Should Joe Rogan be silenced?
The short answer to this is NO he should not. The long answer is, maybe. The thought out response is, we don’t agree with him, Spotify or Neil Young! His comments. over time have been vile and inexscusable.
*Let it be noted that The Contrast Project does not defend Joe Rogans statements but we defend his right to say them, just has everyone the right/option to choose whether or not to listen to him.
The latest controversy podcaster and comic Joe Rogan faces right now also highlights a fear which often plagues Black folks: That a high-profile person, who claims to be non-racist and an ally to people of color, may actually be the opposite.
Eric Deggans – NPR
“I know that to most people, there’s no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast, and I agree with that now,” Rogan said in an apology posted to Instagram. “I haven’t said it in years,” he added.
As Daily Show host Trevor Noah noted in a brilliant commentary on this issue, even though Rogan says in his apology video that he wasn’t comparing Black people to apes, he clearly was.
“Joe, I think you were using racism to be entertaining,” Noah said. “I’m not saying you were trying to offend Black people…But you knew that offending Black people would get a laugh from those white people you are friends with.”
He is both influential and controversial! I respect that Joe Rogan listens, but of course, there is a THIN LINE between being open to diverse opinions and being too dangerously accommodating.
Project Nightfall
The right response to speech you don’t like is more speech, not the lazy, cowardly response of canceling people.
Bill Maher
Stay tuned for more.
