Posted on July 8, 2020 at 10:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

An open letter warning of the spread of “censoriousness” is making its rounds around the internet and drawing strong reactions from all angles.

The letter published in Harper’s Magazine includes the signatures of more than 150 writers, academics, and artists (though a few are already stepping back from it).

In it, such notable names as J.K. Rowling, Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, and Malcolm Gladwell express concern that calls for greater inclusivity are overcorrecting and leading to “hasty and disproportionate punishments instead of considered reforms.”

The letter’s author, writer Thomas Chatterton Williams, references specific examples, such as allegations of racism that led to resignations at the National Book Critics Circle and the Poetry Foundation.

All that said, at least two signatories — historian Kerri Greenidge and writer Jennifer Finney Boylan — are stepping back from the letter.

You can read the actual letter in Harper’s Magazine and more of the reaction to it in the Guardian.

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Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Diversity, The Guardian

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