Dorian Abbot, a University of Chicago geophysicist, was invited by the venerable MIT to talk about climate change. Some students and teachers opposed the plan because of Abbot’s criticism of affirmative action. The invitation was then canceled. Should the scientist have been ‘canceled’ for his views on matters not relating to the topic of his lecture? Does letting him talk on climate add legitimacy to his views on society? Is freedom of speech the issue here or, as the organizers put it, the freedom to pick speakers?

Abbot (who is white) has written opinion pieces calling for a rethink of affirmative action and diversity programs, arguing that such steps see people as members of some groups rather than as individuals. That is a well articulated position against ‘identity politics.’ There are good arguments against it too. Affirmative action is an attempt to provide a level-playing field for Blacks and others, who are denied the historical advantages that the whites have. Though that was not a debate Abbot was going to touch at the MIT, some faculty members and students opposed the choice of speaker as “infuriating,” “inappropriate” and oppressive: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/27/business/mit-discuss-academic-freedom-after-canceling-prestigious-lecture-over-professors-views/

So, last month the MIT called off the lecture. The head of the relevant department said that at stake here is not just freedom of speech but also the freedom to pick the right kind of speaker.

The scientific community has been debating the move. Some think that science itself depends on open discussion and fair assessment of opposing viewpoints. At least scientists should not have jumped on the cancel-culture bandwagon. For others, the facts of racism are too stark for any debate and there are no two ways about redressing historical injustices.

Abbot says, “We’re not going to do the best science we can if we are constrained ideologically”: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/us/dorian-abbot-mit.html

The Abbot affair, meanwhile, has taken a life of its own. An institute at Princeton invited him the same day he was to speak at MIT. At the equally prestigious University of California, Berkeley, a professor is resigning after his department refused to support his proposal to invite Abbot to speak.

>>Abbot’s rejoinders:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/cancel-culture-college-mit-dorian-abbot-university-chicago-representation-equity-equality-11635516316

https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/mit-abandons-its-mission-and-me

https://twitter.com/DorianAbbot