Shamans Yet Again

Sometimes ground covered in a previous essay demands to be covered again, and yet again, and again, and again. Apparently, censorship in the guise of politesse is one such subject.

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Courtesy of our beloved InstaPundit, we have this charming bit of news from Da Tech Guy:

Been on the road today and when I came home I found that an idiot had acted like an idiot and had received an idiots reward.

Here’s the despicable racist tweet that got University of North Alabama player, Bradley Patterson, kicked off his team:

The tweet was brought to the University’s attention after it was highlighted by Deadspin.

Within the past several hours, Patterson deleted his Twitter account.

Goodbye and good riddance...

The post goes on to note that far worse behavior -- not at all confined to mere words -- has been and is being completely excused by the Left, because its targets were (gasp!) conservatives, or at least suspected of being such.

Is there even one Gentle Reader who fails to see the asymmetry here?
You who see it: How does one correct an asymmetry?
Don't all rush at once, now.

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Linguistic taboos, bad enough in themselves, are an entering wedge for other sorts of controls. When the taboo crosses from being cause for castigation to being a justification for punishment, genuine censorship has arrived.

The University of North Alabama is a state university. Its operations are subsidized by federal and Alabama state monies. If it claims the power to punish "unacceptable" speech, what government-subsidized or wholly governmental institution would lack that power?

Let's go a daring step further: Inasmuch as "the nigger" in question was Barack Hussein Obama, vendor of more racialist rhetoric than any public figure since the Civil War, the university has punished its student for daring to speak ill of a public official. If that's not political censorship -- and of the very sort any newspaper editor would condemn most fiercely were his organ in the crosshairs -- then what is?

Of course, the asymmetric aspect remains. I'm sure Negro students at the University of North Alabama freely call one another "nigger" when and as it suits them. Possibly Negro faculty members there, if there are any, do so as well. Would you venture to guess how often they're punished for the use of that "unacceptable, deplorable, despicable" word?

"Don't make me get mad, and act like a nigger!" -- Stevie Wonder, "Sweet Little Girl," from the album Music Of My Mind

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The only way to deal with a thrust toward censorship or an asymmetry of this sort is a campaign of desensitization. The "taboo words:"

• nigger
• faggot
• queer
• cunt
• dyke

...and any others over which some identity group attempts to assert ownership must be ripped out of their grasp -- not by punishing them for their use, but by using them, and confronting their use, equally freely and equally fearlessly. Niggers With Attitude, Queer Nation, and that charming university professor who lectures on -- I kid you not -- "cuntal dialectics" must be put on notice that their taboos don't bind the rest of us. In particular, any governmental or government-allied institution that attempts to punish anyone for such speech must be subjected to a chorus of denunciation, hopefully to economically detrimental effect.

Be not afraid. After all, what's the worst that can happen: some pantywaist will disapprove of you. Think you can stand that?