We are supporters of free speech and equality for all groups, but some colleges and universities have perhaps gone a step too far and placed their social agendas, justified or not, ahead of academics and civility.
In doing so, these campuses across the United States have found themselves embroiled in a fight to police free speech. The University of Illinois at Chicago has taken it to new heights by launching a campaign titled “Words Matter!” This program features workshops aimed at words like crazy, ghetto, and illegal alien. Apparently the use of these words isn’t “inclusive.” Ironically, the workshop also targets the expression “man up.”
The university claims their mission isn’t to hinder free speech, but to highlight how powerful words are in hopes to create a happy space full of rainbows and hand-holding students skipping to class. If the university hopes to create a welcoming and inclusive environment by policing words, they have an entire encyclopedia of cuss words to work with. Or they could just man up.
In perhaps the most infamous incident of stifling free speech, residents of Berkeley, CA took to the streets to violently rip apart their own community in response to a scheduled speech at UC Berkeley featuring conservative speaker Milo Yiannopoulos. Citizens vandalized property, set fires, and carried out acts of violence against one another.
The riot got so out of hand, the speech had to be cancelled out of safety concerns. Liberal UC Berkeley successfully demonstrated that tolerance and inclusion only works for them when the message falls in line with certain beliefs.
Not everyone on our staff loves Milo either, but c’mon…is burning stuff down over a speaker that you do not have to listen to, the way to go?
Black graduate students of Harvard University organized a blacks-only graduation ceremony that was held on campus. While it was reported that the controversial ceremony was eventually opened to white graduate students who wished to attend as well, black undergraduate students were not welcome. Items on the agenda were politics, social issues, and “staying woke.” There was also much emphasis put on being black in an elite college environment.
There’s a new era that has been ushered into American society that makes segregation acceptable in the eyes of those who have historically been victims of actual injustice. While there is something to be said about celebrating achievements among community and family, excluding groups of people in the name of inclusion takes away from the desired outcome.
Going back to Harvard University to explore the curious case of students vs Harvard Law. After winning the fight to remove the crest of Isaac Royall Jr.–a notorious slave owner whose money founded the law school–social justice warriors referred to this victory as being too small to exact the change they demanded. Even after protests saw the fall of the Royall crest, students continued protesting what they deemed “problematic” curriculum taught by Harvard Law.
Citing racism as being a huge problem at Harvard Law, one student said there’s a lack of “serious study into the implications of racism, white supremacy, and imperialism.” Another issue protesting students had with Harvard Law was the lack of a diversity and inclusion office. They were met with an explanation that while the school supports diversity, these demands are only made by a small number of them.
A student at Washington State University destroyed a pro-life display on campus. The Cemetery of the Innocents was made of tiny crosses meant to represent the number of abortions carried out in one day. The student who vandalized the display did so twice and claimed that the display shamed women who have had abortions and went against his own pro-abortion beliefs.
When confronted, the student said he would continue to vandalize the display as long as it was up. The organizer of the display reached out to have a conversation with the man, but he refused to speak with her. This situation highlights the serious double standard on campuses when it comes to freedom of speech. Many times, students are ostracized if their beliefs don’t fall in line with trending outrage.
It is okay to disagree folks, but don’t make a fool of yourself over it…trust us, someone is filming it on their phone.
When conservative speaker Heather Mac Donald–the author of The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe–appeared at Claremont McKenna College, she was greeted by a large group of protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement. They blocked the entrance to the building where Mac Donald was scheduled to speak. Although law enforcement was present in large numbers, the campus powers that be made the decision not to intervene by making arrests.
As a result, Heather Mac Donald was forced to make her presentation via live stream to a small group of people. This incident also highlights the amount of anti-police sentiment on campuses. Mac Donald reported that among the chants from the protesters was “F*** the Police!”
Harvard doesn’t seem to like breaks from being in the center of the social justice warrior social media storm, so let’s keep talking about them.
When campusreform.org conducted a survey of students currently in attendance, the results were astounding. The question presented: who scares you more, Trump or the Islamic State? Naturally, several students said that President Trump is more dangerous than ISIS. That’s right, ISIS.
One student even said, “Terrorism really isn’t that big of a deal.” Students went on to say President Trump poses a threat to their everyday lives. It’s to be expected that institutions who heavily police speech would resist the Trump administration to some extent. We get that, but brushing off ISIS and terrorism as “not that big of a deal” also shows how sheltered and privileged many of these campuses make students feel.
