A week ago, you probably didn’t know who Sarah Jeong was. Today, however, many in American and beyond have heard about the newly-appointed New York Times editor with a history of making her dislike of white people know to – it seems – anyone who would listen. This is the type of stuff Ms Jeong would treat her Twitter followers to:
The NY Times appointment was met by a storm of outrage from conservatives, to little avail: the paper backed their new employee and Ms Young is yet to express regret or apologise. Twitter, despite repeated calls to ban Ms Jeong’s account, did not find reason to take action either. One conservative, Candace Owens, was not so lucky, however. She sent the following tweet in response to Ms Jeong’s, which was met by a 12-hour ban from the social media platform (the ban was subsequently rescinded):
So, why wasn’t Ms Jeong banned from Twitter when Ms Owens was? Objectively, there is little doubt that Ms Jeong’s tweets were offensive, and certainly more offensive than Ms Owens’, which were merely pointing out hypocrisy. Predictably, Twitter was full of conservatives lambasting the platform for double standards, and of course, it is true that the very hypocrisy predicted by Ms Owens in her tweets was manifesting itself before their eyes.
But this isn’t about Twitter. Yes, Twitter’s management is leftist, and CEO Jack Dorsey is clearly not afraid to confirm people’s assumptions about his lack of objectivity. But Twitter is just one of many platforms where a similar story could have unfolded. That Ms Jeong hasn’t already had her appointment terminated by the NY Times is testament to how the left is happy to entrench itself in the type of positions that would be swiftly abandoned by the right. Reversely, corporate America is intensely queasy at the thought of standing by anyone who might upset the SJWs: witness how Papa John discarded founder and Chairman, John Schnatter, for using the n-word illustratively in a discussion about political correctness, or Roseanne Barr’s instant dismissal from her ABC sitcom for a misfiring joke. Context counts for nothing when you fall foul of the SJW’s demand for militant enforcement of their narrative, and the outrage machine stands ready to pounce on the slightest misdeed by the left’s intellectual opponents.
So, what to do? Well, instead of complaining about Twitter, those of us who are sick of how political correctness is destroying humour and censoring public discourse need to stand up to the root of the problem. Whatever happens to Ms Jeong’s Twitter account, the left can’t lose, because the whole debate just serves to reinforce the narrative that everything is offensive and offending others should be a career-ending act. This debate is not about that premise, but about whether she is too offensive – and we can’t win by debating whether they are more offensive than we are. Sure, we may win occasionally, but it’s their game. Silencing a nobody like Sarah Jeong would be a hollow victory. What we need to do is stop the game from being played at all. So, next time the SJW left refuses to judge their friends by the same standards they apply to their foes, feel free to point out their blatant hypocrisy – but don’t demand that they change their behaviour. We don’t care when they save their own. We care when they crucify one of us. We don’t want Ms Yeong fired or banned from Twitter; we’ll fight any opinion, regardless of how unsavoury it is, on merit, rather than have it silenced. And instead, we should be spending our energy on standing up for people like John Schnatter and Roseanne Barr. Otherwise the left wins, while we fight the wrong fight.