In a surprisingly strong defence of free speech, The Dominion Post has come out saying race relations conciliator Joris De Bres should not be pre-emptively censoring Massey University's Professor Clydesdale over his controversial new study regarding the economic contribution of Polynesian Immigrant's to New Zealand's economy:
"Mr de Bres seems in danger of forgetting this is a democracy, in which academics have the freedom their institutions allow them to comment and critique society and newspapers have the right not only to report such comment and criticism but also to decide what prominence to give what is, by any definition, news." (hat tip: David Farrar)
What really gets me about all this is what an economic report has to do with a race relations conciliator? Are we expecting Polynesian immigrants to riot in the streets if the findings of some minor academic study paint them in a bad light? Where is the precedent for un-pc academic findings causing major racial conflict? Did Africa explode over Professor Watson's politically incorrect comment on African intelligence? Did African Americans riot over the publication of the Bell Curve? Of the few people that did get worked up about the later, most were harmless-looking middle class white guys.
If de Bres can't find any better things to do with his time, you have to wonder whether we should be forking over taxpayers money to support his role.
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