Atlantic Cashiers Kevin Williamson, Its Reputation

Well. This is a clarifying moment. Let me start by saying that I agree entirely with this:

What got Williamson fired from The Atlantic is a past statement of his: that women who procure abortions should face the death penalty. I think this is an extreme position to hold, and I strongly disagree with it. In fact, Kevin is the only pro-lifer I know who believes this — and I didn’t know he believed it until it came out after his hiring was announced. Even so, as pro-choice Reason editor Katharine Mangu-Ward points out, the logic of Williamson’s belief is rooted in the conviction of 40 percent of Americans: that life begins at conception. If Kevin Williamson stated that opinion in a group of pro-lifers, he would get a lot of pushback, but it would not be considered so grotesque as to gather a mob with pitchforks and torches, and drive him off the cliff. In fact, it’s a perfectly reasonable thing to ask of pro-lifers: if you really believe that life begins at conception, why shouldn’t women who choose abortion face the same criminal penalty as murderers?

The thing about Kevin, when he writes about white poverty: he’s writing from experience. He grew up very poor, in a highly dysfunctional environment. This is his story to tell, and I hope he will one day. Point is, he’s writing about something he knows first hand.

That background informs what I think is still one of the most provocative and insightful pieces of magazine journalism I’ve ever read: his 2014 National Review essay on “The White Ghetto” of Appalachia. If you haven’t read it, please do. … The writing is as beautiful as the realities he describes are harrowing.

The Atlantic is not obligated to hire or to retain anyone. Firing Williamson because of that one blemish on his immense record is unjust — and it’s a serious stain on the magazine’s reputation.

Recently, Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus came out in favor of eugenic abortion regarding Down Syndrome babies. It shocked the conscience of a lot of conservatives, who said so. But did a mob form to demand that the Post fire Ruth Marcus? Of course not — and had there been, there’s no way I would have joined it.

Look, Ta-Nehisi Coates has written some appalling things, in my judgment, such as his saying that 9/11 firefighters weren’t human to him. (Warren Henry at The Federalist found an example of Coates speculating about embracing French Revolution-style terror as a means of social progress — something at least as offensive as Williamson’s abortion view.) Coates has also written beautiful, insightful essays, pieces that have challenged my thinking and stoked my empathy. He is a star writer at The Atlantic, and he deserves to be, even when I find his work infuriating.

Anyway, this is not really about Kevin Williamson and his views on abortion. Here’s what it’s about:

More From The American Conservative: