Woke activist Karen Attiah, a former opinion editor at The Washington Post, has been dismissed following her inflammatory remarks regarding the recent murder of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Attiah made her comments in an essay addressing alleged “racial double standards” related to gun violence. After her termination was announced, she took to social media to contest claims of “gross misconduct.” In a staged photograph on X, she expressed her outrage.
In the wake of Kirk’s tragic death, reactions from various liberals sparked outrage online. Some celebrated the event, leading to actions by companies and government agencies to terminate employees who engaged in such despicable behavior. This brought attention to a growing trend of vocal opposition against violent rhetoric, even as individuals like Don Lemon criticized the right’s supposed “hypocrisy” surrounding free speech advocacy.
On September 15, 2025, Attiah tweeted, “Some news: I’ve been fired from the Washington Post. But my work will continue anyway.” This defiant statement was just the beginning of her critique against “white America,” where she claimed they “are not going to do what it needs to do to get rid of guns in their country.” She later defended her views, asserting, “I was fired for ‘speaking out against political violence, racial double standards, and America’s apathy toward guns.’” In another post, she elaborated that her position as the last remaining Black full-time opinion columnist was evidence of a larger, perilous trend in the media landscape: “What happened to me is part of a broader purge of Black voices from academia, business, government, and media — a historical pattern as dangerous as it is shameful — and tragic.”
Attiah’s remarks did not let up. In yet another social media post, she rejected calls for mourning, asserting that refusing to perform traditional gestures of grief for a “white man” who espoused violence was not an act of violence in itself. This statement drew further ire, as she claimed, “Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for white men who espouse hatred and violence.” However, The Washington Post rejected her defense. An official termination letter stated that her posts on Bluesky did not align with their policies which prohibit disparaging comments based on race or gender.
Don Lemon, a well-known voice in liberal media, weighed in on the controversy. He expressed his disagreement, saying, “The hypocrisy on the right about free speech is, I mean, it’s just off the charts. Think about it: If you actually believe in what Charlie Kirk said he believed in… then why are you out to cancel people who are using their First Amendment right of free speech to tell you how they feel about Charlie Kirk by using his own words?”
As the media grapples with this contentious firing, The Washington Post Guild has sided with Attiah, claiming the paper mishandled the situation. They argue, “The Washington Post wrongly fired Opinions columnist Karen Attiah over her social media posts. The Post not only flagrantly disregarded standard disciplinary processes, it also undermined its own mandate to be a champion of free speech.”
This episode underlines the growing chasm within American media. The fallout from Attiah’s termination reflects larger societal tensions regarding race, ideology, and free speech in a climate increasingly hostile to differing viewpoints. Such disputes reveal the shifting landscape in opinion journalism and the complicated relationships between personal expression and institutional policies.
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