Book publisher Simon & Schuster is paying hatemonger Milo Yiannopoulos $250,000 to write a book.
Don’t let Simon & Schuster spread hate speech. Demand they immediately cancel the white supremacist book deal !
Dear friend,
One of the largest book publishers in the country, Simon & Schuster, just rewarded a white supremacist spokesperson with a massive book deal.
Milo Yiannopoulos - a Breitbart publisher and spokesperson for white supremacy - has made a name for himself as a mouthpiece for hate speech. Yiannopoulos was banned from Twitter last year after leading a campaign of racial, anti-Black and sexual harassment against actress Leslie Jones. The harassment driven by Yiannopoulos was so severe that Jones had to temporarily quit Twitter. Now he’s getting $250,000 from Simon & Schuster to promote his hateful ideas.
The Simon & Schuster book deal will give Yiannopoulos exactly what Twitter took away from him: a mainstream platform, one beyond the openly white supremacist Breitbart, that he can use to spread his views of hate for Black people, women, Muslims, and transgender people.
Simon & Schuster is enabling white supremacists and is openly peddling hate speech for profit. Simon & Schuster is banking on white supremacists all over the country buying this book. Not surprisingly, white supremacists have already pushed the book’s pre-sales to No. 1 on Amazon, giving it a sleek “bestseller” label that further legitimizes Yiannopoulos’ hate speech.1 This book deal is so disturbing that even some segments of Simon & Schuster are speaking out against the book deal.2 The United Kingdom branch of Simon & Schuster has already publicly refused to sell this hateful book.
Simon & Schuster claims that they “do not and never have condoned discrimination or hate speech in any form,” buthanding a purveyor of hate speech and white supremacy a $250,000 megaphone is a clear statement that this publisher is willing to enable and profit from calls to harm people of color.
This is not normal. White supremacists should not be getting six-figure deals to promote their hate under the guise of mainstream platforms. Black communities know all too well how perpetuating stereotypes and hateful rhetoric can empower a racist and violent agenda.
In the week following the election, more than 900 incidents of harassment and hate crimes targeting Blacks folks, people of color, Muslims, immigrants, the L.G.B.T. community, and women have been reported.3 The violence of these emboldened cowards will only continue if companies like Simon & Schuster continue to normalize white supremacy.
We will not stand by and let companies profit from white supremacy.
Until justice is real,
Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Anika, Jade, Evan, Bernard, Corina and the rest of the Color Of Change team.
References :
1. "Simon & Schuster stands by Milo Yiannopoulos book despite backlash," The Guardian, 30 December 2017.
https://act.colorofchange.org/go/7232?t=7&akid=6678.1942551.aMyNQA
https://act.colorofchange.org/go/7232?t=7&akid=6678.1942551.aMyNQA
2. "S&S UK will not publish controversial Milo Yiannopoulos," The Bookseller, 3 January 2017. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/7233?t=9&akid=6678.1942551.aMyNQA
3. "Ten Days After: Harassment and Intimidation in the Aftermath of the Election," Southern Poverty Law Center, 29 November 2016. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/7234?t=11&akid=6678.1942551.aMyNQA
Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.
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