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“Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously.” Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah posted this quote from right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk after his killing. It didn’t need explanation. But, the consequences for her free speech - and others’ - have been dangerously swift.
On Substack, Attiah, The Post’s last full-time Black opinion columnist, described being suddenly fired. “What happened to me is part of a broader purge of Black voices from academia, business, government, and media — a historical pattern,” she wrote, directly referencing 60s-era segregation. That followed the McCarthy era of blacklisting and persecuting anyone rumored as “disloyal” and “left-wing.”
According to PBS, which suffered a $500 million federal funding media slash, media corporations fired other professionals over responses to Kirk’s killing. ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! “indefinitely,” its largest affiliate demanding that Kimmel apologize and pay Kirk’s family and Turning Point USA. “When you see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder,” said Vice President Vance, “call their employer.”
We gathered, organized, and raged outside of their watchful eyes. And it frightened them.
The White House deputy chief of staff even deemed mocking Kirk’s death “domestic terrorism,” asserting that law enforcement “will be used to find you” and strip civilians of “money,” “power,” and, if found lawbreakers, “freedom.” But this goes beyond Kirk.
The Trump administration and allies are seizing on Kirk’s death to go after dissent and resistance. It’s a reminder that the playbook of McCarthyism isn’t confined to history books — it echoes in our present.