The "N-Word"

The perfect quote for a web site on L. Ron Hubbard's racism.

The editors of this web site argued over including the quote in these pages because it was "hearsay" and could not be substantiated. The only evidence of its authenticity was the word of Gerald Armstrong , an ex-Scientologist-turned-critic and former Hubbard biographer. He'd been given access to all of Hubbard's writings, including correspondence, affirmations, diaries, and other such personal material. (He quotes this from memory so the wording may not be exact.)

Gerry wrote:

           

We decided that without the letter (or even a copy) in hand, "nigger" was too controversial and left it off these pages.

Some time later, Ted was contacted by a reporter seeking material relating to Scientology's view on blacks. Keshet wrote to Ted:

See, that's why I'm so anal about references!

And you were/are 100% correct in that. BTW, I did mention to this reporter that we did not put in quotes we could not support. I mentioned the 'nigger' reference as an example.

I would have been willing to use that quote if Gerry Armstrong HAD the letter where Hubbard said that, but he only SAW it and didn't keep a copy. You can't exactly ask CoS to produce such a thing for a reporter's research.

The "nigger" quote appears on ARS periodically. In a one instance, Ted emailed Keshet about it to ask again about including or excluding it from these pages. Keshet responded:

You know, I feel like following this post up with the fact that originally I had this on the Racism page, that Keshet came along, was not happy that the quote could be adequately verified, and dropped it from the web site calling it, "innuendo of the worst kind".

We're on the same brainwave again. :-)

This would be a good post to make. But first…

I was just looking at this quote, wondering whether we should add it to the racism pages or leave it off. Funny how initially I was very much against including it but have softened my attitude now. Maybe.

do we do this? (and for the record, once again i am happy it is dropped)

I honestly don't know.

At first, I thought if we couldn't cite a readily available source, it should not be included. That's still a reasonable principle to follow — in general.

Note: Inside joke: Scientology Racism used to reside at LightofDay.com.

But there is a lot of Hubbard material that will never see the Light of Day (heh, pun definitely intended:-), like the letter that this quote is from. You know damn well that if asked, Scientology would NEVER produce it for inspection, and in fact, would deny its existence.

Note: Judge Breckenridge: "…the court finds the testimony of Gerald … Armstrong … to be credible, extremely persuasive, …"

Gerry Armstrong is a reliable witness, IMO, even in his more flakey moments. The fact that he was official collator of Hubbard biographical material, stole documents after he left Scientology to protect himself, and had his actions validated in court makes him very credible. He is probably the only person outside upper Scientology management who has seen this quote.

Note: Judge Breckenridge: "The organization clearly is schizophrenic and paranoid, and the bizarre combination seems to be a reflection of its founder LRH."

One of the beneficial side effects of including this quote would be that we must include a short description of Armstrong and his circumstances, with the appropriate quote from the judge in his case about Hubbard and Scientology being paranoid and schizophrenic.

Another argument "for" is that declarations, affidavits, and eyewitness testimony are acceptable in court, especially civil cases. This would be analogous. We don't have to meet the evidence standards of criminal trials; an eyewitness account should do.

I seem to be arguing FOR including the quote, but that's only because we've gone over the AGAINST arguments before. They are still valid, and I am merely presenting "new" info.

Argue with me.

Two final considerations: We include two other quotes on the In Closing page that are just as much "hearsay" as Gerry's ("black are so stupid…they don't give a reading on an E-meter" and "Africans wouldn't qualify for Scientology membership because their IQ was too low"). The editors are comfortable presenting those and consider the authenticity of the "nigger" quote to be comparable.

Secondly, we use two other racist terms on our Can the Church Deny It? page ("gook" and "chink") and feel this is equivalent.

Therefore, we have decided it is appropriate to include Hubbard's racist statement on a web site exposing Hubbard's racism.