In this excerpt from The Dennis Prager Show, Dennis Prager narrates a New York Times story about the ACLU’s termination of lawyer Kate O'H, a Korean‑American employee who accused her superiors of sexism and a hostile workplace. Prager details the ACLU’s claim that O'H used racially coded language toward Black colleagues—citing specific phrases such as calling a Black superior “afraid,” describing a manager as “chastising,” and repeating a satirical “beatings” remark. He argues that the ACLU’s definition of racist speech is overly expansive, emphasizing that the organization, historically a free‑speech champion, is now policing speech based on offended feelings. Prager labels this cultural shift the “age of feelings,” contrasting it with Enlightenment reason, and contends that without God and the Bible society has abandoned true reason. He references his own work, The Rational Bible, and concludes by promoting his membership site, Pragertopia, for the full episode.
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Here's a story in the New York Times of all places. I was not— I was surprised to read about it in the New York Times. I want— I'm gonna read to you extensively because I want you to hear what is going on with free speech at the ACLU. The ACLU was founded for free speech. That was the greatest liberty. I wonder if you folks can hear the thunder here. Yeah, you might be able— I don't know. Can it be heard? I don't know. Interesting. There is a major storm coming into Nashville. I mean, some say even a tornado. So that's pretty serious thunder if I could hear it in this building. So listen to this. The ACLU said a worker for the ACLU used racial tropes and fired her. Kate O'H— that's her, that's her last name— Kate O was no one's idea of a get-along-to-go-along employee. During her 5 years as a lawyer for the ACLU, she was an unsparing critic of her superiors known for sending long, blistering emails to human resources complaining about what she described as a hostile workplace. She considered herself a whistleblower, an advocate for other women in the office, drawing unflattering attention to an environment she said was rife with sexism, burdened by unmanageable workloads, and stymied by a fear-based culture. Okay, and now get ready. Then the tables turned, and Ms. O was the one slapped with an accusation of serious misconduct. The ACLU said her complaints about several superiors, all of whom were Black, used racist stereotypes. Just get ready till you hear what these racist stereotypes were. She was fired in May 2022. The ACLU acknowledges that Miss Oh, who was Korean American, never used any kind of racial slur. You get that? They acknowledge that, but she was still fired. But the group says, the ACLU says, that her use of certain phrases and words demonstrated a pattern of willful anti-black animus. First example, in one instance, according to court documents, she told a black superior that she was, quote, afraid, unquote, to talk with him. Now tell me, folks, is that not obviously anti-black racist? Isn't that obvious to you? I'll bet it isn't, but it is to the ACLU. I'll explain why as I continue. In another instance, she told a manager that their conversation was, quote, chastising, unquote. That's the second example of her using anti-Black animus. Chastising. And in a third instance, in a meeting, she repeated a satirical phrase likening her boss's behavior to suffering beatings. Beatings is in a quote. The heart of the ACLU's defense, arguing for an expansive definition of what constitutes racist or racially coded speech, has struck some labor and free speech lawyers as peculiar, since the organization has traditionally protected the right to free expression. A lawyer representing the ACLU, Ken Margolis, said during a legal proceeding last year that it was irrelevant whether Ms. O bore no racist ill will. All that mattered, he said, was that her Black colleagues were offended and injured. She caused serious harm to Black members of the ACLU community. This is the age of feelings. Do you feel bad makes what the other person said either illegal or worthy of having the person who said it fired. Just as whether you are male or female is dependent upon your feelings. We have abandoned reason. Yes, I regularly mention this. The Age of Enlightenment is anti-religious, said reason alone will lead us to a good society. But it turns out that without God and the Bible, we have abandoned reason. I believe in reason as much as they do, by the way. That's why my Bible commentary is called The Rational Bible. For the full episode of The Dennis Prager Show, go to pragertopia.com, sign up, and become a full member.
