Kirk has no doubt made over the top comments on about just everything. No doubt he’s said racist, sexist, misogynistic, xenophobic comments. His comments to Taylor Swift were absolutely nauseating. He applied to West Point but didn’t make the cut so he decided not to go to any school. He dropped out of community college he’s such a small minded person that he finds it necessary to tear down others especially women and women of color. He lived like a loser and died like one as well.
Kirk was a a loudmouth lightweight. This nation should be honoring young people like these two Black high school seniors (Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson) who independently solved a 2000 year old math puzzle. These young women created new proofs for the Pythagorean Theorem, a fundamental principle of geometry, using trigonometry.
Here are some more choice words from Kirk, listed in Zeteo:
Black people
“Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more.”
Black pilots
“If I see a Black pilot, I’m gonna be like, ’Boy, I hope he’s qualified.’”
Black women (quoted in the article too)
“They're coming out, and they're saying, 'I'm only here because of affirmative action.' Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person's slot to go be taken somewhat seriously."
Civil rights
“We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the mid-1960s.”
The death penalty
"[The death penalty] should be public, should be quick, should be televised… I think at a certain age, it’s an initiation… At what age should you start to see public executions?"
Democrats
“The Democrat Party supports everything that God hates.”
Empathy
"I can't stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made up new age term that does a lot of damage."
Feminism
“Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You're not in charge."
Gay people
“You might want to crack open that Bible of yours. In a lesser referenced part of the same part of scripture, is in Leviticus 18 is that, ‘thou shalt lay with another man shall be stoned to death.’ Just sayin’! So Miss Rachel, you quote Leviticus 19… the chapter before affirms God’s perfect law when it comes to sexual matters.”
George Floyd
“This guy was a scumbag.”
Great Replacement Theory
“It's not a Great Replacement Theory, it's a Great Replacement Reality. Just this year, 3.6 million foreigners will invade America. 10-15 million will enter by the end of Joe Biden's term. Each will probably have 3-5 kids on average while native born Americans have 1.5 per couple. You are being replaced, by design.”
Guns
“It’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment.”
Jews
“Jewish donors have been the number one funding mechanism of radical open-border, neoliberal, quasi-Marxist policies, cultural institutions and nonprofits. This is a beast created by secular Jews and now it’s coming for Jews, and they're like, ‘What on Earth happened?’ And it's not just the colleges. It's the nonprofits, it's the movies, it's Hollywood, it's all of it.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“MLK was awful. He's not a good person. He said one good thing he actually didn't believe.”
Muslims
“They aren’t even hiding their intentions. Muslims plan to conquer Europe by demographic replacement. Will Europe wake up in time?”
What I still fail to understand is why commentators talk as if we understand "what" it is they are speaking of. Specifically, when Kirk spouted his racist, misogynistic nonsense, NO ONE pointed out what Affirmative Action really means. To me, affirmative action means allowance of "opportunity." White male-centric America still mostly believes women and minorities have no business getting a higher education, having better job opportunities, or contributing to the advancement of our society. That belief is what Kirk espoused in his bombastic, impassioned speech. The black women Kirk insults did not achieve their position and acclaim by taking it away from a more deserving white man. They were simply allowed to enter a school of higher education and compete with their fellow students. Matters not how intelligent someone is if they are barred from an education opportunity, from a job, or from a position simply because of their race or gender. Something I heard occasionally in my youth in the 50's was the phrase; "I may be stupid, but I'm white, and that makes me better." I think still true for some today.
I had never heard or read about Kirk, knew nothing about him -- until he was dead.
Now that I know more than I want to know about him -- what he promoted, and condemned, -- I am appalled by the connivance of unscrupulous Right and El Presidente as we witness the elevation of a divisive hater and lier to the realm of sainthood. But in our currently preposterous America, I am really not surprised....
Charlie Kirk was affable and engaging, character traits that seem to have taken the focus off his dark side. The NY Times made his demagoguery and intolerance quite clear:
1 Gender identity - he asked students to report professors who embraced gender identity. Now gender identity and gender change surgery are complex medical and social issues. Though the science surrounding the issues is not settled, they deserve rational discussion protected by freedom of speech, and the people involved deserve compassion.
2 Charlie Kirk’s short life laid bare the absurdity that the second amendment needs sacrificial cows.
3 Blaming Blacks for his racial intolerance is absurd. Martin Luther King and the 4 Black women he smeared far outclassed him.
4 embracing “replacement theory” shows the depth of his depravity and makes him no better than the skin heads who were among his fans.
To some degree, Charlie Kirk, in my opinion, fell victim to forces he encouraged. Intolerance and hate can inspire your adherents, but it also motivates your enemies. Charlie Kirk didn’t deserve to die, but America deserved a more reasonable spokesman for his side, someone willing to use facts and embrace compassion. In the future a sign that America has healed will be the recognition that Charlie Kirk was a small-minded man motivated by hate, not love, for his fellow man.
Americans who were Charlie Kirk's target deserve better.
