It’s official, the neocon rag National Review has fired John Derbyshire for writing an entirely reasonable and realistic article. I only ever visited National Review Online to read Derbyshire’s posts at the The Corner, but now I suppose I’ll have no reason to visit NRO at all. They’ve already either purged all their other good writers (such as Peter Brimelow and Steve Sailer) or gagged the rest (such as John O’Sullivan).
If you haven’t been following the development, Derbyshire’s article at TakiMag, “The Talk: Nonblack Version,” is a play on the “talk” that black leaders tell blacks to have with their children: don’t trust whitey. Looking at mundane crime statistics, Derbyshire wrote a piece advising white parents to tell their kids not to visit black neighborhoods, etc. The leftist and neocon media went ballistic. Derb was first attacked by PC leftists, who were quickly joined by Trotskyite neocons like Jonah Goldberg and Ramesh Ponnuru.
Why now? Derbyshire has written controversial pieces previously. Is the MSM now pushing for a final pre-election purge of all unacceptable thought from mainstream press? First Buchanan and now Derb? Is it because it’s on the heals of the Trayvon Martin story? Is it because Derb, undergoing chemotherapy, is now most vulnerable? Or is it because what he says hits so close to home? Although one may disagree with a few points in Derb’s piece, who’s going to disagree with its main premise? How many white suburban liberal parents do you know that tell their kids to go hang out with gangbangers in the inner city? Everyone knows what Derb writes is true. Perhaps that’s his real crime. In a state of totalitarian political correctness, telling the truth is the greatest crime one can commit.
Updates:
Derbyshire is now unemployed, undergoing chemotherapy, and asking readers for donations as he lives “somewhat precariously, by the pen.”
Patrick Cleburne on incident here, on defenses of Derbyshire here, and on Derbyshire’s necessary work here.
Steve Sailer on “the talk,” on the irrelevance of National Review, and on Josh Barro at Forbes pointing and sputtering.
Paul Gottfried compares National Review to the communist Daily Worker.
Federale on Rich Lowry.
James Fulford on neocons Jonah Goldberg and Ramesh Ponnuru’s tweets.
Nicholas Stix calls it a “high-tech lynching.”
Paul Kersey defends Derbyshire.
Jared Taylor writes Derbyshire was fired for writing the truth no one is supposed to say.
Richard Spencer argues that Derbyshire is a truth-teller, not a race-baiter.
Peter Brimelow writes on Derb’s financial situation, and notes that what’s going on is similar to the journolist hysteria.
Thomas Fleming writes that Derbyshire was too intelligent for National Review.
Taki defends Derbyshire.
Joseph Kay writes about the rationality of firing Derbyshire.
Paul Gottfried discusses the reality of black crime.
Jared Taylor notes the Atlantic Wire’s obsession with Derbyshire.
