USA TODAY International Edition
A reminder that a pen is mightier than a knife
Rushdie shows courage needed to combat hate
Editor’s note: The following was adapted from remarks given by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at the Chautauqua Institution on Sunday after Friday’s stabbing of author Salman Rushdie, who was to speak at the institution.
As a young girl, I remember visiting the Chautauqua Institution, an hour’s drive from my hometown of Buffalo. My dad worked at the steel plant and we didn’t have a lot of money – in fact, we couldn’t afford to pay admission to drive through the institution’s front gate.
We used to pile in the station wagon after church on Sundays and come to Chautauqua in the hopes that one day we’d be able to visit that extraordinary place. Because for those of us in western New York, the Chautauqua Institution is an iconic site. Founded on the principles of education, freedom of expression and inclusion, it represents the values we are most proud of in New York. It is a place where people believe in the vigorous exploration of ideals and philosophies and study religion and politics – a place known for its healing, its tranquility, its harmony.
But this past Friday, that tranquility was shattered. An individual hell- bent on silencing these sacred ideals viciously attacked the author Salman Rushdie, a man who has lived under threat for decades for speaking truth to power. For an individual like Mr. Rushdie, who has lived the consequences of a crackdown on free speech and free expression, the chilling symbolism of a violent attack at this site – a place known for welcoming great thinkers to share thoughts freely – is undeniable.
I want to send a message loud and clear to any individual or any group that dare violate the sanctity of a place like Chautauqua: A man with a knife cannot silence a man with a pen.
Sadly, Mr. Rushdie’s attack is not the first time in the last three months that the spotlight of the world has been focused on western New York. On May 14, a white supremacist radicalized on social media traveled three hours to commit a mass shooting at a supermarket that’s about a 10- minute drive from the house where my husband and I live. And once again, this attacker’s choice of location was chilling: This young man went online and found the closest place with the largest concentration of Black people who he could kill and harm in a racist attack.
It takes courage to stand up to hate, violence and intolerance. So it’s fitting that “courage” was the topic of discussion at the Chautauqua Institution the week that Mr. Rushdie was attacked. He spent a decade of his life in hiding, and finally he decided to come out of the shadows. His courage in the face of such danger should inspire all New Yorkers – and all freedom- loving people across the globe.
It is a challenging world. To many young people, I say sometimes it can be scary. But this is the United States. This is common to our DNA to speak up loudly and say with one clear voice that wisdom is mightier than ignorance. Tolerance is mightier than hate. Courage is mightier than fear.
And the pen will always be mightier than the knife.