He didn't " debate". He structured his appearances to give the impression thst was willing to debate. He set up straw men and women so that he and his team could edit carefully crafted, misleading videos.
the charlie...he got to assure the 2nd amendment per his own words...MAGAS are calling him a martyr, he certainly is, to the 2nd amendment...I wonder if he feels smarter than women now, black or white...
Like Trump, Fox “News” and right wing political podcasters, Kirk was gifted at running his mouth and debating with the use of half truths. His death is regrettable as it is being used by the right wing to justify their prejudices and continue their demonization of democrats as well as the LGBTQ+, Black, and asylum seeker communities.
I find it remarkable that most of these people, including Kirk, consider themselves Christians when their most deeply held conviction is not to follow the Ten Commandments, but to judge fellow human beings and to seek vengeance. They have allowed the right wing’s constant fear mongering and blame casting to be their soul source of inspiration and are no longer capable of self reflection or common reasoning. In short, they have been indoctrinated by Trump like the followers of Jim Jones and David Koresh. As Jesus warned, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves”. Of course, I think the wolf in Trump is pretty obvious to see.
Your excellent column illustrates an underlying problem in America not discussed often enough. That problem, in my view, is most Americans, especially white Americans, don't really understand what affirmative action, or DEI, really means. The ignorance is profound, and unfortunate.
Kirk gets away with his comments because many young Americans don't know much about the disparity in education opportunity between black and white students. Obviously, Kirk, and by extension, Vance et.al. want folks to think that any Black student, especially Black women, cannot possibly be as intelligent as a white man - that the least qualified white man is still superior to the more intelligent black woman. I'm certain we all know someone who is a graduate of a premier university who is truly dumber that a box of rocks. I know I do, and I seriously doubt I'm in the minority. Vance himself touts his Harvard pedigree, as if the name "Harvard" means he is better educated than me. What we don't ever see is Vance's academic or class attendance records. Is someone who graduates at the bottom of their class at Harvard more intelligent than someone who graduated Summa cum Laude from a different prestigious university? I seriously doubt it. The piece of paper means much less than what one does with their education.
We need to, collectively, do a better job of defining and expressing the concepts behind the meaning of affirmative action.
Kirk has no doubt made over the top comments on about just everything. No doubt he’s said racist, sexist, misogynistic, xenophobic comments. His comments to Taylor Swift were absolutely nauseating. He applied to West Point but didn’t make the cut so he decided not to go to any school. He dropped out of community college he’s such a small minded person that he finds it necessary to tear down others especially women and women of color. He lived like a loser and died like one as well.
Kirk was a a loudmouth lightweight. This nation should be honoring young people like these two Black high school seniors (Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson) who independently solved a 2000 year old math puzzle. These young women created new proofs for the Pythagorean Theorem, a fundamental principle of geometry, using trigonometry.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/high-school-students-pythagorean-theorem-trigonometry-proof-60-minutes/
Here are some more choice words from Kirk, listed in Zeteo:
Black people
“Happening all the time in urban America, prowling Blacks go around for fun to go target white people, that’s a fact. It’s happening more and more.”
Black pilots
“If I see a Black pilot, I’m gonna be like, ’Boy, I hope he’s qualified.’”
Black women (quoted in the article too)
“They're coming out, and they're saying, 'I'm only here because of affirmative action.' Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person's slot to go be taken somewhat seriously."
Civil rights
“We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the mid-1960s.”
The death penalty
"[The death penalty] should be public, should be quick, should be televised… I think at a certain age, it’s an initiation… At what age should you start to see public executions?"
Democrats
“The Democrat Party supports everything that God hates.”
Empathy
"I can't stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made up new age term that does a lot of damage."
Feminism
“Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You're not in charge."
Gay people
“You might want to crack open that Bible of yours. In a lesser referenced part of the same part of scripture, is in Leviticus 18 is that, ‘thou shalt lay with another man shall be stoned to death.’ Just sayin’! So Miss Rachel, you quote Leviticus 19… the chapter before affirms God’s perfect law when it comes to sexual matters.”
George Floyd
“This guy was a scumbag.”
Great Replacement Theory
“It's not a Great Replacement Theory, it's a Great Replacement Reality. Just this year, 3.6 million foreigners will invade America. 10-15 million will enter by the end of Joe Biden's term. Each will probably have 3-5 kids on average while native born Americans have 1.5 per couple. You are being replaced, by design.”
Guns
“It’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment.”
Jews
“Jewish donors have been the number one funding mechanism of radical open-border, neoliberal, quasi-Marxist policies, cultural institutions and nonprofits. This is a beast created by secular Jews and now it’s coming for Jews, and they're like, ‘What on Earth happened?’ And it's not just the colleges. It's the nonprofits, it's the movies, it's Hollywood, it's all of it.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“MLK was awful. He's not a good person. He said one good thing he actually didn't believe.”
Muslims
“They aren’t even hiding their intentions. Muslims plan to conquer Europe by demographic replacement. Will Europe wake up in time?”
Palestine
“I don’t think the place exists.”
