Margaret Wente blinks!

The most contentious column of the year contained the word "savages." It tried a defence of Olympics executive Dick Pound, who was denounced for an offhand comment he'd made (in French) that Canada had once been a land of " sauvages." I tried to argue that European culture of the 1600s had in some ways been more "advanced" than North American aboriginal cultures of the same time.

This was not a popular view, to say the least, nor did I argue it especially well, although it might not have made a difference if I had. Within hours, a Facebook group called Fire Margaret Wente had signed up thousands of new members. Their e-mails to the editor denounced me for ignorance, malice and racism, and didn't stop for weeks. Later, at a symposium on journalism ethics, I feebly explained I hadn't anticipated such a heated reaction. To which one seasoned professor replied: "Well, you should have." She was right.

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Free Speech only for racists? BS! "Fire Margaret Wente!" I say! Yes, I said "Fire Margaret Wente!" and I think the Globe and Mail should do so, and I have the right to say so and do what I can to make it happen. So there, Margaret Wente! There's your 'free speech' for you! You are free to write racist anti-Indigenous diatribes, and I am free to complain about you and try to get you fired! White supremacists/racists have a strange interpretation of 'free speech'. They think it means they are the only ones with the right to say what they like. They think everyone is supposed to just listen to them and not say squat. Not so. See, the way it works in a free society is that we can say what we like and other people are free to disagree. Free speech is a right, but itcomes with consequences if it offends someone. The strength of free speech is in the power to reign in racists and white supremacists and others who threaten the peaceful coexistence we seek - the power of freedom of speech itself ... on both sides. We are free to shout them down and try to have them dismissed from positions of authority. In fact, it is not only our right but our responsibility to try to shut them up and we will continue to do so. Racists and white supremacists exist in a lala land that exists only in their own minds. They are a disease of the human race, just like scabies. You can try to spread your scabies, but many will defend themselves from it and some will chase you right out of the place! So carry on, racists: Speak as freely as you like and so will we!

FIRE MARGARET WENTE! FIRE MARGARET WENTE! FIRE MARGARET WENTE! FIRE MARGARET WENTE! FIRE MARGARET WENTE! FIRE MARGARET WENTE! FIRE MARGARET WENTE! FIRE MARGARET WENTE! FIRE MARGARET WENTE! FIRE MARGARET WENTE! FIRE MARGARET WENTE! FIRE MARGARET WENTE!