Kyle Kashuv. Yahoo News/Reuters.
Parkland survivor and gun rights activist Kyle Kashuv has been kicked out of Harvard after proof he said the N-word was discovered. Yahoo News. Kashuv posted several messages using the N-word and people that had access to his comments sent them to the media. Kashuv said that he was making "idiotic comments" and is no longer the same person who made the comments when he was 16. In response to the messages Harvard pulled Kashuv's acceptance to Harvard, which Kashuv planned on attending in 2020.
My Comment:
What a cowardly move by Harvard. I don't believe for a second that they kicked Kashuv out for his language but for his political beliefs instead. His scores were good enough to get into any university, unlike David Hogg, but they hate him because he supports gun rights. I am 100% certain that if David Hogg got caught using the N-word, he would not be kicked out.
More disturbing to me is the fact that Kashuv is being punished for statements he made as a minor. If someone had text copies of what I said when I was 16 I probably would get in trouble as well. I didn't say the N-word but, as all teenage boys do, I am sure that I said something horrible offensive to those looking to be offended. If that is the standard we are going to hold people, and let's be honest, only conservative people, then nobody is going to pass. Period.
It's also pretty obviously a culture clash between generations as well. For older Americans, the n-word is the most horrible thing you can ever say. It's so offensive that you can be fired for saying it, even in a non-offensive context (which is why I am forced to say "n-word" instead of the actual word). It's a word with so much power that if the wrong person says it in the wrong context they can be kicked out of polite society.
However, for the young kids, it's really not that big of a deal anymore. Years of hearing the word in music and the pretty much unlimited use of the word on the internet means that, to them, it's just another word. It was pretty clear from the actual text of Kashuv's words that he was just trash talking, like young men tend to do. The older generations may be aghast at it, but the truth is that for younger people the word has lost most of it's power.
I'll let you decide which group is right but even if we do agree that the N-word is something that should never ever be said, it's still wrong to kick Kashuv out of Harvard. It may even be illegal as Harvard receives public funds and can't discriminate based on politics. I personally think there is a huge difference between saying the word and calling someone the word, but even then we do have free speech in this country. An institution that receives public funding should not be able to kick someone out no matter how offensive he is to them.
If you say something dumb when you are a teenager, and let's be honest, every teenager has done so, you shouldn't be punished for it as an adult. And even if you do something dumb as an adult that shouldn't be the one defining moment for your entire life. Kashuv is a good person who fights for an absolutely critical cause, gun rights, and that should more than forgive him saying the n-word a few times when he was 16. He's grown as a person since the mass shooting that will likely define his entire life and he should be judged as who he is as a person, not on one specific incident. I've always been uncomfortable with people going all out against old statements as if people don't change, even when those people are my political enemies.
Worst of all is how all of this came out. These weren't public statements, there were private communications that were leaked to the press. Even worse, the people also involved in the statements were too cowardly to give their names, probably because they said offensive things as well. This is a huge betrayal and much worse than anything Kushav said.
Finally, for all the noise Harvard makes about diversity, they sure don't like political diversity. Kashuv would be a positive influence on campus as he would bring a perspective rarely seen to the elitist Harvard. His experience as a 2nd amendment rights supporter and now as a victim of the national media, would be a valuable lesson for the otherwise lockstep liberal college.
Despite all of this, I do expect Kashuv to bounce back. I am sure there is some college out there that will accept him and he's still golden to the gun rights community. Quite frankly, the Democrats and the media are trying to make owning a gun as offensive as saying the n-word so I doubt anyone is going to care about their judgments in the gun rights community. I am sure Kashuv will be fine in the end.
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