More than 160 journalists and academics on Friday rebuked an open letter published in Harper’s this week about the “intolerance of opposing views” for failing to recognize those who have been “silenced for generations” and said the critics of cancel culture “miss the point.”
“They miss the point: the irony of the piece is that nowhere in it do the signatories mention how marginalized voices have been silenced for generations in journalism, academia, and publishing,” the response, published in the newsletter The Objective, said.
“The signatories, many of them white, wealthy, and endowed with massive platforms, argue that they are afraid of being silenced, that so-called cancel culture is out of control, and that they fear for their jobs and free exchange of ideas, even as they speak from one of the most prestigious magazines in the country.”
Those who signed Friday’s response included former Vox video journalist Carlos Maza, Washington Post op-ed editor Karen Attiah, Intercept reporter Akela Lacy, Slate writer Ashley Feinberg, writer Lyz Lenz and BuzzFeed reporter Ryan Mac; historian Kerri Greenidge (who originally signed the Harper’s letter but later retracted her name) and other unnamed individuals from the New York Times, NPR and NBC News who said they had NDAs.
The response acknowledged that some of the incidents the original letter appeared to refer to — such as a researcher who was fired after he shared a study on Twitter about rioting and protest tactics — were indeed “real and concerning,” but that they weren’t “trends — at least not in the way that the signatories suggest.”
“In reality, their argument alludes to but does not clearly lay out specific examples, and undermines the very cause they have appointed themselves to uphold. In truth, Black, brown, and LGBTQ+ people — particularly Black and trans people — can now critique elites publicly and hold them accountable socially; this seems to be the letter’s greatest concern. What’s perhaps even more grating to many of the signatories is that a critique of their long held views is persuasive,” the response said.
The Objective response called out some of those views as being problematic, specifically “Harry Potter” scribe Rowling for spouting “transphobic and transmisogynist rhetoric” to her 14 million followers and journalist Jesse Singal for “advancing his career by writing derogatorily about trans issues.”
“Under the guise of free speech and free exchange of ideas, the letter appears to be asking for unrestricted freedom to espouse their points of view free from consequence or criticism,” it continued. “There are only so many outlets, and while these individuals have the ability to write in them, they have no intention of sharing that space or acknowledging their role in perpetuating a culture of fear and silence among writers who, for the most part, do not look like the majority of the signatories. When they demand debates, it is on their terms, on their turf.”
Thomas Chatterton Williams, who spearheaded the Harper’s letter, responded Friday specifically to the criticisms that his signers were not diverse. Williams, who is Black, tweeted the names of the signers who are people of color, adding, “Starting to think if these critics don’t know a name they think it’s white.”
Read the full response here and see the 163 signers below:
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, NBC News
Brooke Binkowski, Journalism
Jonathan Dresner, Ph.D., Academia, Pittsburg State University, Kansas
Aída Chávez, Journalism, The Intercept
Joseph Hernandez, Journalism, Bon Appétit
Ev Crunden, Journalism
Stacia Ryder, Academia
Holly Piepenburg, Journalism
Shannon Clark, Academia, American University
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, NBC News
Alan Henry, Journalism
Michael Waters, Journalism, Freelance
Dawn Rhodes, Journalism, Block Club Chicago
Sydette Harry, Research/Freelance, USC
Arionne Nettles, Academia, Northwestern University
Andrea González-Ramírez, Journalism, GEN
Solomon Gustavo, Journalism, MinnPost
Tommy Christopher, Journalism, Mediaite
Aaricka Washington, Journalism
Alex Zaragoza, Journalism, VICE Media
Adriana Heldiz, Journalism, Voice of San Diego
Wil Williams, Journalism, Podcast Problems LLC
Rosalie Chan, Journalism
Janelle Salanga, Journalism
Gabe Schneider, Journalism, MinnPost
Joseph Hankins, Academia, University of California, San Diego
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism
Jasmine Snow, Journalism, Minnesota Daily
Karen Attiah, Journalism
Shoshana Wodinsky, Journalism, Gizmodo
Joan Summers, Journalism, Jezebel
Marina Fang, Journalism, HuffPost
Tauhid Chappell, Journalism, Free Press
Mel Plaut, Author
Nicholas Trevino, Government Oversight
Naoko Shibusawa, Academia, Brown University
Jack Herrera, Journalism, Freelance Reporter
Carlos Maza, Journalism, Freelance
Azucena Rasilla, Journalism
Malaika Jabali, Journalism
Marzena Zukowska, Nonprofit, Radical Communicators Network / freelance writer
Mutale Nkonde, Journalism
Melissa Martin, Filmmaker/Academic, Freelance/Carnegie Mellon University
