Our discussion last class was one that was particularly interesting to me. This is because of how prevalent it is in our own Brooklyn College among peers and faculty. With talk of Political correctness and micro-aggressions, it’s only appropriate that we talk of Free Speech. In the Article “The Hell you Say” by Kelefa Sanneh discusses contemporary issues involving political correctness and free speech on college campuses. The article looks at free speech through a political lens by discussing its history and court rulings such as the one in 1919 of “Clear and Present danger” or the one in 1969 of being likely to incite “imminent lawless action.” Freedom of speech as manifested itself in various ways across college campuses in many different ways, and I’d like to point to some specific examples in the article of how it’s done so.
The first example I’d like to look at was the Dj at the bar example. For those who didn’t read the article (Which you most certainly should, its very good!) a Dj at a local Irish pub near the University of North Carolina played the song “Blurred lines.” Becoming a major hit and very popular the Dj saw nothing wrong with playing it until a student asked the Dj to cut the song short because some of the lyrics “evoked threats of sexual violence.” The student wanted to create a safe space in the bar, but the Dj didn’t oblige and was later denied playing there again after much complaining on social media and refusal to cut the song. I guess my question would be is this an example of “Creating Safe Spaces” for students gone to far? Of course creating safe spaces wouldn’t be a bad thing for the local bar, but then again, its not located on the campus itself. Do you think students have any reasonable argument for what types of songs to be played or what atmosphere should be created in a place not associated with the college itself? The only reason why I saw the issue was brought up was because it was a hot spot for the students, but I can’t see how this makes for a reasonable argument. More importantly, I want to point out that this situation helps show an even bigger issue concerning free speech as a whole, and that is, not only should we be asking what can we say? Or how we can say it? But where can someone say something? It seems that the censoring of speech or expression is reaching further than just the college campus. Do you think this is an issue?
I do think the article highlights an interesting idea in that “For many modern free-speech advocates, the First Amendment is irrelevant: their main target is not repressive laws but shifting norms and values.” I do think this is pretty accurate in that it doesn’t seem like there are people who are trying to oppress our first amendment right, but instead look to it in a way that understands the social-psychological affects pure freedom of speech has. Or the kind of moral obligations people may or may not have when concerned with their speech. Although, the counter argument brought up of the constant self-censorship and policing of others also should be taken very seriously. It should be taken very seriously because of issues like the “… stifling of intellectual diversity.” I don’t feel that some political correctness and censorship on college campuses would result in somehow less intellectual dialogue. It’s interesting, the censorship would actually allow for a more interesting conversation; it forces students to say what they want in different ways. Pure free speech to me would be like a sport with one goal, and no rules. Its not much fun, and would get pretty chaotic.
All in all, the article does a fantastic job at explaining the root of political correctness, free speech. I do think that understanding the history of it as well as its association with different political groups ad activism will help us understand where we are today and why we say the things we do. Hope you enjoyed the article! newyorker.com/…015/08/10/the-hell-you-say
Thanks for sharing! I found your blog post to be especially interesting because it raises another important related issue. Is intolerance stifling our freedom to express ourselves through art? When does something cross over from art to blatant racism or sexism? Or do people perhaps use art as a cover for their own prejudices? I recently read a short piece where the writer expressed their outrage about a dress that was displayed on a fashion runway that had a picture of a black slave with a mouth muzzle. Blacks were forced to wear these muzzles so they wouldn’t eat the produce from the fields as they worked. The writer of the article was repulsed that someone could make this the subject of art. Perhaps, however, the artist wanted to raise awareness of the plight of black slaves. We really don’t know. But should such art be displayed on the runway if it can offend some people?
You definitely discuss a really important and difficult issue here. I think a major obstacle to free speech is people’s passion when it comes to a particular issue (whatever the issue may be). People feel so strongly about something that they can’t fathom the idea of someone having an opposing opinion. Peaceful discussion doesn’t happen when people have strong feelings about something, which is why talking about religion or politics is always a no-no when it comes to “getting along.”
Another thing that this makes me think about is the large political divide we see in the United States. Presidential elections, for instance, always have definite blue and red states.
(continuing comment – accidentally clicked “post comment”)
I think when locations can be defined by common political views, there’s a bit of a problem that it causes for free speech. By this, I mean it’s hard to be a liberal in Texas and conservative in California.
In my mind, the obstacle to free speech is mainly the social inclination that Americans have to always be right and passionate about something. I’m not sure if it’s something that can really be solved because people will always have opposing opinions and different ideas for how to get things done.
This is a really complex issue and I really enjoyed this article. Thanks for sharing it!
Padelutstyr! Skal du kjøpe ny eller bytte ut din Padelracket? Da er https://padelsport.no/?product=padelbag-cork-padel-camel-brun det riktige sted å begynne. Vi har racketer til alle typer spill og vi har padelracket som passer til alt fra nybegynner til proff. Vi satser på høy kvalitet og funksjonalitet slik våre nye og gamle kunder alltid blir fornøyde. Padelsport.no er Norges eneste forhandler av CORK Padel i Norge!