The Center Of The Free Speech Movement Is Now A Center For The "Shut Up, You Might Offend Someone" Movement
Greg Piper at The College Fix reports that UC Berkeley student Shanzeh Khurram writes in her weekly column in The Daily Californian:
Even in Berkeley, the center of the Free Speech Movement, most people are so concerned about being politically correct that they end up stifling open discussion. But that is not what freedom of speech is about. Freedom of speech does not mean that no one should be offended or hurt. And it also does not guarantee that the speaker is protected from ridicule or criticism.
Earlier -- David Frum in The Atlantic on the campus activists who tried to keep Bill Maher from speaking:
In Maher's case as in Hirsi Ali's, the grounds of complaint was the invitee's attitude toward Islam. Maher criticizes all religion, but he has said especially harsh things about Islam. The Berkeley Muslim-students group, backed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, condemned Maher as a bigot and racist. On his Friday Real Time program, Bill Maher delivered a scathing reply to the campus protesters. He noted the seeming irony that all this was occurring at Berkeley during the 50th anniversary year of the famed Berkeley Free Speech Movement.
The administration refused to bow to pressure from protests, as did Maher.
Frum writes:
More awkwardly still, those agitating to disinvite a commencement speaker will claim they are merely exercising free-speech rights of their own. Petitions, demonstrations, protest--why aren't those equally to be defended?Here's why. When protesters mobilize against an invited university guest, they are not merely expressing disapprobation of a selection. They are threatening the university with embarrassment or worse unless the university yields to their wishes. It's the university, not the speaker, who is their target. What they want from the university is not the right to be heard, but the right to veto. More exactly: These battles over campus speakers are not battles over rights at all. They are battles over power.
The anti-Maher protesters explicitly demanded this power for themselves: "Do not force us to tolerate the speaker that you selected, without our input, for our event. We demand the power for students to choose the commencement speakers and to reject the university administration's suggestions." But as a matter of fact, Berkeley students do choose their own commencements speakers. Invitations are issued by the elected leadership of a student society whose membership is open to all Berkeley students in good academic standing. The Maher protesters wished to over-ride this process--and to claim for their own pressure group the unique right to speak for all Berkeley students.
Yea, and if it had been Condi Rice, the administration would have folded like a cheap suit.
If it wasn't for double standards, these Univeristy administrators would have no standards at all....
Isab at August 4, 2015 9:54 AM
Although I don't like Bill Maher (he's an ultra-dweeb), he's spot-on in this case, particularly when he pointed out that it wasn't his reputation on the line, but Berkeley's.
If they don't the commencement speaker, they can walk out in protest, or just stand up and turn their backs on him.
It isn't to protest the speaker; it's to silence the speaker.
Patrick at August 4, 2015 9:55 AM
"But as a matter of fact, Berkeley students do choose their own commencements speakers. Invitations are issued by the elected leadership of a student society whose membership is open to all Berkeley students in good academic standing."
This is very important - if you don't like the speaker; then work within the process to change it. There is no need to act like spoiled brats if you don't get your way.
If worse comes to worse and you simply cannot stand the speaker, then stay home! You can still get your degree without having to attend the commencement activities. There is no need to ruin the day for others who might actually want to hear what that speaker has to say or those who just want to "walk" because they are the first in their family to earn a college degree. (That was me; and any such protest would have marred the day, not so much for me; but for my parents and grandparents who were pleased as punch that someone in the family actually earned a college degree). If nothing else so many of these folks have NOT gotten the proper education in that they need to learn it isn't always about YOU!
On a side note I recently read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's latest book - Heretic, Why Islam needs a Reformation Now - and while reading it in public on two separate occasions (on the subway and at the Laundromat) total strangers felt the need to come up to me to tell me I shouldn't be reading such nonsense. What kind of assholes will approach a stranger and tell them that they shouldn't be reading something? Answer: the kind who think they have the right to tell others what to do; just like those signing petitions against certain commencement speakers.
Oh, and I do recommend Heretic; it is all very spot on. (Be sure to buy it through Amy's portal here. Amy, feel free to change this to be a link through your amazon portal; I don't know how to set that up)
charles at August 4, 2015 12:00 PM
The unspoken (ironic, that) threat is that, if Maher speaks, or attempts to, they will shout him down. Shouting down is not speech; it is noise, whose purpose is to "jam the channel" and prevent others from benig able to communicate with those that wish to listen. Shouting down is censorship.
If I were Maher, I'd see about borrowing Black Sabbeth's sound system.
Cousin Dave at August 4, 2015 12:07 PM
Free Speech was never a principle to the left; it was a tool. They used it to get power, and now that they've got power it's time to put the tool away.
dee nile at August 4, 2015 4:29 PM
Dee, David Horowitz once said almost those exact words to me: "We wanted our rights so we could use them to take away everyone else's rights."
Cousin Dave at August 5, 2015 8:20 AM
On a side note I recently read Ayaan Hirsi Ali's latest book - Heretic, Why Islam needs a Reformation Now - and while reading it in public on two separate occasions (on the subway and at the Laundromat) total strangers felt the need to come up to me to tell me I shouldn't be reading such nonsense. What kind of assholes will approach a stranger and tell them that they shouldn't be reading something?
Posted by: charles at August 4, 2015 12:00 PM
How old were they?
lenona at August 5, 2015 9:03 AM
Lenona: "How old were they?"
Well, the guy who said something on the subway looked middle-eastern and about 30-something; but, he spoke with an American accent.
The woman in the Laundromat looked and sounded African and looked to be older, maybe her late forties or early fifties. She was also wearing a headscarf.
It was the guy on the subway who said something first and it made me very nervous - who the hell "challenges" a total stranger's reading materials in public like that? And what did they expect me to do? Say: Oh, I'm sorry, you're right, let me stop right now."
I had only just started to read Heretic when the guy approached me. I so wish that I had read more of by then because she does have a passage in the book where she states that people have called her "damaged" and therefore biased against Islam. Ironically, that is exactly what he claimed was wrong with the book! I so wished I could have pointed that out to him - she had his ignorance pegged without even knowing him.
What I did was asked if they had read it; both said no, they didn't need to because they knew it was nonsense. After I responded that I didn't think it was possible to have an opinion about something unless I read it myself they both backed down. But still - what the hell?!
charles at August 5, 2015 12:30 PM
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