On a cold Monday evening in the middle of 2016, five students of color sat quietly in a shell-shaped courtyard at the University of California San Diego. With protest signs in hand and faces like statues, they waited respectfully with intention: Milo Yiannopoulos would be speaking shortly. As they waited, two fifty-something-year-old men in shorts, slacks, and big backpacks circled. Like sharks, but with no tact or finesse, they rambled as they filmed. Two freedom fighters in dad-gear had come to reclaim higher education from those they saw as "Cultural Marxists” ruining freedom of speech. The students sat unphased and waited for the aloof white supremacist to finish speaking. While those that came to see Yianopolous may be outliers on the fringes of the political spectrum, their belief that the First Amendment is under attack by college students is not. College students can ask nicely for UChicago to not invite noted white supremacists like Steve Bannon, but are called silly, disrespectful, or worse. …show more content…
And they seem to be fond of telling underrepresented students to stop protesting, sit down, and listen. The overblown narrative of free speech problems at college campuses seems to actually be something much simpler: low-income people of color who have often become too “uppity” for the system of politics they operate in. Students today use their rights in much of the same way older generations did. But the current dialogue has consistently failed consider demographics, both in terms of race and age, and instead turns to stereotypes for
Throughout America, people place a high value in their freedom of speech. This right is protected by the first Amendment and practiced in communities throughout the country. However, a movement has recently gained momentum on college campuses calling for protection from words and ideas that may cause emotional discomfort. This movement is driven mainly by students who demand that speech be strictly monitored and punishments inflicted on individuals who cause even accidental offense. Greg Lukianoff and Johnathan Haidt discuss how this new trend affects the students mentally and socially in their article The Coddling of the American Mind published in The Atlantic Monthly. Lukianoff and Haidt mostly use logical reasoning and references to
Although some like Conor Friedersdorf, of the Atlantic, categorized students as “intolerant bullies, (34)” meaning that the reasons for protests were not really reasons at all. Chang argues that the issues students are expressing need to be improved upon as if not, we will continue to go round and round in this vicious cycle. The addition of the apartheid in South Africa backs up Chang’s argument as there is a consensus of it being a serious issue. This explains why he included this piece of history and how it relates to college campuses. Encouraging critics to listen to students, just as Meyer did to those of color, is the only way to prevent today's youth from bring up the same issues in future years. Just as Chang predicted, the next school year brought protesters to hundreds of colleges and universities. What happened at Mizzou was just the beginning of a country wide movement for racial justice on campuses that hasn’t stopped
College is full of new experiences, new people, and new communities, and many universities encourage the exchange of new ideas and diversity among students. This year, the University of Chicago sent out a letter to all of its incoming freshmen informing them that in keeping with their beliefs of freedom of expression and healthy discussion and debate, the school would not provide “safe spaces” or “trigger warnings”. Senior Sophie Downes found this letter to be misleading in many ways, including in the definitions of safe spaces and trigger warnings, as well as the issues it was addressing. Downes claims that the letter was misrepresenting the school, but also was using the letter as a sort
Charles R. Lawrence intended audience in his article “On Racist Speech” is college students and universities. His sense of tone is forthcoming. Lawerence word choice sets the tone by using the words conspicuous,dissenter, and bigot. The article gives examples of how universities do not protect minority college students. Lawrence states that universities should protect their students He also gives an example of how universities have tried to have rules to ban racist speech yet they have proven ineffective in stopping racial slurs. The regulations have not stopped the verbal brutality yet it has stopped the occurrences of physical fights. He mentions how students do not have any need to be hurt verbally.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech.” Indeed, free speech is a large block upon which this nation was first constructed, and remains a hard staple of America today; and in few places is that freedom more often utilized than on a college campus. However, there are limitations to our constitutional liberties on campus and they, most frequently, manifest themselves in the form of free speech zones, hate speech and poor university policy. Most school codes are designed to protect students, protect educators and to promote a stable, non-disruptive and non-threatening learning environment. However, students’ verbal freedom becomes limited via “free speech zones.” Free Speech Zones are areas allocated for the purpose of free speech on campus. These zones bypass our constitutional right to freedom of speech by dictating where and when something can be said, but not what can be said.
