometimes still fall into them.