> Weaponizing old, out-of-context tweets is just the new alt-right playbook
No, it was the cultural mainstream that made it acceptable to fire people over communication mistakes. See the "Just kidding, I'm white" tweet[1], Tim Hunt getting fired by Twitter before even getting off his plane[2], or in tech: Donglegate, where people on both sides were fired.
NYT should totally hire Sarah Jeong, but as a leftie, I have to agree with the "alt-right" that the double standard is ridiculous. The Verge sums it up pretty well[3]: Nobody should attack our journalists for their tweets, with the implication that firing everyone else was a great idea.
It isn't a double standard, because the standard is consistent:
- People are responsible for what they say and can and should be fired if they support abhorrent policy or abuse people.
- People should always be able to reform and come back into society if they apologise, state they don't support their previous actions, and act differently.
These things are not contradictory.
Right now, there is an intentional effort by the alt-right to dig up these kinds of things from people who fit the latter category and raise them and promote them to try and minimise the voices of people who are now promoting things they dislike. It has nothing to do with the original issue, just the means to an end.
I'm not saying that the problem doesn't exist elsewhere, but that doesn't mean it's right that these people are targeted.
- People are responsible for what they say and can and should be fired if they support abhorrent policy or abuse people.
- People should always be able to reform and come back into society if they apologise, state they don't support their previous actions, and act differently.
These things are not contradictory.
Right now, there is an intentional effort by the alt-right to dig up these kinds of things from people who fit the latter category and raise them and promote them to try and minimise the voices of people who are now promoting things they dislike. It has nothing to do with the original issue, just the means to an end.
I'm not saying that the problem doesn't exist elsewhere, but that doesn't mean it's right that these people are targeted.