Charles R. Lawrence III adresses the matter in his essay “The Debate over Placing Limits on Racist Speech Must Not Ignore the Damage It Does to Its Victims,” by providing the perspective of those on the reciving end. He explains that “racial slurs are particularly undeserving of First Amendment protection because the perpetuator’s intention is not to discover truth or initiate dialoge, but to injure the victim” (628). This argument is justified because some people do take their freedom of speech as far as offending someone because of their race, cultural, and social beliefs. As Cinnamon Stillwell proved in her essay, “Mob Rule on College Campuses,” some students do become bullies when their beliefs are challenged. Stillwell illistrates a situation that occurred at Columbia University when conservative Jim Gilchrist was invited to speak but was unable to because rioting students did not allow him. Stillwell then goes on to say that “Apparently in their minds, niether Gilchrist nor anyone else with whom they disagree has the right to express their viewpoints” (623). This can be applied to both sides because both of them seem to believe that the opposing belief has no right to speak especially when it is controversial. Lawrence mentions that “whenever we decide that racist speech must be tolerated because of the
James Scurlock strongly emphasizes this problem throughout the whole documentary. Students, ranging in ages from 18-22 primarily, are young, and naive. They are out from under their parent’s rule and free to make decisions on their own. This means that many are going to take certain steps necessar...
In the United States, free speech is protected by the First Amendment in which it states, “Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion … or abridging the freedom of speech.” Now, nearly 250 years into the future, the exact thing that the Founding Fathers were afraid of is starting to happen. Today, our freedom of speech is being threatened through different forces, such as the tyranny of the majority, the protection of the minority, and the stability of the society. Now, colleges and universities in the United States today are also trying to institute a code upon its students that would bar them from exercising their right to speak freely in the name of protecting minorities from getting bullied. This brings us into
White Privilege The belief that white privilege never existed or that it is no longer a problem is skewed by the selective use of facts to support this claim. How do we address this problem? We must define the what is to be privileged, acknowledge the problem and identify a means to fix it. "The idea of privilege- that some people benefit from unearned, and largely unacknowledged, advantages, even when those advantages aren't discriminatory. "
Dazey, Josh. “Campus puts students at undue risk: while restricting “basic natural rights”. Ifeminists. Feb 12, 2002. http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2002/0212b.html
Earlier this month in April, student protestors rioted at Berkley University because they did not want certain Conservative guest speakers to be able to give speeches at the university due to some of the speakers comments being inappropriate. According to the nonprofit organization committed to defending civil liberties named The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), "One worrisome trend undermining open discourse in the academy is the increased push by some students and faculty to 'disinvite' speakers with whom they disagree from campus appearances" (The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education). While the protesters were practicing their first amendment right to petition, the students were infringing upon the Conservative speakers freedom of speech which is unconstitutional. Just because the protesters may have disagreed with the speakers comments, does not mean that theys hould have prevented them from being able to express them. This is similar to the novel 1984 because the protestors controlled and censored what was able to be said at Berkeley University, just like how in the novel the Thought Police controlled what citizens said just because The Party disagreed with certain perspectives and didn’t want certain information to be
place during the fall and spring semesters (“Campus Unrest” 1). These events were large discussions held on college campuses where students, faculty and administration met to openly learn about and discuss issues relating to the war. Teach-ins were efforts for Americans in relation to universities to voice their opinions and get the attention of government officials with the prayer that United States involvement in the war would not continue to increase at such a rapid rate. They stressed the importance of peace, not violence. Such teach-ins first took place in March of 1965 at the University of Michigan. This set a precedent for other colleges and universities as these rallies began to take place more and more frequently (“Campus Unrest 1).
On November first I attend an event called White Privilege and Male Privilege which was a conversation between Peggy McIntosh and Victor Lewis. They had a discussion about racism and other forms of oppression. This event was held in the USU at 4pm to 6 pm. The audience member were CSUN students who were in any gender women studies class of any professors on campus and since this event was free many other students did attend to listen to this conservation. The person who hosted this event was not aware of how many people would actually show up so many people did not have seats which then they had opened up the top portion of the USU so everyone could listen in. This event was based upon student interaction whereas we all were given note cards
From an early age, American children are taught about the Constitution and one very important amendment; the first. We are taught that we have the freedom of speech, religion, the press, and the right to assemble. I’ve seen media coverage of riots and fights and burning buildings. I’ve seen pictures in my history textbooks of marches for civil rights and suffrage. But the belief that my voice has an impact didn’t peak until this year. On January 20, 2018, my friend and I attended the Women’s March in Chicago. We took the 5:45 AM train into Chicago. I questioned this choice a lot, especially when my alarm started going off at four in the morning, but when we reached the speaking area for the rally, we were at the front, literally standing
This incident happened just the night before the university’s annual Triton Day. Triton Day is the greeting of new students who come from different cultures and nations. Simply, the supporters of Donald Trump do not welcome the students from foreign countries. UC San Diego, where diversity and respect for all cultures should have been valued, became the home of anti-Mexico. This is not just about the one school in California. In New York Times, an article titled “Pro-Trump Chalk Messages Cause Conflicts on College Campuses” was published. The article stated that throughout the United States, there are students claiming free speech as they write “Trump 2016.” Also, the supporters are adding anti-religion on top of anti-diversity. Some scrawled “Stop Islam” next to “Trump 2016.” Obviously, the supporters do not accept the beliefs of others beside their