I truly, deeply understand the necessity of free speech. I understand the value of the first amendment and appreciate that I have the right to voice my loud, crude, exceedingly angry opinions of Donald Trump and his neo-Nazi cadre, and I am grateful that I can openly condemn America’s capitalist, patriarchal, and racists institutions. Most importantly, I am grateful and humbled that my ability to do so is a result of the violence and hardship suffered by previous dissenters, by the activists of the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-war movements, and by my own contemporaries boldly–and rightfully–proclaiming that black lives matter and that women’s rights are human rights. I thank them for their bravery and action, for without them I would not be able to maintain such a fundamental freedom.
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But a disturbing trend has been brewing that is particularly difficult to discuss without the boy who cried “free speech!” losing his damn mind. This problem, frankly, is the exploitation of such a right. We see racist rhetoric, Islamophobic rhetoric, sexist and transphobic and ableist rhetoric being spouted–whether genuinely believed or just used to cause a reaction–without consequence, and this rhetoric inspires action, often leading to physical and verbal violence, sexual assault, harassment, and hate crime. Suddenly, when you try to step in and tell these people that what they are saying is not acceptable, that they should not be using the n-word or be glorifying Hitler, you become public enemy number one against free speech.
But here’s the thing: your right to speak your mind should never threaten another person’s existence.
You can have your opinions about Obama and economics and government spending and taxes, but there is a tremendous difference between saying, “The ACA is bad and we need to get rid of it” and “Black people are bad and we need to get rid of them.” The second that you say the latter, you become a threat to someone else’s most basic right to live because somewhere, somehow, your words will get picked up by a white nationalist with a gun or a police officer or a drunk man preying on women at the bar.
By letting YAF bring Robert Spencer to campus, we are allowing free speech to be exploited. We are enforcing the belief that some of our students have the right to tell other community members that they don’t belong on our campus while disguising it as “academic discussion.” We are letting them tell a distinguished Gettysburg professor, who turned down offers from Harvard to teach us, that he and his family are part of an unstoppable crime against good Christian American and should go back to the Middle East where they came from. I understand that YAF has a right to be heard, but I urge them to do it in a manner that doesn’t jeopardize the safety of our community; I urge them to show compassion and consciousness for other lives.
Source: Giphy