by Taylor Baker
With a reverence typically reserved for trash talking whatever weekend team is in town, many Oxford residents have unified en masse against a target within their own community.
After the assassination of Charlie Kirk on September 10, hordes of messages flooded the town’s most notable (and at times infamous) Facebook pages. One post in particular began to popularize immediately—amassing hundreds of comments and reshares within the first few hours of publishing. The content of the post featured a screenshot taken from the personal instagram page of Lauren Stokes, her professional headshot, and a demand that people both boycott her restaurant and make calls to the University of Mississippi in attempt to get her fired.
Kirk, who had been scheduled to speak at the University in October, clearly has many devout followers willing to go to bat. The pressure from the people worked. Within hours, the University released a statement making bold strokes, citing the importance of honoring a commitment to “civility, fairness, and respecting the dignity of each person.” Stokes was now the former Executive Assistant for the Vice-Chancellor at Ole Miss and her restaurant, Tarasque Cucina, immediately closed its doors (but has since reopened).
While some returned to their keyboards with a simple and smug “she had it coming,” there were many community members, seemingly unaware at their rapid bypassing of hypocrisy, that began making death threats towards Stokes and her husband. Hundreds of photos of Stokes, with captioned insults ranging from mean-spirited to down-right cruel and imposing, have flooded the internet.
Notably, there has also been some outpouring of support for Stokes. People began sharing the facts of her original post, most importantly highlighting that Stokes herself not only did not write it, but that there was no actual celebration of the violence surrounding Kirk’s death. Many statements point out the shame that should be felt by the University, for citing “fairness” in regards to the act of firing someone for a personal opinion shared on social media. However, the scale of support versus enragement is certainly far from balanced. The town is divided in a way that seems not only malignant, but driven by emotional, torch-wielding keyboard warriors. However, one question seems to be asked over and over with little suitable, consistent answers—what would Charlie Kirk think?
For someone so outspoken and direct, Kirk’s message seems to be now lost among his most devout followers. “You should be allowed to say outrageous things,” Kirk said, just earlier this year. He shunned the idea of “hate speech,” believing that, like deaths caused by gun violence in regards to the Second Amendment, “ugly speech,” “gross speech,” and “evil speech” are all necessary to upholding the First Amendment.
Kirk, while being intentionally provocative, divisive, and at times harmful, was at least clear on where he stood regarding the ability of freely and openly expressing opinions, no matter how vile. He did not mince his words. So where has the message been lost for those who are supporting him?
For someone who, in the week after his assassination, has been nearly culturally sainted, it could be argued that his followers—including the closest among him like the President—are missing the mark in regards to upholding Kirk’s loudly stated beliefs. People should not be losing their jobs over their personal opinion; Kirk would have supported this statement. He may have debated them at one of his “Prove Me Wrong” tables, but the very nature of silencing them would have been fundamentally opposed by what he represented. Call him a racist, homophobic, white nationalist (he would not have disagreed on many of these points), but he was consistent. To put it frankly, there should be no differing view points, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, on where Charlie Kirk would fall regarding this issue and the question asked above. Assuming he continued to follow every opinion he had previously ever expressed: he would view the mass firings and other means of attack regarding statements of his death as a direct attack on the First Amendment.
Is it horrible to ever openly express support at someone getting murdered? Absolutely. Would Kirk, in fact, has Kirk done just that in order to protect the various Amendments of the county? Absolutely.
There is immense power in a community banding together. The firing of Stokes (and other notable figures) shows the impact of a modern day witch hunt. More than removal from their workforce and routine, Stokes and folks like her now face the upheaval of trying to find new employment and make ends meet during an incredibly expensive and tumultuous time. For enacting the very thing Kirk was proud to fight for, people expressing their concerns over his most extreme views now face threats to their own survival. A restaurant, known for creating warm, cozy food and building community structure, potentially may be lost to the town.
Is this how the community wants to utilize its power? In this moment of shocking videos, violence, and the continued bombardment of divisive finger pointing, how can we see one another as people attempting to survive together, rather than tear each other apart? Witch hunts historically end with innocent people being hurt, killed, and entire communities facing haunting consequences—is this lesson worth revisiting?
These are the questions, I believe, that now deserve some thought and consideration. Stop questioning what Kirk would feel when he spent his entire life spelling it out, and take a moment to ask yourself: am I joining a hypocritical hunt because I am scared of being on the outside?
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