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Was Charlie Kirk a Racist and a Fascist, or a Free Speech Advocate on the Cutting Edge of America's Cultural Issues
Hero or Heretic? The battle to define Charlie Kirk
There's an ongoing fight in the media and on social media on how to portray Charlie Kirk since his assassination on a Utah college campus. I come from a starting point of knowing Charlie Kirk well enough to pick him out of a lineup, but I know little about the man and his personal views. I was more aware of the organization he founded, Turning Point, U.S.A. (TPUSA), and the right-wing speakers it regularly attracted. I was certain his politics were different from mine, but I was more than willing to keep an open mind when considering his legacy.
Was Charlie Kirk a Racist?
Charlie has often been described as a racist. I view racism like I do pregnancy. You can't be a little bit of either. Kirk's defenders acknowledge that he has made "controversial remarks," which they say were aimed at critiquing policies (e.g., affirmative action, DEI programs, critical race theory), rather than denigrating people because of their race. Unfortunately, Kirk has denigrated people because of their race. He said of Michelle Obama, Joy Reid, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Ketanji Brown Jackson that they “do not have the brain…
