Neil Clark: The Only Decent Thing To Do

Friday, March 24, 2006

The Only Decent Thing To Do

Here are my thoughts on the suspension on the racist and sexist university lecturer Frank Ellis.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk
/neil_clark/2006/03/the_correct_decision.html

5 comments:

Miguel said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 8:35 PM
JohnnyCanuck said...: No doubt the Richard Littlejohns, Simon Heffers and Leo McInstrys of this world are already penning their defence of Ellis and his right to hold unpopular and obnoxious views.

Pathetic. Just when I thought I'd found an honest free-thinking non-PC socialist you come out with this shoddy piece. This makes me question everything I've read (and generally agreed with) on this blog.

Are you saying you think there is no merit to his argument despite the findings of Lynn, Rushton, Hernstein and others, or have you even researched the issue? The science may be difficult for us to accept (I was in denial for a while myself) but the truth should matter more than ideology. The argument that the "persistent gap" in IQ levels can be explained by environmental differences is no longer tenable. Science has moved on.

Your establishment view smacks of lazy bigotry. After weeks of excellent stuff on Milosevic I guess you just don't have the stomach for another fight against the bully boys who dominate the media. No doubt questioning the PC brigades on this issue could mean no more paid articles in the Guardian and other papers.

I suppose it's understandable as we all have to make a living. But it's disappointing that you've succumbed to the establishment view.

I'm sure it will go some way toward gaining you some forgiveness from the anti-death penalty and anti-Serb fanatics. Perhaps that's what you were looking for.; 7:14 AM
Neil Clark said...: I can assure you there's no inconsistency. Milosevic was a life-long socialist and anti-fascist- a man, in the words of David Own to whom 'all forms of racism are anathema').
Just because I defend Milosevic doesn't mean I have to defend Frank Ellis- there's absolutely no connection. Let's leave out the race issue for the moment- what about his views that women are intellectually inferior as well? Do you agree with that?
As I said, for a private citizen to hold such racist and misognyistic views is depressing enough- but Ellis earns his living as a lecturer at a publicly funded British university and racist and misogynistic views are, I believe, incompatible with this position.
If it is indeed he 'establishment' view that university lecturers should not go around saying that black people and women are intellectually inferior- then I for one, on this occasion, would be in agreement with it. I abhor racism-whether it's the Frank Ellis variety- or the BBC saying that 'few will mourn Milosevic' -a statement which implies that the views of millions in China, Africa, Asia, South American and the Middle East - are 'inferior' to those of Western politicians.; 9:10 AM
Nguyen Van Minh said...: I found the article at Amren to be problematic, to say the least, but I oppose all censorship, and would not have recommended his sacking.; 10:00 AM
Miguel said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 10:59 AM