If someone is threatened for telling the truth, they’re doing something right. That’s what happened when Ohio State University law student Madison Gesiotto penned a column for the Washington Times, “The number one killer of black Americans,” which she said is abortion.
As the College Fix reported, Gesiotto received threats from OSU students she did not know. A Facebook message warned “the government cannot take action against you for your offensive and racist article. But your colleagues can.” Gesiotto then scheduled a meeting with Alan Michaels, the dean. Her meeting was not what she expected, nor what it should have been.
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Instead of discussing the threat, Gesiotto was chastised by three deans, who picked apart her article to question and criticize it. As the Washington Times reported, present was Kathy Seward Northern, the associate dean for admissions, whom had assured Gesiotto that she was “satisfied… that there was not an intent to threaten [her] with physical harm.”
In addition to questioning the article, Northern criticized the piece since “she thought this was not proper legal writing or journalistic writing,” and that “in her mind this article could be taken various ways and left questions to be answered.”
The column was not meant to be a piece of “legal writing,” and obviously the Washington Times disagrees with Northern about it being “not proper… journalistic writing,” since they saw it fit to publish.
Gesiotto expressed that the reaction was inappropriate and unnecessary. She mentioned that “they have no say over what I have in my pieces,” and that “it has no bearing on my education” and “should have no bearing on anything.”
The deans even suggested she change her online biography which mentions her position as the staff editor of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, and hold a panel discussion to clarify her views. The reasoning was she should have to explain herself since she felt unsafe. Gesiotto refused.
It further escalated from there.
A letter to the editor, which was addressed to “the Ohio State community,” was published on Nov. 3 in the Latern, the student newspaper.
The letter comes from the Black Law Students Association and claims that the group is “uniquely positioned to advocate on the issues of race relations and socioeconomic disparities in a productive and positive manner.” They also share their “offense to the racist undertones of this opinion piece and question its journalistic integrity.”
Not only does the letter continue to insult Gesiotto, but misses the point of her column:
Another paragraph claims the “article perpetuates that that black women are the No. 1 killer of black Americans, and that “in making such sweeping implications, stereotypes of black Americans are recklessly perpetuated.”
It is astounding how some disagree with a piece or are uncomfortable with the truth, and so have to “question its journalistic integrity.” Numbers are not opinions nor meant to an attack. They’re facts, and Gesiotto was brave enough to educate others.
Gesiotto and pro-lifers do not attack black women, but rather the abortion industry which preys on and takes advantage of black women, which is thus the number one killer of the demographic.
The journal Gesiotto writes for even made a policy change as a result, that editors who identify themselves when writing for other publications must include a disclaimer that their views do not necessarily reflect the journal’s.
Gesiotto is standing by her beliefs, and has no regrets about her article or her continuation of her weekly column. She has heard nasty rumors, that she’s going to drop out, or is getting kicked out, or that her teachers hope she drops out. Gesiotto shares they’re “just horrible, horrible things that just never feel good no matter how strong a person you are.”
She also made a plug towards Millennials:
Created Equal, a pro-life group, interviewed Gesiotto o and currently has a petition asking Dean Michaels to apologize.
