Bigotry does real harm. It destroys lives. And silence does not heal that harm, silence multiplies it. What is hidden will eventually be brought to light. If racism is allowed to pass unchallenged, it does not fade, it takes root, it grows stronger.
So when people are shamed, asked to delete their words, or to soften their truth in the name of “respect,” that is not respect. That is silencing. Honest critique often lives alongside acknowledgment of someone’s contributions, and both can be true.
These are not cheap shots. They are the same conversations many of us have tried to have in good faith while people were alive. Naming racism directly is not hypocrisy. It is integrity.
And so I ask: is the outrage some feel at uncomfortable truths really as deep as the disgust and sorrow we feel when we witness bigotry, or when we see people profit from oppression? One is about protecting reputation. The other is about protecting real people.
Respect for the living, for those harmed by racism, will always matter more than protecting the reputation of the dead. And to those who try to shame others into silence, the answer is simple: we don’t do that here.