Today’s blacklisted American: Previously blacklisted Oregon professor sues university for being further blacklisted because he tweeted “all men are created equal.”
Bruce Gilley of Portland State University
They’re coming for you next: Professor Bruce Gilley of Portland State University in Oregon, who previously had a peer-reviewed paper on colonialism withdrawn from publication because of death threats, has now sued the university because the former communication manager for its Division of Equity and Inclusion blocked him from an internal college Twitter discussion group because he had the nerve to tweet “all men are created equal.”
You can read his lawsuit complaint here [pdf]. Gilley not only sued the university’s Division of Equity and Inclusion, he also sued directly Tova Stabin, the communications manager who blocked him.
What makes the case interesting is that the day after he filed his lawsuit, the university unblocked him and its lawyer sent him an apologetic letter. Here is part of that letter, as quoted in the lawsuit complaint:
In any event, Prof. Gilley (@BruceDGilley) was unblocked from the Twitter account at issue (@UOEquity) last Friday, August 12, 2022, and the Division of Equity and Inclusion does not intend to block him or anyone else in the future based on their exercise of protected speech. My office has reinforced to our colleagues who control the University’s multiple social media channels that, if they open such channels to comments, they may not block commentary on the basis of the viewpoints expressed. I have further confirmed that those social media channels controlled by UO’s central communications unit have no blocked users.
Finally, enclosed with the hard copy of this letter to Mr. Lee is $20 to cover the nominal damages of $17.91 alleged in your complaint. Ordinarily the University would issue a check; however, we are enclosing cash to avoid the administrative hassle and delay of issuing a check. Accordingly, your lawsuit is now moot, as there is no longer any effective relief that the federal court can grant, and we ask that you voluntarily dismiss it.
That same day was also Stabin’s last day working for the university. She had been in the process of retiring, but apparently because of her actions the university made sure she was gone immediately.
Gilley however refused to drop his lawsuit, and the court has ruled that it can go on. Both Portland State and Tova Stabin remain directly liable for their actions. (Note that the court papers say that Stabin always spells her name all lower case. That’s nice when she writes it, but she can’t force me to support her bad punctuation.)
In order to understand why Gilley is likely refusing to drop the case, it is important to review his earlier blacklisting. In 2017 he wrote a paper about colonialism in which he documented the fact that sometimes a colonial take-over by a European power had beneficial consequences for the people in that third world nation. As he wrote:
Research …often finds that at least some if not many or most episodes of Western colonialism were a net benefit…Such works have found evidence for significant social, economic and political gains under colonialism: expanded education, improved public health, the abolition of slavery, widened employment opportunities, improved administration, the creation of basic infrastructure, female rights, enfranchisement of untouchable or historically excluded communities, fair taxation, access to capital, the generation of historical and cultural knowledge, and national identify formation, to mention just a few dimensions.
Not surprisingly, the leftist thugs that now run academia were outraged, and began a campaign to not only get the paper withdrawn but to get Gilley fired as well. Fortunately for him Portland State stood by him during this battle, but because of “credible death threats” against the editor of the journal as well as Gilley, the paper was eventually withdrawn.
As far as I can find, no one was ever charged or arrested for those threats. Thus, the goons won.
It now appears, six years later, that Gilley is no longer willing to back down to such bullying. Good for him.
In the end we can expect his case against Portland State to lose, mostly because the university responded so quickly and properly to events. Tova Stabin however remains liable for her goonish actions, and we can hope she will eventually pay heavily for them.
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Bruce Gilley of Portland State University
They’re coming for you next: Professor Bruce Gilley of Portland State University in Oregon, who previously had a peer-reviewed paper on colonialism withdrawn from publication because of death threats, has now sued the university because the former communication manager for its Division of Equity and Inclusion blocked him from an internal college Twitter discussion group because he had the nerve to tweet “all men are created equal.”
You can read his lawsuit complaint here [pdf]. Gilley not only sued the university’s Division of Equity and Inclusion, he also sued directly Tova Stabin, the communications manager who blocked him.
What makes the case interesting is that the day after he filed his lawsuit, the university unblocked him and its lawyer sent him an apologetic letter. Here is part of that letter, as quoted in the lawsuit complaint:
In any event, Prof. Gilley (@BruceDGilley) was unblocked from the Twitter account at issue (@UOEquity) last Friday, August 12, 2022, and the Division of Equity and Inclusion does not intend to block him or anyone else in the future based on their exercise of protected speech. My office has reinforced to our colleagues who control the University’s multiple social media channels that, if they open such channels to comments, they may not block commentary on the basis of the viewpoints expressed. I have further confirmed that those social media channels controlled by UO’s central communications unit have no blocked users.
Finally, enclosed with the hard copy of this letter to Mr. Lee is $20 to cover the nominal damages of $17.91 alleged in your complaint. Ordinarily the University would issue a check; however, we are enclosing cash to avoid the administrative hassle and delay of issuing a check. Accordingly, your lawsuit is now moot, as there is no longer any effective relief that the federal court can grant, and we ask that you voluntarily dismiss it.
That same day was also Stabin’s last day working for the university. She had been in the process of retiring, but apparently because of her actions the university made sure she was gone immediately.
Gilley however refused to drop his lawsuit, and the court has ruled that it can go on. Both Portland State and Tova Stabin remain directly liable for their actions. (Note that the court papers say that Stabin always spells her name all lower case. That’s nice when she writes it, but she can’t force me to support her bad punctuation.)
In order to understand why Gilley is likely refusing to drop the case, it is important to review his earlier blacklisting. In 2017 he wrote a paper about colonialism in which he documented the fact that sometimes a colonial take-over by a European power had beneficial consequences for the people in that third world nation. As he wrote:
Research …often finds that at least some if not many or most episodes of Western colonialism were a net benefit…Such works have found evidence for significant social, economic and political gains under colonialism: expanded education, improved public health, the abolition of slavery, widened employment opportunities, improved administration, the creation of basic infrastructure, female rights, enfranchisement of untouchable or historically excluded communities, fair taxation, access to capital, the generation of historical and cultural knowledge, and national identify formation, to mention just a few dimensions.
Not surprisingly, the leftist thugs that now run academia were outraged, and began a campaign to not only get the paper withdrawn but to get Gilley fired as well. Fortunately for him Portland State stood by him during this battle, but because of “credible death threats” against the editor of the journal as well as Gilley, the paper was eventually withdrawn.
As far as I can find, no one was ever charged or arrested for those threats. Thus, the goons won.
It now appears, six years later, that Gilley is no longer willing to back down to such bullying. Good for him.
In the end we can expect his case against Portland State to lose, mostly because the university responded so quickly and properly to events. Tova Stabin however remains liable for her goonish actions, and we can hope she will eventually pay heavily for them.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Push forward with it.
They just acknowledged they were in the wrong by issuing an apology so fast.
The damage to his professional reputation could be in the millions.
Beyond his professional reputation no one should have to resort to a lawsuit in order to exercise their constitutional right of free speech. And the effort and hassle and emotional cost of doing so far exceed any nominal administrative fee associated to the effort. Finally the court has an obligation imho to use this case to set an unequivocal example that state institutions are categorically barred from suppressing free speech and ARE legally liable if they ever do it. Period. This is not negotiable.
The process is the punishment! Until more of us pay it back in this way to the left ( as they do to us) they will not learn.
Just another illustration that the extreme left will be completely intolerant in their efforts to increase tolerance.