Mahsa Alimardani, Academia
Chia-Yi Hou, Journalism, The Hill
Joshua Eaton, Journalism, Freelance Investigative Reporter
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, E.W. Scripps
Sarah Weinman, Author
Jessica Schulberg, Journalism, HuffPost
Sarah J. Jackson, Academia, University of Pennsylvania
Tim Barribeau, Journalism, Wirecutter
Vasuki Nesiah, Academia, NYU
Kimber Streams, Journalism
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, Public radio
Sarah Jones, Journalism, New York Magazine
Alyza Enriquez, Journalism, VICE
Unsigned, Journalism, The Hill
Siobhán McGuirk, Journalism, Red Pepper magazine (UK)
Elon Green, Journalism, Freelance
Razzan Nakhlawi, Journalism
Brandy N. Carie, Theatre & Film, Freelance Writer & Director
Pravin Wilkins, Playwright, City Books Writer-in-Residence
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, Wirecutter
Laura Wagner, Journalism, VICE
Joseph Hefner, Writer/Filmmaker/Stage Director, Freelance
Chelsea Cirruzzo, Journalism
Janet Towle, Author
Cassius Adair, Academia and Journalism, NYU Media Culture and Communication + Freelance
Kimu Elolia, Publishing, Spotify
Princess Ojiaku, Journalism / Civic Tech
Unsigned/NDA, NPR
Nick Guy, Journalism
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Academia, University of New Hampshire
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, New York Times
Sasha Costanza-Chock, Academia, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Wendy Lu, Journalism, HuffPost
Unsigned, Academia, NYU
Ryan Mac, Journalism
Lucy Diavolo, Journalism, Teen Vogue
Lyz Lenz, Author, The Cedar Rapids Gazette
Unsigned/NDA, Colorado Public Radio News
Lisa Nakamura, Academia
Lizz Huerta, Author
Smitha Khorana, Publishing
Miho Watabe, Archivism
Ben Schaefer, Academia, University of Illinois at Chicago
Callie Wright, Journalism
Tris Mamone, Journalism, Freelance Writer
Dawn Ennis, Journalism, Outsports
Akela Lacy, Journalism, The Intercept
Alexander Lee, Publishing, W.W. Norton & Company
Maya Cade, Screenwriter
Angela Misri, Journalism
Minnah Zaheer, Journalism
Cordelia Yu, Civic tech, Corgi & Bun
Maya Srikrishnan, Journalism, Voice of San Diego
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, The New York Times
Kameron Burns, Journalism, WIRED
Adrienne Shih, Journalism
Carrie Gillon, Alt-ac, Freelance
Daniel Varghese, Journalism, GQ
Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani, Journalism
Shelby Weldon, Journalism, Outsports
Sarah Ruiz-Grossman, Journalism, HuffPost
Gaby Del Valle, Journalism, Freelance Writer
Kristine White, Journalism, Freelance Writer
Marlee Baldridge, Academia, University of Missouri
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, Slate Magazine
Michael Izquierdo, Journalism, Freelancer
Izz LaMagdeleine, Journalism, Freelance
Ella Chen, Journalism , The Triton/UCSD
Talia Lavin, Journalism, Freelancer
Ethan Edward Coston, Journalism
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, POLITICO
Kelsey D. Atherton, Journalism, Freelance writer
Unsigned, Journalism, Public Media
Amal Ahmed, Journalism, Texas Observer
Siri Chilukuri, Journalism, Block Club Chicago
Dylan Miettinen, Journalism, The Minnesota Daily
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, The New York Times
Ashley Feinberg, Journalism
Julia Llinas Goodman, Journalism
Jacob Sutherland, Journalism, Catalyst.cm
Lilly Irani, Academia, UC San Diego
NDA, Journalism, The Hill
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, McClatchy
Paula Chakravartty, Academia, NYU
Robert Mejia, Academia, North Dakota State University
Unassigned/NDA, Journalism, Wirecutter
Thom Dunn, Journalism, BoingBoing
Anna Merlan, Journalism
Hunter Boone, Journalism, Wirecutter/NYT
Tanvi Misra, Journalism
Zachary Clein, Entertainment (Theatre/Film/TV), Freelance writer
Maxwell Strachan, Journalism
Julie Owono, NGO
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, NPR
Marie Cruz Soto, Academia, NYU
Unsigned/NDA, Journalism, NPR
Ariana Wilson, Journalism, Freelance
Myra Washington, Academia, University of Utah
Sameena Mustafa, Journalism, Hand Her the Mic LLC
Edward Ongweso JR, Journalism Motherboard, VICE Media
Nicole Cooke, Academia, University of South Carolina
Kerri Greenidge, Academia
Noah Berlatsky, Journalism, Freelance writer
Peter Odell Campbell, Academia, University of Pittsburgh
Thomas Wilburn, Journalism, NPR
Minh-Ha T. Pham, Academia, Graduate Program in Media Studies, Pratt Institute
Ritty Lukose, Academia, New York University
Unsigned, Journalism, Condé Nast
P. Claire Dodson, Journalism, Teen Vogue
Khemani Gibson, Academia, New York University
Bridget Read, Journalism, New York Magazine
Shamira Ibrahim, Journalism, Freelance Writer
Tiffany Bui, Journalism, The Minnesota Daily
Aria Velasquez, Journalism
Unsigned, Academia, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Naseem Jamnia, Academia/Freelance Writer, University of Nevada
Anjali Vats, Academia, Boston College
Jordan Coley, Journalism
Joshua Lyon, Author
Kerry Jo Green, Academia, Brandeis University