Under threat: The press and social advocates
The trend toward demonizing the media and those who fight for social justice is dangerous, and has dark precedents
Over the past several years, I’ve been more vocal about human rights — in the media in relation to cases I am working on as a lawyer, and on social media to provide reasoned counterpoints to opinions that promote hate. With media attention comes both support and criticism. I’ve been referred to as a “left-wing radical” and “social justice warrior” by the right, and perhaps ironically, a “conservative” by some on the left. I don’t seem to fit into any of the boxes that we define and limit ourselves within. Often people say they ignore the criticism — it doesn’t impact them. That is not true, for me at least. The criticism is tiring, demoralizing and very personal. Advocacy is, for the most part, thankless. So, why continue? It certainly isn’t for the money (human rights law is not the most lucrative area to practise in).
I’ve thought long and hard recently about what is happening in our society. Perhaps I’m more cynical because my job exposes me to some of the darker and more egregious sides of humanity. I often force myself to take time to step back and look at things from a broader perspective, and in doing so recently, I’m convinced we are coming into dangerous times. There are two primary reasons why I believe this: first, our traditional media is under attack and no longer from the extreme fringes of the political spectrum; second, those promoting and defending human rights are being targeted and attacked with troubling frequency and intensity.
Attacks are becoming more frequent on traditional media — what many refer to as mainstream media. Take to twitter and type “MSM” into the search box and take a look at what pops up. You will see the following sentiment: “mainstream media has a political agenda and is controlling the masses through one-sided reporting”; legitimate stories by credible reporters are labelled “fake news,” etc. The attack on media is intensifying. This trend is no longer limited to the extreme fringes of the political spectrum — the problem is much larger. The current president of the United States recently claimed that journalists are “the enemy of the people.” Hamilton city councillors have referred to legitimate news stories as “fake news.” A respected Hamilton jurist recently removed a respected and long-serving reporter from a courtroom despite there being no publication ban. We seem to be forgetting the importance of the free media in a democratic society. I recently had lunch with a Hamilton city councillor (no, not Matthew Green) who told me that he believes we have forgotten the covenant made between nations following the Second World War. Many of those who lived through that tragic time and understood the lessons to be learned are no longer with us. Interesting food for thought.
Rather than talk about all of the reasons why a free media is vital in this article, I think two quotes can concisely do the same:
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe.”
“It is the press, above all, which wages a positively fanatical and slanderous struggle, tearing down everything which can be regarded as a support of national independence, cultural elevation and the economic independence of the nation.”
The first is a quote from Thomas Jefferson, signalling the importance of the media in a free and democratic nation. The second is a quote from “Mein Kampf,” written by Adolf Hitler (hopefully most of us still remember him). A free and independent media is not the enemy — it is a necessity. It is vital that we don’t forget the lessons passed on from our not so distant past.
The second dangerous trend, is the attack on those who promote human rights and champion social justice. Increasingly, human rights advocates are written off as “extremists,” “radicals,” or “social justice warriors.” They are discredited in a systematic and unfair way. Many of us (including myself ) identify as moderate centrists. We see the extremes as dangerous. To be labelled as extreme is something we all try to avoid — it discredits us from mainstream society. These labels have been applied to those who advocate for human rights, in many cases silencing their willingness to speak out against egregious wrongs that they come across.
Social justice advocates are not “extreme” or “radical.” They are fighting against poverty, homelessness and discrimination because of race, age or gender identity. They are fighting to show that we are a society where we all belong, despite our differences. Those opposing the marginalized or disenfranchised, encouraging or tolerating discrimination against others, and inappropriately undermining the excellent work done by many in our community, I would dare say, are the “extreme radicals.”
I have felt increasing pressure from the criticism and attacks that inevitably come after I have spoken out to promote and defend human rights. I’ve had more than one conversation with my partner about how it is difficult to face such criticism and how I am not certain whether I can advocate like I have been doing for the rest of my career. It’s tiring. It’s thankless. It beats you down …
Recently however, I’ve reaffirmed my belief in how important and necessary such advocacy is. I’ve seen many terrible injustices that never make it to light because settlements almost always contain confidentiality provisions — and most matters settle. I also have children and think about what kind of world they will live in if I sit back and do nothing to achieve real change. Several times over the past year or so, my five-year-old daughter has come to talk to me about what she wants to be when she grows up. It seems to change from one week to the next and has included a teacher, a cookie-maker, prime minister and lawyer. She truly believes she can be anything she wants to be if she sets her mind to it, and that both inspires and saddens me. The simple reality is, the way things are now, she can’t.
Canada has seen 23 prime ministers who have served our country for 151 years. Of those 23 prime ministers, one has been female and she served a mere 132 days, forget the fact that she was not even elected (but rather won the leadership of the party after Brian Mulroney retired and then lost in the next election). I cannot bring myself to tell my daughter that she could never be a prime minister because she isn’t male. Or that many female lawyers will leave the practice of law and are far less likely to make partner in private practice because of the institutional barriers they face.
Now, by no means is my daughter (or another woman) not becoming prime minister the most egregious of human rights violations — I recognize that. The point I am trying to make is that when we simply accept the society we find ourselves in and ignore its ills, things won’t improve. It’s easy to turn away when we are distanced from the victims of discrimination. We can choose to speak out against wrongs, collectively and loudly, or we can quietly accept these ills … until it happens to us or one we love. Let’s not wait for it to hit close to home before we, the moderate centrist majority, speak out against it. I, for one, cannot sit back quietly because it is easier. We have real problems — and the issues with pay or employment equity are only some among many. There is important, tough work to be done. I’ve heard it argued that this work is a thing of the past — human rights in Canada are not “real” human rights. For those who think human rights are a thing of the past, reconsider and pay careful attention to the attacks on the media and those advancing civil liberties.
I wrote this article in part to those who are like me, advocating for human rights and social justice, whether you find yourself in the non-profit sector, the business community or in law, to highlight that while our jobs may be thankless and difficult, the work we are doing is vital in these dangerous times. More importantly though, I wrote this article for those who do not agree with me, to provide some insight into why people like me do what we do, in the hope that you might change your mind. I’ve already referred to a couple of quotes, so I’ll leave you with a final one:
“Those who never change their minds never change anything.” — Sir Winston Churchill