Transgender people
“You’re an abomination to God.”
that all sounds like hate speech to me
charlie kirk YOU are an abomination to God
What I still fail to understand is why commentators talk as if we understand "what" it is they are speaking of. Specifically, when Kirk spouted his racist, misogynistic nonsense, NO ONE pointed out what Affirmative Action really means. To me, affirmative action means allowance of "opportunity." White male-centric America still mostly believes women and minorities have no business getting a higher education, having better job opportunities, or contributing to the advancement of our society. That belief is what Kirk espoused in his bombastic, impassioned speech. The black women Kirk insults did not achieve their position and acclaim by taking it away from a more deserving white man. They were simply allowed to enter a school of higher education and compete with their fellow students. Matters not how intelligent someone is if they are barred from an education opportunity, from a job, or from a position simply because of their race or gender. Something I heard occasionally in my youth in the 50's was the phrase; "I may be stupid, but I'm white, and that makes me better." I think still true for some today.
I had never heard or read about Kirk, knew nothing about him -- until he was dead.
Now that I know more than I want to know about him -- what he promoted, and condemned, -- I am appalled by the connivance of unscrupulous Right and El Presidente as we witness the elevation of a divisive hater and lier to the realm of sainthood. But in our currently preposterous America, I am really not surprised....
We've always had affirmative action in America. It went from benefiting white people for 200 years to finally benefiting people of color.
Thank you for the truth and explaining how only a portion of someone's words can be misused to change the otherwise correct content.
Charlie Kirk was affable and engaging, character traits that seem to have taken the focus off his dark side. The NY Times made his demagoguery and intolerance quite clear:
1 Gender identity - he asked students to report professors who embraced gender identity. Now gender identity and gender change surgery are complex medical and social issues. Though the science surrounding the issues is not settled, they deserve rational discussion protected by freedom of speech, and the people involved deserve compassion.
2 Charlie Kirk’s short life laid bare the absurdity that the second amendment needs sacrificial cows.
3 Blaming Blacks for his racial intolerance is absurd. Martin Luther King and the 4 Black women he smeared far outclassed him.
4 embracing “replacement theory” shows the depth of his depravity and makes him no better than the skin heads who were among his fans.
To some degree, Charlie Kirk, in my opinion, fell victim to forces he encouraged. Intolerance and hate can inspire your adherents, but it also motivates your enemies. Charlie Kirk didn’t deserve to die, but America deserved a more reasonable spokesman for his side, someone willing to use facts and embrace compassion. In the future a sign that America has healed will be the recognition that Charlie Kirk was a small-minded man motivated by hate, not love, for his fellow man.
Americans who were Charlie Kirk's target deserve better.
He didn't " debate". He structured his appearances to give the impression thst was willing to debate. He set up straw men and women so that he and his team could edit carefully crafted, misleading videos.
He was a fraud.
the charlie...he got to assure the 2nd amendment per his own words...MAGAS are calling him a martyr, he certainly is, to the 2nd amendment...I wonder if he feels smarter than women now, black or white...
Like Trump, Fox “News” and right wing political podcasters, Kirk was gifted at running his mouth and debating with the use of half truths. His death is regrettable as it is being used by the right wing to justify their prejudices and continue their demonization of democrats as well as the LGBTQ+, Black, and asylum seeker communities.
I find it remarkable that most of these people, including Kirk, consider themselves Christians when their most deeply held conviction is not to follow the Ten Commandments, but to judge fellow human beings and to seek vengeance. They have allowed the right wing’s constant fear mongering and blame casting to be their soul source of inspiration and are no longer capable of self reflection or common reasoning. In short, they have been indoctrinated by Trump like the followers of Jim Jones and David Koresh. As Jesus warned, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves”. Of course, I think the wolf in Trump is pretty obvious to see.
Your excellent column illustrates an underlying problem in America not discussed often enough. That problem, in my view, is most Americans, especially white Americans, don't really understand what affirmative action, or DEI, really means. The ignorance is profound, and unfortunate.
Kirk gets away with his comments because many young Americans don't know much about the disparity in education opportunity between black and white students. Obviously, Kirk, and by extension, Vance et.al. want folks to think that any Black student, especially Black women, cannot possibly be as intelligent as a white man - that the least qualified white man is still superior to the more intelligent black woman. I'm certain we all know someone who is a graduate of a premier university who is truly dumber that a box of rocks. I know I do, and I seriously doubt I'm in the minority. Vance himself touts his Harvard pedigree, as if the name "Harvard" means he is better educated than me. What we don't ever see is Vance's academic or class attendance records. Is someone who graduates at the bottom of their class at Harvard more intelligent than someone who graduated Summa cum Laude from a different prestigious university? I seriously doubt it. The piece of paper means much less than what one does with their education.
We need to, collectively, do a better job of defining and expressing the concepts behind the meaning of affirmative action.
You are correct in what you write about Kirk.
We must counter vigorously attempts at his canonization.
Another mediocre white man blaming affirmative action for his own deficiencies. He needs white male privilege to have any success.